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What we're reading
— Gov. Janet Mills called on state regulators to block the future sale of Russian vodka and asked stores and restaurants to stop selling what they have. Many governors embraced the symbolic gesture of support for Ukraine on Monday. The Democratic governor's move was preceded by a call from former Gov. Paul LePage, Mills' Republican opponent in 2022, to block such sales. Plenty of Maine stores did not wait for official action.
— A federal shift on masks still leaves recommendations in place for an outsized group of medically vulnerable Mainers. Last week's federal policy change suggested 70 percent of Americans do not have to wear masks indoors. Less attention was paid to the fine print, which says vulnerable people even in counties with medium COVID-19 transmission should talk to their doctors about precautions including masks. That group included three Maine counties as of last week, while the rest have higher transmission with indoor mask recommendations in effect for everyone.
— Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, hit the Mills administration for "behind-the-scenes games" over the future of a Kennebec River dam. His bill aimed at forcing state regulators to take existing hydropower into effect in forming river management plans was born out of a conflict between a major dam owner and environmentalists looking to protect the endangered Atlantic salmon. Jackson is lining up with paper interests reliant on the Fairfield dam and their union workers against environmental groups and the state on this bill.
— A state ethics watchdog escalated their battle with the American Legislative Exchange Council. A 3-2 majority of the Maine Ethics Commission voted Monday to let staff to use subpoenas to continue investigating whether the national conservative group violated state contribution limits by allowing two Republican lawmakers here to use proprietary software. ALEC has not participated in the investigation so far and the move could lead to litigation. |
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Follow along today
9 a.m. Maine's Revenue Forecasting Committee will meet to discuss its planned March update to the state's revenue forecast. Through January, state revenue has continued to outpace projections and the previous year's figures. The update could leave even more wiggle room for lawmakers as they begin considering Mills' $850 million surplus spending package. Watch here.
A bill from Rep. Jay McCreight, D-Harpswell, that would establish 8-foot "medical safety zones" around health care buildings and make it a misdemeanor to block access will get a hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Many cities set up buffers around abortion clinics that were struck down in a 2014 Supreme Court decision. Portland repealed one before that. Watch here.
9:30 a.m. Hearings on the governor's budget continue with a joint meeting of the appropriations and education panels. Watch here.
10 a.m. The health panel will be briefed on a state program that allows judges to compel people to participate in community mental health treatment after the 2019 death of a man in treatment sparked calls for reform. The panel will hear two oversight bills on the subject. Watch here. |
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| Correction: Monday's Daily Brief misstated the day of a phone call between Collins and Biden on the president's Supreme Court nominee. It was Friday. |
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| 📷 Lead photo: Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, left, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., walk to the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 28, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) |
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