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| 📷 The State House glows in an evening fog in Augusta on Dec. 7, 2022. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett) |
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💡 Here's the chatter from advocacy groups on the budget.
◉ The liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy has released a list of its budget priorities, including expanding the state's child tax credit, continuing the free community college program, expanding MaineCare to all adults of qualifying income and tribal sovereignty. Mills is likely to do a few things on this list, but she has frustrated this group on taxes before.
◉ On the other side, the Maine Policy Institute offered up conservative budget scenarios that it wants the state to adopt, including big income tax cuts and the repeal of several less-prominent taxes. Mills is far likelier to continue holding the line on taxes. Read a summary and full report.
◉ It is not explicitly budget-related, but the BDN's opinion pages feature commentary from two University of Maine professors who argue Mills has a mandate to lead "an ambitious, multi-pronged approach to addressing substance use disorder and overdose." That is a bipartisan priority, but any legislative-led approach will take money and executive branch buy-in.
📜 House Republicans passed rules over opposition from Maine's members.
◉ The person in U.S. politics most likely to be described as "embattled" over the next two years, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, passed his first leadership test overnight as all but one member of his caucus backed a new rules package filled with McCarthy's concessions to conservatives.
◉ All Democrats, including Maine's Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, voted against the package. In a statement, Pingree called it "a way for the GOP to jam through a MAGA agenda that puts politics over people." |
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What we're reading
🔒 A transgender inmate from Winthrop who brutally killed her parents in 2016 was moved to a women's prison.
🔊 Sen. Angus King said the U.S. should keep helping Ukraine until Russia leaves.
🔧 As it prepares for a historic investment, the former Air Force base in Limestone is getting a $1 million wastewater upgrade.
Here's what Mainers need to know about right whales, the endangered species that is the focal point of a federal lobster-rule dispute. |
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