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| 📷 Sen. Susan Collins, second from right, and Sen. Angus King, second from left, cut the ribbon at a Waterville's event on Nov. 18, 2022. They are flanked by Colby College President David Greene, left, and Waterville Mayor Jay Coelho, right. (BDN photo by David Marino Jr.) |
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🔢 Electoral College fixes championed by Maine's senators move forward.
◉ Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, said Tuesday that their bill overhauling parts of the 1887 law governing the count of presidential electors would be in Congress' omnibus spending bill, something that has become the likeliest option to pass it in recent weeks with Republicans set to take over in the House next month.
◉ The bipartisan deal on this measure was cut in the summer. It would focus on areas of the law exploited by former President Donald Trump ahead of the deadly Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, affirming the vice president's ceremonial role in the process and making it harder to challenge individual electors.
◉ Collins was the lead negotiator on this package on the Republican side, while Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, was among a large group of cosponsors after championing a Democratic reform proposal earlier in the year.
👪 Maine's family court system is not working for those in emergencies, a panel found.
◉ Nearly three in four people who responded to a survey said Maine's family court system is not fast enough to address complaints from parents that the other parent poses a risk to their child's safety, according to a report released Monday by a working group on the issue.
◉ The report found that parents are engaging in "self-help" practices to account for the gaps in court, including by violating custody arrangements at the suggestion of police or child welfare caseworkers.
◉ Maine's court system will need more money from the Legislature to win meaningful improvement, the group suggested. |
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What we're reading
🎥 Rep. Chellie Pingree of the 1st District was alone in Maine's delegation in embracing Congress' criminal referral of Trump.
💸 The state auditor hit a tiny Maine plantation for mishandling public money.
🏃 A lawmaker will step down after one term as Maine Democratic Party chair, while his Republican counterpart seeks a fourth and final term.
🏬 This Maine town is growing a bustling downtown without chain stories.
🏢 Mills fears 3,000 Mainers could be evicted when a federal program ends. |
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