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| 📷 House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross receives applause after winning her leadership position on Dec. 7, 2022, in Augusta. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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⚖️ By the slimmest margin, House Democrats voted to raise the minimum wage.
◉ The House of Representatives worked past 10 p.m. on Monday night, taking a host of contentious votes including a 71-70 vote for a bill from Rep. Ben Collings, D-Portland, that would raise Maine's hourly minimum wage from $13.80 to $15 by 2024 and continue subjecting it to indexing afterward.
◉ All Republicans opposed it, while seven more centrist Democrats broke ranks to join them. They were Reps. Scott Landry of Farmington, Jim Dill of Old Town, Ed Crockett of Portland, Jessica Fay of Raymond, Anne Marie Mastraccio of Sanford, Joe Perry of Bangor and Bruce White of Waterville.
◉ The measure should have an easier time in the Senate. The biggest question is whether Mills will go for it. Her administration opposed a more sweeping original version of Collings' bill, which would have raised the wage to at least $24 hourly by 2033. Maine's minimum wage is already the eighth-highest among states under the terms of a 2016 referendum on the issue, and the governor has been aligned with business groups opposing the increase.
📢 There were more eventful debates as House business stretched on.
◉ House Democrats proceeded to kill a host of Republican bills during their long session last night. They included a bid from Rep. Gary Drinkwater of Milford to establish a rating system for books in Maine school libraries, which conservatives spent lots of time in floor speeches on.
◉ Rep. Shelley Rudnicki, R-Fairfield, read the most explicit parts of the LGBTQ graphic novel "Gender Queer" into the House record. The once-obscure book has been the main one at the center of local firestorms on this subject.
◉ Later on, Rep. Charles Skold, D-Portland, angered conservatives by saying there are also explicit parts of the Bible. House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, responded by saying, "Are you kidding?" and continued on to say the Bible could also be rated on the same scale. |
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What we're reading
🦞 The state flag debate becomes a flashpoint over what it means to be a Mainer as an attempt to put the issue to a vote moves through the Legislature.
🏢 Maine lacks housing for parents trying to overcome addiction.
⛓️ Does Bangor need a new jail? Here are the arguments.
🔨 A Maine man convicted of assaulting police at the 2021 Capitol riot will be sentenced Tuesday.
☂️ An umbrella art installation was approved for a Bangor street. Here's your soundtrack. |
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