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| 📷 Former Gov. Paul LePage campaigns at gun shop in Gray on, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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📹 Under attack, LePage campaign is talking about abortion.
◉ The anti-abortion Republican has often sidestepped the issue after the June decision from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down federal abortion rights. While he has said he has "no reason" to challenge Maine's expansive abortion laws, he has not ruled out allowing restrictions if returned to the Blaine House.
◉ Mills and Democrats have hammered LePage on the issue in a pro-abortion rights state. The Democratic Governors Association is running an ad that clips the last three words of a 2018 quote from LePage as he spoke about abortion as a litmus test for senators on judicial nominees: "[Abortion rights are] the law of the land,” he said. "If they can make a case for getting rid of it, let’s do it."
◉ The ad jumps off of that to say LePage supported allowing abortion bans even in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life was in danger. The former governor said in a June statement that while he opposes federal funding for most abortions, he supports it in those exceptional cases.
◉ His campaign struck back with a video from his daughter, Lauren LePage, calling the ad's claims "ridiculous" and saying he has never opposed abortion in those circumstances.
📁 Maine's indigent legal services system says it needs more money quickly.
◉ The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is requesting more than $13 million by the end of this year to raise hourly attorney wages from $80 to $150 while it faces a worsening crisis in staffing cases.
◉ The request was outlined to lawmakers on the Legislature's watchdog committee on Wednesday. Commissioners and staff plan to lobby Mills for a solution from the executive branch, but the agency suggested that lawmakers return to Augusta soon to deal with the matter.
◉ Long-documented problems with the system have already resulted in a lawsuit against the state. The commission voted last month to recommend a $62 million budget for next year, more than double the current one. |
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What we're reading
🌞 After bucking President Joe Biden on spending, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District used a news conference with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, to lean into his vote for the Inflation Reduction Act.
🚗 An Uber driver was charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Bangor in the first. It was the first reported case of its kind in the city, but it is among thousands of similar reports nationally dating back to 2019.
🏡 Maine home sales continued a steep decline in August accompanied by a nearly equal price increase over last year.
🍔 You might run into robots on the University of Southern Maine's campus. Pay them no heed, they are only delivering food. Here's your soundtrack. |
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