Caitlin Andrews, Jessica Piper and Michael Shepherd Aug 27, 2021 09:22 am
Good morning from Augusta.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I hate when people say the ‘new normal,’” said Wren Stark of Charleston, who is among the Mainers saying she still will not get vaccinated despite the Food and Drug Administration’s full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine this week. “If they would just let things go back to normal, treat the people that are high-risk and leave the rest out of it, I think the world would be better for it.”
What we’re watching today
Maine tenants behind on rent could face eviction once again after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal moratorium. Until Thursday, Mainers across the state had been protected from eviction for non-payment of rent under a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium that targeted counties with substantial COVID-19 transmission. Every Maine county had been over the agency’s threshold at some point in the past two weeks.
President Joe Biden implemented the moratorium while under significant political pressure from progressives earlier this month after an earlier ban on evictions expired while housing agencies across the U.S. were still struggling to get rental aid to tenants in need.
Maine has had relative success implementing the emergency rental assistance program. The state has paid out $54.5 million to more than 10,000 households, according to data from the Maine State Housing Authority. Nationally, only 11 percent of funds had been distributed as of the end of July, however, with strict federal requirements helping to slow applications.
But some are still waiting here. Another 428 Maine households have been approved for funds but not yet received them, according to MaineHousing, with more than 3,300 applications in processing. Not all those applications represent eligible households, but a large chunk of them likely do, and those Mainers could be at renewed risk of eviction with the end of the moratorium. MaineHousing also expanded eligibility for the program in late July, when the earlier eviction ban expired, but those newly eligible have only had a few weeks to apply.
The end of the moratorium comes as the pandemic situation in Maine grows more grim and could test a new state law for renters. Hospitals, which navigated the first year of the pandemic without hitting critical capacity, are struggling now with intensive care space thanks to a combination of surging infections, high non-COVID-19 patient volumes and a lack of staff to care for them. Only 10 percent of critical care beds were available on Thursday as hospital leaders pleaded with residents to get vaccinated, with an industry group leader saying the situation is “near crisis.” Testing volumes have spiked recently in certain areas.
A bill passed by the Maine Legislature this summer requires landlords to inform renters of where they can seek legal assistance during proceedings. MaineHousing announced earlier this month that it would fund legal aid for renters via two nonprofits. Such assistance could blunt the effects of the end of the moratorium for some renters — but evictions are still likely to increase.
The Maine politics top 3
— “Janet Mills drops hard line on Kennebec dam debate colliding with business’ future,” Caitlin Andrews, Bangor Daily News: “The months-long fight between the Democratic governor’s administration and the owner of four dams on the river has escalated after the state unveiled plans to deny a key water-quality certification to the Shawmut Dam, citing insufficient ability for the endangered Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish to pass through and endangering a federal license for the dam.” Here’s your soundtrack.
The governor is breaking slightly with environmentalists aligned with the state, but lots of work is still required to solve the impasse. Gov. Janet Mills’ assurance that the state will not advocate for the removal of the Shawmut Dam is a major step, since it was her administration’s March step in that direction that started this political battle. Environmentalists still think the dam should be removed. But to resolve this conflict, the state will likely need to either drop the strict fish-passage standards it is holding the dam owner to or work with them to come up with a workaround over the next year.
— ”Ellsworth students to wear masks under new policy,” David Marino Jr., BDN: “The vote came after a lengthy discussion, including a sometimes-acrimonious public discussion period in which one mother who opposed a mask requirement was escorted out by Ellsworth police officers. The woman had brought up the private social media posts of a school board member, accusing that member of not following COVID-19 precautions like mask-wearing.”
— “Overdose deaths continue to climb as text alert warns Penobscot County of local spike,” Judy Harrison, BDN: “The text alert program is part of Maine’s OPTIONS initiative, which has placed mobile response teams in each Maine county to engage with communities with high rates of drug overdoses. The initiative promotes harm reduction strategies, connects people directly to recovery services and treatment and distributes naloxone, the lifesaving overdose medication.”
Today’s Daily Brief was written by Caitlin Andrews, Jessica Piper and Michael Shepherd. If you’re reading this on the BDN’s website or were forwarded it, you can sign up to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning here.
