AUGUSTA - Last night, Governor Janet Mills signed an Executive Order to further safeguard access to abortion in Maine and to protect both Maine health care professionals who provide reproductive health care and the patients who depend on this care, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
AUGUSTA - On Friday, as a result of a bill from Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford, over 200,000 Mainers will have access to dental care coverage. Starting July 1, dental care-including preventative care, restorative care, and diagnostic carewill be available to Mainers with MaineCare insurance. This model will replace emergency-only dental coverage.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Sue Salisbury, D-Westbrook, has been accepted to the Robert J. Thompson Eastern Leadership Academy (ELA) as a member of the class of 2022.
AUGUSTA - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning the abortion rights affirmed in the case of Roe v. Wade. A draft opinion had been leaked to the press last month.
Speaker Fecteau D- Biddeford, House Majority Leader Michelle Dunphy D-Old Town, and Assistant Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, released the following statements in response the ruling:
AUGUSTA - Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, received the Maine AFL-CIO's Edie Beaulieu Legislative Award Thursday night. Roeder is a member of three unions, serves on the Legislature's Labor and Housing Committee and successfully sponsored legislation to extend family medical leave to hourly school employees and enforce a provision that ensures accrued vacation time be paid to employees upon cessation of their work.
AUGUSTA - The town of Kittery will be holding an event to celebrate its 375th birthday as well as Independence Day on Saturday, June 25 at 9 AM. The celebration will include a reenactment of General William Whipple reading from the Declaration of Independence, the Piscataqua Rangers Jr. Fife and Drum Corps, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Color Guard and revolution-era reenactors from Captain Henry Dearborn's Company. Governor Janet Mills will also be in attendance.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, has been accepted to participate in the 2022 Legislative Energy Horizon Institute, a policy program that educates state legislators and policymakers on the North American energy infrastructure and delivery system.
Sachs was selected for one of only 40 available spots in the program nationally. Graduates will receive a certificate on energy policy planning from the University of Idaho.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Scott Cuddy, D-Winterport, issued the following statement in response to a recent announcement from Gov. Janet Mills that her administration will invest $12.3 million in grants to expand apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship opportunities across the state as part of the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to strengthen Maine's workforce.
AUGUSTA - On Thursday, Maine Legislative leaders sent a letter in support of Biddeford Starbucks workers to the President and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz.
The letter states:
"It has come to our attention that employees at Store #48490 in Biddeford, Maine are in the process of organizing a union with Starbucks Workers United. As state elected officials, we support our hardworking constituents and respect their right to form labor associations to represent their interests in the workplace.
AUGUSTA - The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has released its first annual report on firearm deaths and hospitalizations. The report is the result of a measure introduced by Rep. Lori K. Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, which became law last year.