AUGUSTA - Members of the Legislative Council voted last week on bill proposals for the upcoming session. One bill sponsored by Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, to address the growing problem of browntail moth infestations in the state, has been approved by the council to be considered next year.

AUGUSTA - A bill proposal sponsored by Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, that would help patients obtain emergency supplies of drugs to manage chronic medical conditions was approved by the Legislative Council.

GLASGOW - Rep. Lydia Blume, D-York, is attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, which started Sunday, October 31 and runs through November 12. The conference is being held in Glasgow, Scotland, under the co-presidency of the United Kingdom and Italy.

AUGUSTA - Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, wraps up the first half of the 130th Legislature having passed eight bills into law. Among them are efforts to prohibit the use of dangerous pesticides, restrict child access to firearms and ban the sale of cosmetics that are tested on animals.

AUGUSTA - Members of the Legislative Council voted Monday on bill proposals for the upcoming session. Two bills sponsored by Rep. Jessica Fay, D-Raymond, one concerning Maine's veterinary workforce and the other concerning safe drinking water, have been approved by the council to be considered next year.

AUGUSTA - Members of the Legislative Council voted Monday on bill proposals for the upcoming session. Two bills sponsored by Rep. Richard Evans, D-Dover Foxcroft, one concerning the forest products industry and the other concerning health care affordability, have been approved by the council to be considered next year.

SKOWHEGAN - Governor Janet Mills and Speaker Ryan Fecteau today joined officials from the Town of Skowhegan and Kennebec Valley Community Action Program to break ground on a new, major housing project, the Mary Street Apartments. The project will provide 40 new affordable housing units for families in the Skowhegan area and is the direct result of legislation sponsored by Speaker Fecteau and signed into law by Governor Mills last year.

AUGUSTA - In response to the Casey Family Programs' report concerning the Maine Office of Child and Family Services and several recent child fatalities, Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, House chair of the Legislature's Committee on Health and Human Services, released the following statement:

Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, received the Lewis and Clara Lamont Brain Injury Award at the annual conference of the Brain Injury Association of Maine on Wednesday, October 13. The award was established for individuals who have provided outstanding advocacy on behalf of Maine citizens who have experienced life-altering brain injuries.

We have a problem in Maine, and that problem is Big Pharma. Something needs to be done to rein in the excessively high costs of prescription medications. In 2018, Americans spent $535 billion dollars on prescription drugs, an increase of 50% since 2010. The Maine Health Data Organization reports that last year, Mainers paid an additional $165.5 million over the previous year for the 25 drugs sold in Maine having the highest price increases. Also, in 2018, the CEOs of three major drug companies were paid a total of more than $90 million dollars.