AUGUSTA - Today, the Maine Legislature's Legislative Council voted 6-2, with 1 member absent and 1 member abstaining to safely reopen the State House to the public beginning Monday, May 24. The full Legislature will begin holding floor sessions at the State House beginning June 2.

The COVID-19 Prevention Policy has been updated to eliminate social distancing requirements and require the wearing of face coverings when in shared legislative space. Committee work will remain entirely virtual through the end of the special session.

AUGUSTA - A bill to improve young people's participation in Maine government, LD 1497, sponsored by Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, passed out of the Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business on Tuesday.

AUGUSTA - The Maine House of Representatives approved LD 1010, a bipartisan bill to establish the Maine Service Fellows Program, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, on Wednesday.

AUGUSTA - A bill sponsored by Rep. Richard Evans, D-Dover-Foxcroft, to make it more efficient for people to find out if they qualify for free or reduced-cost health coverage was unanimously endorsed by the Legislature's Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. The vote was 13-0.

AUGUSTA- The Maine House gave its initial approval Wednesday to a bill defining intentional balloon releases as an act of littering. LD 1023, sponsored by Rep. Genevieve McDonald, D-Stonington, addresses an issue that fishermen have wrestled with under the radar for years. The vote was 83-64.

AUGUSTA - The Legislature approved a bill Wednesday that would require telephone utilities to provide customers with services to reduce the volume of calls received from automated telephone calling devices, also known as spam calls or robocalls.

AUGUSTA - Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, introduced LD 1044, An Act To Protect the Rights of Certain Incarcerated Individuals, before the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety on Tuesday.

AUGUSTA - Rep. Lydia Blume, D-York, has sponsored a bill, LD 1572, to help the state plan for the amount of sea level rise that is scientifically predicted by the turn of the next century. The Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted to advance the bill on a 10-3 vote last week.

AUGUSTA - The Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted Monday to advance a measure by Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, that would incorporate African American studies into Maine's statewide learning standards. The bill was amended to include proposals brought forth by Sen. Louie Luchini, D-Ellsworth, to also require the study of genocide and the Holocaust. The vote was 11-1.

AUGUSTA - The Maine Legislature's Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business (IDEA) approved a bill to recruit and retain Maines child care workforce from Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford by a vote of 10-1 on Tuesday, with two members absent.