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News and notes
There's one bad sign for an insulin bill championed by Maine's senior senator.
— Five Republican senators want to slow down plans from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to vote on a bill negotiated by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, that would lower the cost of insulin, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.
— The group of senators, including two members of leadership, sent a Wednesday letter to top Democrats urging them to send the bill through the Senate Finance Committee and not proceed quickly to a vote, saying the measure involves "trade-offs and far-reaching implications."
— Unless the proposal is baked into a spending bill that can pass with a majority, 60 votes are going to be required to pass this. The pause from Republicans is a sign that it may be hard to break the filibuster.
The state regrets the error.
— The Maine Department of Labor said on Thursday that it wrongly sent notices to more than 5,900 employers to tell them they had not paid their unemployment insurance contributions on time.
— Those employers will be getting letters in the mail informing them of the error and the department says it has corrected the problem. |
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What we're reading
— Millinocket teachers and school staff will get raises this year even without a school budget that has been held up under a dispute with town councilors about financial transparency in the school district.
— The personalities of rodents could have a big effect on how forests regenerate, according to a University of Maine researcher.
— Home prices are dropping more around Maine's biggest cities, indicating that federal steps to rein in inflation are starting to hit the booming market.
— The Piscataquis County jail is the only one in Maine without staff qualified to administer medications to inmates. The county is planning to hire one part-time soon. |
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| Peter Willcox helps offload vehicles from the Captain Richard G. Spear ferry between Lincolnville and Islesboro on Wednesday. The retired Greenpeace sea captain stepped up to work on the vessel after service to Islesboro was threatened due to a crew shortage. (BDN photo by Abigail Curtis) |
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| 📷 Lead photo: Gov. Janet Mills attends the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce's annual award ceremony at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor on June 21, 2022 (BDN photo by Sawyer Loftus) |
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