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| 📷 Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, left, and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, talk as lawmakers and intelligence advisers arrive for a briefing at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 9, 2023. (AP photo by J. Scott Applewhite) |
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🧾 Maine's junior senator makes some promises on Social Security reform.
◉ With attention building around their bipartisan Social Security reform talks, Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said in a Friday statement that they are considering dozens of changes in addition to a high-profile idea of raising the retirement age, including locking early retirement at 62, protections for lower-wage workers and ways to increase benefits.
◉ The retirement age change has already been criticized from the left by Collins who likely would be central to any deal on the matter because of her centrist position in the chamber. King and Cassidy are also mulling a sovereign wealth fund that would invest borrowed money to shore up the program.
◉ "Under what we are discussing, millions would immediately receive more, and no one would receive less," the pair said, adding they will publicly release their proposal when it is fully developed.
🛷 A dog-sledding race turned northern Maine into a political hotspot.
◉ The capital for the weekend was Fort Kent, where the Can-Am international dog sled races were swept by women for the first time when Katherine Langlais of New Brunswick knocked off a 10-time champion in the 250-mile race, which finished early Monday.
◉ Collins gave opening remarks, while Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, brought fellow lawmakers including House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, to his district for a town-hall meeting. (Sens. Stacy Brenner, D-Gorham,and Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, sang some karaoke at the Mooseshack in Fort Kent, according to one Facebook commenter.) |
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What we're reading
🔥 The fire marshal's office is accused of retaliating against investigators.
🌐 A small town struggles for broadband aid despite Maine's windfall.
☎️ Lawmakers are considering making jail calls to lawyers free, the Maine Monitor reports.
💦 Maine Public reports on a new push to protect groundwater.
🔨 This Maine settlement's only public building is getting renovated.
🏀 This blown call proved Maine needs replay in the basketball tournament, columnist Lucas McNelly argues. Here's your soundtrack. |
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