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What we're reading
— Maine Republicans are taking a risk in running hard out of the gate against an unpopular President Joe Biden. From former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in the 2nd District to the Maine Senate's campaign arm, Republicans are hammering Biden in the early part of the 2022 election cycle. While it could help them rally their bases and build momentum, Maine also has a long history of ticket-splitting and divorcing elections somewhat from national themes.
— Maine's state employees' pension system has had to hang onto Russian investments that are now effectively worthless due to Western sanctions. That is because Russia has blocked brokers from selling foreign investments during the economic crisis stemming from President Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion. Only a one-thousandth of Maine's pension fund, roughly $19 million, was invested in Russia before the crisis. Now it is worth little and the state wants to get rid of the assets as soon as it can.
— Every top Maine prosecutor could be elected without opposition in November. Two incumbent district attorneys are not vying for reelection this fall. Two others have primary challengers. But unless more candidates step up before a March 15 filing deadline, there will be no competitive general elections in any of the eight prosecutorial districts just four years after only one Maine district attorney ran unopposed. |
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Follow along today
10 a.m. The housing panel will hold public hearings on Fecteau's affordable housing bill and others on the subject. Watch here.
The health committee will continue work on child welfare bills. Watch here.
Hearings on Mills' spending plan conclude today with the appropriations committee holding a daylong series of meetings with the State and Local Government, economic development and Veterans and Legal Affairs committees. Watch here. |
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| 📷 Lead photo: House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, stands for the National Anthem at the State House on June 2, 2021, in Augusta. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) |
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