The former governor, running for a third, non-consecutive term, spoke for 35 minutes at the Republican Convention on Saturday.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Heraldโs first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maineโs lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globeโs Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her familyโs next adventure.
Maine Republicans adopt platform to ban sexually based material, transgender identity in schools
The Maine Republican Party kicked off its two-day convention in Augusta by also rejecting an effort to remove the party’s one woman-one man definition of marriage.
Relief checks of $850 could arrive in June after Gov. Mills signs budget
More than half of the $1.2 billion budget surplus will be used to mail $850 relief checks to most Maine residents.
Maine lawmakers approve $1.2 billion state budget
The Legislature easily passed a budget proposal on Tuesday, including funds to send $850 checks to more than 850,000 Mainers.
State lawmakers approve bill to force insurance companies to cover fertility treatments
Maine and Vermont are the only two New England states that don’t provide such coverage now, but opponents say it will cost too much and drive up insurance rates for everyone.
Legislature’s budget panel supports payments to taxpayers, expands eligibility
Under the committee plan, couples earning up to $200,000 a year would now receive $850 relief payments.
Senate approves bill to give the Passamaquoddy Tribe authority over water on its own lands
But the bill granting the tribe the right to regulate its own drinking water supplies would have to pick up at least one more vote to override a possible veto from Gov. Janet Mills.
Lawmakers shield state tobacco fund, but expand its mission
A bill approved by the House and Senate would create a board of trustees to oversee the state’s tobacco settlement money, while also broadening the trust’s mission from tobacco prevention to public health.
Lawmakers quietly shelve bill to double motor vehicle inspection fee
The House killed the bill without discussion Monday after Gov. Janet Mills threatened to veto it and the Senate voted to table it indefinitely.
Maine lawmakers approve ban on pesticides containing PFAS by 2030
The legislation, which has divided the state’s farming community, was passed by the Senate on Monday after gaining approval in the House last week.