A bill that won support from a legislative committee would create statewide police misconduct standards and empower the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s board to enforce them.
Politics
Local, statewide and national political news from the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
Bills to constrain governor’s executive powers rejected on party-line votes
The proposals to require more legislative oversight of civil state of emergency declarations were voted down by majority Democrats on the State and Local Government Committee.
Maine’s population grew 2.6% from last census, far below national rate of 7.4%
The Census Bureau released state population counts Monday, but more detailed demographic data will not be released until the summer.
Republican Sunbelt gains congressional seats as census shows population shift
For the first time in 170 years of statehood, California is losing a congressional seat.
Judge tosses suit that sought to block transgender athletes in Connecticut
Conservative lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced legislation to ban or limit transgender athletes from competing on teams or sports that align with their gender identity.
More action, less talk, distinguish Biden’s 100-day sprint
He has achieved a pandemic relief package of historic breadth and taken action to counter Donald Trump’s legacy.
Young adults’ relocations are reshaping political geography
Drawn by jobs and overlooked cultural amenities, they’ve helped add new craft breweries, condominiums and liberal voters to once more-conservative places.
Minority legislators sense moment to pass ‘bold’ legislation
They are seizing on the nation’s reckoning with racial injustice to insist equity be considered in a range of bills.
How Maine’s members of Congress voted last week
Among other legislation, the House passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, to require the Labor Department to make a new occupational safety and health standard for preventing workplace violence in the health care and social services sectors.
Waterville residents advocate for emergency insulin program
A 14-year-old boy, his mother and a woman who lost her son to Type 1 diabetes and the high cost of insulin testified before a legislative panel last week at a public hearing in support of LD 673, “An Act to Create the Insulin Safety Net Program.”