The bill would require states to automatically register eligible voters and offer same-day registration, but it faces big obstacles in the Senate.
Politics
Local, statewide and national political news from the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
Posted inMaine, Nation & World, News, Politics
Sen. King to chair Senate panels on national parks and nuclear forces
Maine’s junior U.S. senator was tapped to chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, and a subcommittee that oversees U.S. nuclear and strategic forces.
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Posted inBusiness, Maine, News, Politics
Legislative panel votes to keep Maine’s ban on plastic shopping bags
Enforcement of the law has been temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted inNation & World, Politics
House cancels session because of ‘possible plot’ to breach Capitol
The threat appears to be connected to a far-right conspiracy theory, mainly promoted by supporters of QAnon, that Trump will rise again to power on March 4.
Posted inNation & World, News, Politics
Democrats agree to narrow who gets $1,400 checks in COVID-19 relief bill
A Democratic official says President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats have agreed to tighten the upper income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks in the party’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
Posted inNation & World, News, Politics
Sen. Collins to back Haaland for Interior secretary, sealing her approval
The announcement makes Haaland’s confirmation by the Senate nearly certain and follows Haaland’s endorsement last week by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
Posted inNation & World, Politics
Biden urges Senate Democrats to rally behind $1.9 trillion virus relief bill
The legislation would provide $1,400 payments to individuals plus hundreds of billions of dollars for schools and colleges, COVID-19 vaccines and testing, mass transit systems, renters and small businesses.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Bill seeks to ban the use of aerial herbicides in Maine forests
Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, a logger and the bill’s sponsor, said aerial application of glyphosate and other herbicides has caused irreversible environmental damage.
Posted inNation & World, Politics
Neera Tanden withdraws as Biden’s budget nominee after her tweets draw criticism
Among those opposed to Tanden, a domestic policy expert who helped author the Affordable Care Act, was U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Posted inBusiness, Politics
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo confirmed as commerce secretary
During her hearing, the former venture capitalist said she would prioritize efforts to revitalize American manufacturing.