By Michael Shepherd - Dec. 22, 2022
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📷 A lobster rears its claws after being caught off Spruce Head on Aug. 31, 2021. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Good morning from Augusta. There are 13 days until Gov. Janet Mills' second inauguration and the convening of the Legislature for work in 2023.

What we're watching today

A landmark lobster deal flips the political conversation on the iconic industry. A year of peril and political wrangling for the lobster industry is ending in a deal cut by Maine's congressional delegation to tuck a six-year pause on right-whale regulations and potentially hundreds of millions in funding for fishing gear and research on risk to whales into a spending bill set to pass this week.

Gov. Janet Mills and members of the delegation held a news conference on Wednesday, where they detailed behind-the-scenes aspects of the deal, including a 3:30 a.m. call between Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, talks with the top congressional Democrats and coordination with the state to effectively subvert court decisions against the industry this year.

This is only a pause and the omnibus spending bill is not final yet. Any long-term solution to further rules for the lobster industry may lie in amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act, one of the key laws that has led to the federal government advancing rules aimed at protecting whales even though no entanglements have been linked to Maine fishing gear for decades. Conservation groups opposed this deal and would work hard against that.

The coordinated effort from Maine's big-name politicians underscored the unity around the industry. That is nothing new in a state where the fishery looms so large culturally, but it was also a far cry from where the dialogue was during the 2022 campaign. Mills was jeered at a public meeting by lobstermen, many of whom are mad at her over her support of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District was attacked on lobster issues by former Rep. Bruce Poliquin.

None of this amounted to much come Election Day. The two Democratic incumbents fared better than many expected in key lobstering areas on their way to pretty comfortable victories. Aside from partisans like House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, who appeared in a Poliquin ad against Golden, industry members largely stayed out of the fray as Mills and the delegation took up their cause against the federal rules.

That bore fruit after Election Day. The deal will not end all of the fighting over the industry. Minority Republicans in the Legislature are already pushing efforts to end limited state tax breaks that go to retail stores for Whole Foods after it dropped Maine lobster due to the species losing a third-party sustainability certification over purported risks to whales. At a recent protest, some also raised the idea of the state investigating groups critical of the industry.

It will be easy for lawmakers of both parties to pile onto Whole Foods, though the tax breaks are small potatoes for the Amazon-owned grocery giant with just one Maine store in the heart of Portland. The call for state investigations may be seen as a more provocative move. Offshore wind still looms large, but the conversation for now will be less existential than in the recent past.

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News and notes

📷 House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, gets emotional while speaking with tribal members including Chief Maggie Dana of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, left, following a vote on a tribal sovereignty bill at the State House in Augusta on April 12, 2022. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

🎤 The new House speaker elevates tribal voices ahead of the 2023 session.

◉ House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, said she was traveling to tribal lands in Penobscot, Aroostook and Washington counties this week and is looking to bring back a State of the Tribes address that would allow chiefs to speak to a joint session of lawmakers.

◉ Those are symbolic steps, but Talbot Ross, who sponsored the sweeping sovereignty law that failed to pass over Mills' opposition this year, has indicated she wants to make progress on the law during her term as speaker beyond the compromise law giving a new mobile sports betting market to tribes.

◉ How far to go on this could be a sticking point between Mills and Talbot Ross, the latter of whom has been one of the most progressive members of the House. Both sides have downplayed any tension going into the session, with the governor's office saying Mills considers the new speaker a friend.

💂 Committee assignments for the new Legislature come Friday.

◉ After a new Legislature is seated, the new list of committee members typically drops at the last minute before Christmas. In keeping with that proud tradition, a Ross spokesperson said they will be announced on Friday.

◉ The important appropriations committee, which will work out the two-year budget, is always watched closely. The last Senate chair, Cathy Breen of Falmouth, was termed out in 2022, and House chair, Teresa Pierce of Falmouth, assumed Breen's Senate seat. We are in for at least one new chair.

◉ Also of interest to State House observers is who will take over a new housing committee, plus who will lead the energy panel on the House side. Democratic members including Reps. Melanie Sachs of Freeport and Chris Kessler of South Portland could be in the mix.

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What we're reading

👍 A heating aid package with $450 relief checks for most Mainers is set to pass after a top Maine Senate Republican signed off on Wednesday.

📁 Two men who attended Catholic schools in Bangor claim a priest and a nun sexually abused them decades ago.

🏣 Penobscot County put $2.2 million toward housing in a new round of federal relief allocations.

🌅 Eastport wants to attract an airline offering flights to Portland.

💥 Mills' race with former Gov. Paul LePage easily smashed the record for Maine's priciest-ever gubernatorial election.

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