By Michael Shepherd - July 7, 2022
Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up.

Good morning from Augusta. There are 124 days until Maine's November elections.

What we're watching today

Maine is among the Democratic-led states putting up walls to abortion limits elsewhere in an uncertain legal environment. Gov. Janet Mills has been aggressive after the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn federal abortion rights, issuing a Tuesday executive order that bars Maine agencies from participating in criminal investigations of abortion in other states and signaling her intent to block extradition requests in those cases.

It puts the state at the heart a budding legal movement to counter red-state restrictions on abortion. Mills' order followed others in Democratic-leaning states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Legislatures that are still in session are passing new protections as well. Vermont and California will vote in November on adding an explicit constitutional right to abortion.

Maine cannot do all of this. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds votes in each legislative chamber before heading to voters and the part-time Legislature does not return until after the November election. But the state has strong protections in place that are going nowhere unless Republicans take full control of the Legislature and replace Mills with former Gov. Paul LePage.

For now, Mills' moves are more a preemptive political signal than a firm policy move. There is no indication that conservative-led states are investigating abortions intersecting with Maine, but the blue-state counters are coming in response to strict laws like those in Texas that allow people to sue those performing abortions or helping others to get one. LePage, an anti-abortion Republican, has not said which abortion limits he would support or whether he would rescind Mills' executive order.

Ten states already have sweeping bans in effect, according to Politico. Other states have seen the legality of abortion see-saw in recent days due to state-level legal challenges, including in Kentucky, where a ban is on hold. Even the states barring abortion will have barriers to enforcing their laws, with Democratic prosecutors and local officials saying they will not do so.

All of this goes to the strange intrastate legal environment playing out across the country. States generally cannot easily punish residents for conduct in other states not protect residents of other states from punishment in their home states. One Maine prosecutor said last month that he could only see his office involved in abortion cases elsewhere if asked to extradite a suspect.

That means Mills' order could have practical effects down the line if more conservative states win the legal fights necessary to enshrine their strict new limits. For now, the governor's moves can also be seen as trying to put pressure on LePage in a socially liberal state that nonetheless remains up for grabs in an uncertain November election.

🗞 The Daily Brief is made possible by Bangor Daily News subscribers. Support the work of our politics team and enjoy unlimited access to everything the BDN has to offer by subscribing here.

News and notes

There's one bad sign for an insulin bill championed by Maine's senior senator.

— Five Republican senators want to slow down plans from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to vote on a bill negotiated by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, that would lower the cost of insulin, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.

— The group of senators, including two members of leadership, sent a Wednesday letter to top Democrats urging them to send the bill through the Senate Finance Committee and not proceed quickly to a vote, saying the measure involves "trade-offs and far-reaching implications."

— Unless the proposal is baked into a spending bill that can pass with a majority, 60 votes are going to be required to pass this. The pause from Republicans is a sign that it may be hard to break the filibuster.

The state regrets the error.

— The Maine Department of Labor said on Thursday that it wrongly sent notices to more than 5,900 employers to tell them they had not paid their unemployment insurance contributions on time.

— Those employers will be getting letters in the mail informing them of the error and the department says it has corrected the problem.

📱Want daily texts from me tipping you to political stories before they break?
Get Pocket Politics. It is free for 14 days and $3.99 per month if you like it.

What we're reading

— Millinocket teachers and school staff will get raises this year even without a school budget that has been held up under a dispute with town councilors about financial transparency in the school district.

— The personalities of rodents could have a big effect on how forests regenerate, according to a University of Maine researcher.

— Home prices are dropping more around Maine's biggest cities, indicating that federal steps to rein in inflation are starting to hit the booming market.

— The Piscataquis County jail is the only one in Maine without staff qualified to administer medications to inmates. The county is planning to hire one part-time soon.

💰 Want to advertise in the Daily Brief? Write our sales team.

Photo of the day

Peter Willcox helps offload vehicles from the Captain Richard G. Spear ferry between Lincolnville and Islesboro on Wednesday. The retired Greenpeace sea captain stepped up to work on the vessel after service to Islesboro was threatened due to a crew shortage. (BDN photo by Abigail Curtis)

📷 Lead photo: Gov. Janet Mills attends the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce's annual award ceremony at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor on June 21, 2022 (BDN photo by Sawyer Loftus)

Copyright © 2022 bangordailynews, All rights reserved.
You're receiving this email because you opted in at our website, or because you subscribed to the Bangor Daily News.

Our mailing address is:

bangordailynews

1 Merchants Plz

Bangor, ME 04401-8302

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.