By Michael Shepherd - June 23, 2022
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What we're watching today

The Senate's bipartisan gun bill is dividing Maine gun-rights supporters and their national counterparts. Congress is poised to respond to a recent wave of mass shootings, including the one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two adults, after 14 Senate Republicans including Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats in advancing a gun, mental health and school safety bill this week.

If those margins hold, it will pass. Among the top items in it are money for states with "red flag" or other similar laws that allow judges to order the confiscation of guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others, tighter restrictions on people convicted of domestic violence, more stringent background checks on gun buyers younger than 21 and $15 billion for mental health and school security.

But that is not stopping some conservatives from mobilizing against it. Top House Republicans are imploring their colleagues to vote against it, according to The Hill. That group includes House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who will be in Bangor on Tuesday to raise money for former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican trying to return to his old 2nd District seat in a November race against Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.

All of that underscores Maine's atypical relationship to these talks. Collins was among the negotiators of the package. Golden, who has broken with Democrats on gun-control measures during his tenure, was working with the Republican senator on it as well alongside the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, the state's preeminent gun-rights group that beat back a 2016 background check referendum and past challenges to bear hunting here.

On those issues, the group aligns with the National Rifle Association. But it has broader interests in conservation and fishing and has enjoyed a good relationship with Gov. Janet Mills during her time in office so far. The Democratic governor has dissuaded members of her party from advancing new gun restrictions and both she and the alliance helped negotiate a "yellow flag" compromise law in 2019 that replaced a red-flag bill.

The rhetoric around the Senate bill from the NRA and the alliance could not be more different. The national group released a Wednesday statement assailing the bill, saying it could "restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians."

David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, said Wednesday his group is "still friends" with the NRA, but simply disagrees with them on the measure after working on it with Collins and Golden. He cited Maine's ability to win funding for its yellow flag law under the bill and the school safety money, terming opposition to the measure as lying more in politics than good policy.

"We're not going abandon our friends that we worked with in good faith," Trahan said in a reference to Collins and Golden. "That's not going to happen."

The alliance is digging in after Trahan said all members present at a board meeting backed the tack of continuing to engage on the Senate legislation. It could provide a significant amount of cover to Maine politicians in close races to get behind the legislation, with Golden and Poliquin chief among them.

Neither have come down with a final stance on the measure as drafted this week, but Poliquin told WVOM last week that he was in support of the framework. Golden's office has given a similar line. Gun limits are often a hot topic in Maine politics, but the sportsman's group and delegation members have taken some of the heat out of it this time.

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What we're reading

— Maine added about 60,000 new voters since the last gubernatorial election in 2018, but there are 10,000 fewer independents in a stark sign of polarization.

— The state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and a landmark Supreme Court decision by over-institutionalizing children with mental health and developmental disabilities, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

— Out-of-staters bought a higher share of Bangor homes than Portland ones so far this year in an example of their broad effect on the market. Read our coverage of Maine real estate and housing.

— Collins and Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, released their long-awaited bill to cap insulin costs on Wednesday. It is backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, but it is still unclear how much Republican support the bill can win in the Senate.

— Former Gov. Paul LePage's 2022 campaign was fined $3,000 for a late campaign finance report on Wednesday by the Maine Ethics Commission.

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News and notes

— A House panel advanced a defense spending bill early Thursday including a $37 billion budget increase led by Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District. It was opposed by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, but Golden's amendment still passed with bipartisan support. It includes funding for an additional Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and $250 million for shipyard upgrades. It now goes to the House floor and will have to be reconciled with a Senate version.

— The Supreme Court added said it would release decisions on Friday of this week, adding an extra day to its schedule with a dozen cases left to rule on before a planned summer recess. Among them is the landmark case that could end federal abortion rights. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England is planning a Portland rally and march on decision day.

— Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, sent a letter to Mills on Tuesday asking her to call a special legislative session to suspend Maine's 30-cent gas tax after President Joe Biden called for a suspension of the federal tax. The Democratic governor has resisted the idea, with her administration noting savings would be scant relative to $850 relief checks that began going out this month. Both Libby and LePage, who is Mills' 2022 opponent, put forward different gas tax cut plans in the spring that went nowhere in the Democratic-led Legislature.

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Photo of the day

Gov. Janet Mills speaks at the return of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce's annual award ceremony at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor on Monday. (BDN photo by Sawyer Loftus)

📷 Lead photo: Sportsman's Alliance of Maine Executive Director David Trahan listens to election returns on Maine's last bear-baiting referendum on Nov. 4, 2014, in Orono.(File photo by Michael C. York)

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