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What we're reading
— Members of the Legislature's transportation committee were skeptical on Monday of a Republican lawmaker's proposal to suspend the gas tax through the end of 2022. Sens. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, and Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, said they wanted more information on the idea from Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, before issuing opinions on it. Both indicated a desire to keep transportation funding steady. The tax is expected to generate $184 million for the rest of the year as the main state-side source of road and bridge funding. Libby's proposal came on the same day gas prices neared record levels here. See where Maine's highest and lowest prices were as of last night here.
— A Maine man who suffered in isolation told lawmakers on Monday that solitary confinement happens in the state. The comments from Zachary Swain, who was the subject of a Bangor Daily News investigation published this summer and was released from prison last week, estimated he spent 3 1/2 years in solitary confinement under a state definition. Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty said recently that the state does not use solitary confinement. A state official confirmed Monday that the department uses isolation in some cases.
— Mills' pick for the Maine Supreme Judicial Court would be the first Black justice on the state's high court. District Judge Rick Lawrence, a 22-year veteran of Maine's legal system who typically serves three western counties, was nominated to replace retiring Justice Ellen Gorman on Monday. Lawrence faces a confirmation hearing and must be approved by the Maine Senate. |
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Follow along today
9 a.m. The judiciary panel has scheduled a long day of work on a Democratic bill aimed at reviving "buffer zones" around abortion clinics and key tribal-rights measures. Watch here.
9:30 a.m. A bill from Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, that looks to strengthen sexual assault prevention policies at Maine universities will have a public hearing before the education committee. Watch here.
10 a.m. The health insurance panel will work on prescription drug measures from Jackson and other Democrats. Watch here.
The budget committee is set for the last round of hearings on Mills' supplemental budget proposal. The sporting, marine resources and energy panels will join appropriators in that order into the afternoon to hear briefings on their areas of the document. Watch here.
11:30 a.m. LePage holds a news conference to unveil what his campaign is only calling a "policy proposal" at F.O. Bailey Real Estate in Falmouth.
12 p.m. Mills participates in a panel discussion on women in leadership at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
3:15 p.m. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins meets with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Republican widely seen as the most likely in her party to back President Joe Biden's pick is expected to take questions from reporters after the meeting. |
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| 📷 Lead photo: Gov. Janet Mills greets the Legislature before delivering her State of the State Address from the State House in Augusta on Feb. 10, 2022. (Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via AP) |
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