Blog Archive: June 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY
AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE LD 1708!

LD 1708, An Act To Create the Pine Tree Power Company, a Nonprofit Utility, To Deliver Lower Rates, Reliability and Local Control for Maine Energy Independence, would force a $13.5 billion state takeover of Central Maine Power (CMP) and Versant Power and create a government electric utility run by a board of elected politicians.

Call your legislator today and urge them to oppose LD 1708
and stop the rush to government-controlled power.

LD 1708 would create an unprecedented government takeover of the state’s two largest property taxpayers that will raise electric rates for decades to come.

Passage of LD 920 will have a chilling effect on broadband expansion in Maine

As amended, LD 920, An Act To Promote Oversight of and Competitive Parity among Video Service Providers, would make video service providers and streaming services delivered over the internet a “public utility,” subject to the multitude of regulations that currently cover gas, electric, and water companies. Passage would result in a sea-change in Maine law and add costly new fees to cable customers’ monthly bills, making recovery from a difficult year even more challenging. What’s worse, this preemptive fee could make Maine vulnerable to costly litigation, further burdening taxpayers. And that’s not all - the bill discriminates against providers of streaming services that are investing in critical broadband infrastructure for the state of Maine. 

DURING THE PAST 10 YEARS, MAINE EMPLOYERS PAID MORE THAN $1.36 BILLION INTO THE UNEMPLOYMENT TRUST FUND, AVERAGING $136 MILLION A YEAR. YOU DESERVE A VOICE!

Maine employers do not object to discussions about potential changes to the Maine unemployment insurance system. We do however object to being shut out and to our interests being dismissed. Legislation under consideration (LD 1564 was amended to include elements of LD 1571), would:

• Increase the cost of unemployment insurance paid by employers;
• Outsource some traditional Maine Department of Labor functions to private advocacy groups; and,
• Offer little help to employers – in fact, postponed were proposals to make the UI program more effective in getting unemployed workers back to earning paychecks and to make work-share more beneficial to employees and employers.

MEREDA needs your help!   We need you to contact your local legislators and tell them to vote NO on LD’s 1143, 1255, and 1296.   These three bills deal with landlord-tenant law, and specifically termination of tenancy at will (1143) and eviction proceedings during states of emergency (1255, 1296). These bills were supported by a majority of the members of the Judiciary Committee, and if we don’t take action now, they could become law within the next couple of weeks.

LD 498 punishes the hard work and success of Maine families and threatens Maine jobs, investments, and economic growth!

CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY
AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE A 3% TAX ON INDIVIDUAL INCOME
IN MAINE, REGARDLESS OF FILING STATUS!

LD 498, An Act to Reauthorize a 3 Percent Tax on income Over $200,000 To Lift All Maine Workers out of Poverty, punishes the hard work and success of Maine families and threatens Maine jobs, investments, and economic growth!

LD 498 threatens to stifle Maine’s fragile economy…

• Increasing Maine’s individual income taxes will impact jobs and investments, and will ultimately shrink, not grow, Maine’s economy.
• This bill punishes success and those who work hard to achieve it.
• This bill will hurt small businesses that have already been hit hard by the pandemic. In Maine, approximately 80% of businesses are established as LLCs, partnerships, or S-Corps. In those instances, the income from the business flows through to the individual taxpayer(s), and he or she is responsible for paying the income tax directly.
• The Legislature has consistently lowered the top individual income tax rates since 2011. Any increase would be a step backwards, and Maine cannot afford that!

On Thursday evening, June 10, the Maine House of Representatives took up LD 553, An Act to End Employment at Will, for initial debate. After a spirited 45-minute discussion, the House overwhelmingly rejected the proposal (99-35).  The rebuke of the majority report was significant for the amount of bi-partisan support it received.  To see how your local legislators voted, you can find the Roll Call here.

Acting Up: HCA to Offer Political Theater with Renowned Professor 

HCA: A School for Social Change, Entrepreneurship and the Environment

Brunswick, Maine — “Theater should be relevant to the community,” says Lee Rose, who joins Harpswell Coastal Academy (HCA) this fall as the director of its new political theater program. Course offerings will range from acting to stagecraft & design to public speaking, but political theater — or theater as a vehicle for social change — will be the focus. 

Mid Coast Hospital Providers Train Tufts Medical Students

Brunswick, ME – On June 1, two medical students begin a nine-month clinical rotation at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. Maine Track students Katherine Brady and James McCullum are gaining valuable hands-on training under the supervision of Mid Coast providers as part of the Tufts University School of Medicine – Maine Medical Center Program (TUSM-MMC) Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) program.

Mid Coast Hospital has participated as a training site for the program, commonly referred to as “the Maine Track,” since 2011. While enrolled in the program