Author: Katherine Revello

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Maine Department of Education (DOE) will drop its statewide recommendation for universal masking in schools and childcare settings on March 9. Gov. Janet Mills’ administration announced on March 2 that the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had completed its assessment of recent changes to the U.S. CDC’s guidance on masking. “The Maine CDC has completed its assessment of the U.S. CDC’s revised guidance, as directed by Governor Mills. While it welcomes the simplified recommendations, which take into account important metrics such as hospitalizations, the Maine CDC encourages…

Maine’s General Fund revenue forecast will increase by approximately $411.6 million following a March 1 meeting of the Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC). Following the updated forecast, Gov. Janet Mills announced she will propose returning at least half of the additional surplus to Maine taxpayers in the form of direct checks. Mills’ original supplemental budget proposal called for giving half the projected budget surplus, then estimated at $822 million, to Maine taxpayers in the form of direct checks. During her State of the State address, Mills said this would amount to around $500 to roughly 800,000 eligible Mainers. According to Mills’…

On February 28, Gov. Janet Mills signed a proclamation expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine and called on the State Liquor and Lottery Commission to delist Russian-made spirits. According to a press release from the governor’s office, only two brands of Russian liquor, Russian Standard and Hammer + Sickle, sold in the state are Russian-made. All other Russian-branded spirits sold by Maine’s liquor stores are made by distilleries not located in Russia. Maine is one of 17 states in the nation that controls the wholesale sale of liquor. Maine law gives the State Liquor and Lottery Commission authority to…

The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business convened on February 22 to hold a public hearing on a bill that would create a mandatory state registration process for residential construction contractors. LD 1977, which is a committee bill, would prohibit construction contractors from submitting bids on or undertaking work as part of a residential construction contract unless they have registered through the electronic system created by the bill. Individual applicants would be required to provide their name, address, email address, telephone number, and employer identification number. Applications made on behalf of corporations, limited liability companies, and…

The Maine Legislature convened on February 23 to debate several pieces of legislation, including a bill that would ban the mandating of COVID-19 vaccines for five years and another that would add an equal rights amendment to the Maine Constitution if approved by voters at the ballot box. The legislature’s masking policy was also the source of a tense exchange in the House of Representatives. Before the chamber took its official picture, Rep. Kathleen Dillingham (R-Oxford) requested a roll call on a motion to temporarily suspend the chamber’s rule requiring members to wear masks for the purpose of taking the…

The Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee held a public hearing February 22 on LD 1959, a bill presented by Gov. Janet Mills that seeks to make the state’s utility companies more accountable by creating quarterly report cards based on service standards. The bill also creates a mechanism for utility companies that routinely fail to meet service standards to be sold to a consumer-owned, quasi-municipal corporation. The bill would give the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) greater authority to set minimum service standards for transmission and distribution utilities, including reliability of service, responsiveness to requests, accuracy in billing, the frequency…

Emil Westerlund recently left the University of Maine’s (UMaine) men’s ice hockey team because he did not want to receive a COVID-19 booster and couldn’t travel with the team without one. Westerlund previously received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine before contracting the virus in November 2021. “So I figured with the two vaccinations and having gotten COVID, that’s the best protection I could get. I had a natural immunity,” Westerlund told Larry Mahoney of the Bangor Daily News. Without a booster shot, Westerlund was unable to travel out of state with the team. According to Westerlund, the requirement that…

At least nine Maine hospitals are not complying with a federal price transparency rule, according to the findings of a report recently released by a patients advocacy group.  Patient Rights Advocate released a report in February surveying 1,000 hospitals and found only 14.3% were in compliance with a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule requiring hospitals to post their standard charges both in a machine readable file and as a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services. The survey included nine Maine hospitals and found none to be in compliance with the law. Calais Regional Hospital in Calais, Central Maine…

The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Labor and Housing held a public hearing on February 14 concerning LD 1673, a bill that would create a comprehensive permit process for affordable housing construction. The bill would create a state-level Affordable Housing Appeals Committee, which would hear appeals for permits that were denied at the local level. The bill would create a comprehensive permit process for low-income and moderate-income housing projects by allowing public agencies, nonprofits, and limited dividend organizations to submit a “single comprehensive permit application to build that housing in lieu of separate applications to the applicable local boards” to a…

On February 15, Gov. Janet Mills released her supplemental budget proposal, which includes $850 million in proposed spending and provides more detail on several policies she announced during her February 10 State of the State address. In a press release, the Mills administration characterized the governor’s proposal as a “cautious, fiscally-responsible approach, dedicating more than half of the surplus to one-time initiatives rather than ongoing spending.” Mills’ proposed budget would spend all but approximately $12 million of the revenue projected through fiscal year 2023. “The budget also leaves nearly $12 million in unappropriated funding for the discretion of lawmakers,” the…

During her annual State of the State address, Gov. Janet Mills announced her intention to return $411 million of the state’s projected $822 million General Fund surplus to taxpayers. “These givebacks, by direct checks to the people, will amount to about $500 per person and will be distributed to an estimated 800,000 taxpayers in Maine to help them offset added costs,” Mills said during her February 10 address. The governor’s speech Thursday was the first time Mills and a joint convention of the legislature met in-person for the address since the beginning of the pandemic. Mills reflected on the challenges…

The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Health and Human Services (HHS) convened on February 9 to hold public hearings on two similar bills that would replace the Fund for a Healthy Maine with the Trust for a Healthy Maine. Public testimony on one of those bills, LD 1693, largely focused on the ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products included in the legislation. Both LD 1523 and LD 1693 would redirect revenue from the Fund for a Healthy Maine, which was created by the legislature in 1999 to receive money the state received from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA),…

The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Marine Resources (MAR) met on February 8 to discuss two bills intended to help the state’s lobster industry. The committee held a public hearing on LD 1916, a bill that would create a legal defense fund for the state’s lobster industry to help with ongoing lawsuits against recent federal government rules imposing new gear requirements and the seasonal closure of Lobster Management Area 1. If passed, the bill would create the Lobster Legal Defense Commission and the Lobster Legal Defense Fund, along with a mechanism to raise money for the fund. To raise money for…

The Portland City Council voted unanimously on February 7 to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in the city. The ban will take effect on June 1 in order to give the Portland Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention Team time to “develop and disseminate a retailer campaign and other educational resources” and in order to coordinate with a similar ban on flavored tobacco products passed by the Bangor City Council in October 2021. The intent of the ban is to “address the increase in youth tobacco and nicotine use and prevent a new generation of addicted youth.” The changes to…

On February 7, Gov. Janet Mills unveiled an $8 million proposal intended to strengthen Maine’s child welfare system that will be included in her supplemental budget. Mills has said she will unveil her full budget proposal in the days following her State of the State address on February 10. Mills’ supplemental budget proposal will recommend adding 16 caseworkers and three casework supervisors to the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS). The additional caseworkers will be dedicated to “night and weekend shifts.” She will also propose adding additional support staff to the OCFS and creating a new regional associate director…

In late January, Gov. Janet Mills announced her administration has partnered with The Rockefeller Foundation to launch a pilot program that will distribute free at-home COVID-19 tests to eligible Maine households. Project Access COVID Test (ACT) makes 125,000 packages of five at-home rapid antigen tests available to 25,000 Maine households. Distribution of the tests, which are produced by iHealth, is being managed by Amazon and Care Evolution, a healthcare technology company, and paid for by a $7.45 million investment from The Rockefeller Foundation. Eligibility for the program is determined by zip code, using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and…

The Maine Legislature will vote on a bill this session intended to protect the rights of student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) after the measure received an affirmative vote from the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on February 1. The committee passed an amended version of LD 1893 by a vote of 7-4. The bill, if passed by the legislature, would prohibit colleges and universities in the state from preventing student-athletes from entering into contracts and receiving compensation from the use of their NIL. It would also prohibit colleges and universities from disqualifying a student-athlete…

On February 2, Gov. Janet Mills unveiled draft legislation intended to reform oversight of Maine’s private utility companies. Included in the legislation, preliminarily titled “An Act to Ensure Transmission and Distribution Utility Accountability,” is a provision that would require utilities to sell to a qualified buyer if they fail to meet the performance standards outlined in the bill. The bill directs the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to create minimum service requirement standards for transmission and distribution utilities. The rules must include standards for reliability of service, and govern the timeliness of various aspects of customer service, including responsiveness to requests…

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is updating the processes it uses to track and respond to Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests. On January 12, the department published changes to its website, notifying the public that Scott Perkins was taking over the role of public access officer. Previously, Kevin Wells served in this role. According to DHHS Communications Director Jackie Farwell, on January 12 the department “publicized Scott Perkins’ transition to public information officer on both its website and the broader state website listing Department FOAA officers.” The staffing change was not announced in a blog…

The Legislative Council met on January 27 and considered after-deadline bill requests to be introduced during the Maine Legislature’s ongoing second session. The council admitted 12 bills and tabled several more for future consideration. The Maine Constitution limits legislation that can be considered in the second session to budgetary matters, direct initiatives, bills in the governor’s call, legislation from study committees working while the legislature was adjourned, and emergency legislation. To be introduced, bills must receive approval from a majority of the Legislative Council, a 10-person body comprised of legislative leadership. The council approved a bill that would give electric…

Maine’s truancy rate tripled between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, increasing from just under 5% to just under 15%. During the 2020-2021 school years, the reported truancy rate was 9%, with just under 5% of truancies going unreported. According to Kelli Deveaux, communications director for the Maine Department of Education (DOE), COVID-19 had a significant impact on “nearly every routine of Maine schools and students.” Deveaux added the data on truancy rates for the 2020-2021 school year “must be considered through a lens that reflects disruption, fear, and a pandemic.” Truancy has several different thresholds in Maine, depending on…

Members of the Maine Legislature’s House of Representatives failed to override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto on Wednesday of a bill that would have given farmworkers the right to collectively bargain. The full legislature convened in-person on January 26 for just the second time this year. Mills vetoed LD 151 on January 7. Members of the House sustained the veto by a vote of 67-66. The Senate did not take up the bill, as a vote of two-thirds of the members of both legislative chambers is required to override the veto. The bill never reached the Senate because the veto was…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills will deliver the State of the State address on February 10. She will not release her supplemental budget proposal until after the address. Details about the address are still forthcoming, but the remarks will be delivered in-person from the House of Representatives chamber to a joint convention of the legislature. According to a press release from the governor’s office, Mills will discuss “the challenges Maine is facing, including the impact of the pandemic on the state; outline the actions her Administration is taking to strengthen the economy and improve the lives and livelihoods of Maine people,…

Maine’s unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.7% in December 2021, according to a release issued Tuesday by the Maine Department of Labor (DOL). The unemployment rate in November 2021 was also revised from 4.8% to 4.9%. The unemployment rate is now at its lowest level since March 2020. The labor force participation rate was 60.1% in December 2021. It has been between 60.1% and 60.4% for the past nine months. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs available in the state increased by 1,800. Following an upwards revision of 1,400 to November’s estimate of available jobs, the number of jobs available…

A preliminary estimate of drug-related deaths indicates 636 people died in Maine as a result of drug overdoses in 2021, a 23% increase from the previous year. According to Marcella Sorg, a research professor at the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, that number may change because of delays caused by COVID-19 and because of a 10-week delay in the processing of toxicology results. Sorg briefed the Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on January 18. According to Sorg, preliminary numbers indicate fentanyl was present in 590, or 77%, of documented drug-related deaths. That number includes suicides…

The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Labor and Housing voted not to move LD 555, a bill that would have given public employees the right to strike, out of committee during a work session on January 19. A motion of “ought not to pass” was supported by 9 of the 10 committee members present. The committee was scheduled to hear testimony on the bill during a public hearing earlier the same morning, but Rep. Mike Sylvester (D-Portland), the committee chair and sponsor of the bill, asked that LD 555 be moved directly to work session and that other committee members vote…

On January 13, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to vaccinate their workers against COVID-19 or implement weekly testing. The Court also upheld the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Interim Final Rule requiring healthcare workers that received Medicare and Medicaid funding to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The court’s majority order for National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Department of Labor was unsigned. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored a concurring opinion, which Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined. Justices Stephen Breyer,…

On January 12, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new changes to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) used by schools to respond to COVID-19 cases. The new changes allow schools with universal masking policies in place to suspend contact tracing. The change, which Maine CDC says was made following discussion with school superintendents, is the result of the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which may make contact tracing less effective. “The Maine CDC has determined that, because the Omicron variant is far more contagious than prior…

St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston has implemented a policy allowing employees who test positive for COVID-19 to come to work in some situations. Personnel who have tested positive for COVID-19 will only be allowed to work when “absolutely necessary” and the policy applies to workers who have had exposure to, have tested positive for, or are under investigation for COVID-19. Those workers will work in COVID-positive units and will be required to wear full personal protective equipment, including an N95 mask, gloves, and a face shield, at all times. According to a letter that was distributed to hospital staff and…

The Maine Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on LD 327, a Republican-sponsored bill intended to return a substantial part of budget surpluses to taxpayers.  LD 327 is a carryover bill from the 130th Legislature’s first session. A concept draft of the bill would put only funds necessary to cover the state’s obligations into the General Fund. Of the remaining funds, 75% would be returned to taxpayers on a pro rata basis, and the remaining 25% would go to the Budget Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund. However, during the public hearing,…

The January 11 special election for House District 27, which includes parts of Scarborough and Gorham, ended in victory for Democratic candidate Jim Boyle. With 100% of votes reported as of the morning of January 12, Boyle won with 57% of the vote, Republican Tim Thorsen finished second with 38.5% of the vote and independent candidate Suzanne Philips finished third with 5.4% of the vote. Turnout for the election was approximately 18%. The special election was the result of former Representative Kyle Bailey, a Democrat, who resigned on October 15, 2021. Bailey, who was serving his first term in the…

On January 10, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a joint temporary action allowing states to waive a portion of the skills test required to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is giving states the option to waive the portion of the CDL test that requires applicants to identify “under the hood” engine components. The policy is being waived in order to help states with school bus driver shortages. The waiver went into effect on January 3 and will expire on March 31. It applies only…

On January 7, Gov. Janet Mills vetoed LD 151, a bill that would have allowed farmworkers to collectively bargain in Maine. The bill was originally passed by the 130th Maine Legislature during its first session, but Mills held the bill before vetoing it last week. Under Maine law, if the legislature adjourns before the expiration of the 10-day period in which a governor can veto a bill, it can be vetoed within three days of the legislature reconvening. LD 151 would have allowed workers at farms that employ more than five people to organize and required agricultural employers to engage…

On January 1, Maine’s minimum wage increased to $12.75 per hour. The increase is the result of a law passed by ballot initiative in 2016 that indexed the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Northeast Region (CPI). The increase is determined annually in August by measuring the percent increase in the cost of living from the previous year. The 2022 wage is an increase of 60 cents. Between 2020 and 2021, the minimum wage increased by 15 cents. The law also increases the minimum wage for tipped workers and affects…

The second session of the 130th Maine Legislature began on January 5, with both the Senate and House of Representatives meeting in-person at the State House in Augusta. The legislature passed two joint resolutions, one adopting a procedure allowing legislative committees to conduct business remotely and another acknowledging the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol and honoring the law enforcement officers who protect legislators there and at the Maine State House. Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) asked for a roll call vote on the January 6 resolution in the House of Representatives. Andrews said he felt passing a…

The Portland City Council voted to repeal the city’s declaration of emergency and implement an indoor mask mandate at its meeting on January 3. The mask mandate will go into effect at midnight on January 5. The order repealing the city’s declaration of emergency, which was tied to a $19.50 hourly hazard pay wage required to be paid by the city’s businesses, was originally slated to be voted on at the council’s December 20 meeting. Staff in the city manager’s office had recommended the emergency order be repealed because it was passed to allow city council meetings to take place…

On December 30, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maine Department of Education (DOE) announced revisions to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for COVID-19 protocols in public schools. On December 27, the U.S. CDC announced it was shortening to 5 days the recommended quarantine time for asymptomatic individuals exposed to COVID-19 and the isolation time for individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. Maine’s updated SOP brings the state in line with the new federal guidelines by shortening isolation and quarantine periods to 5 days for students and staff. Individuals who are determined to be close…

The Mills administration has announced no plans to provide at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for Maine residents, but at-home tests may be available to Maine residents as a result of expanded federal government production of at-home rapid tests. At a December 8 press conference, Gov. Janet Mills spoke critically of the state’s ability to provide free, at-home COVID-19 testing to residents. “Home delivery? It’s not like delivering a pizza,” Mills said in response to a reporter’s question about whether the state would consider at-home delivery of COVID-19 tests. Lindsay Crete, Mills’ press secretary, later told the Portland Press Herald that Mills’…

On December 30 Gov. Janet Mills’ administration announced Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has been granted intervenor status in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service. Intervenor status allows a third party to enter ongoing litigation. It is usually granted to third parties affected by a court’s judgment and who should therefore have a right to be heard. “Maine cares about protecting the endangered right whale, but the Federal government’s regulations must be based in sound science and should account for conservation measures already taken by our fishery. I am glad my Administration has been granted intervenor status…

The Commission to Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions recently submitted its final report to the Maine Legislature. The report included nine recommendations for policies it recommends the legislature consider and numerous other suggestions that were discussed over the course of the commission’s seven meetings. The commission was established by legislative resolve and was required to review data on housing shortages for low-income and middle-income households, review laws that affect local housing regulations, review efforts being made by other states and municipalities to address housing shortages, consider measures to increase housing options, and review…

The number of students enrolled in Maine public schools grew in the 2021-2022 school year from the 2020-2021 school year, but remains below pre-pandemic enrollment levels. According to data released by the Maine Department of Education (DOE), there are 173,158 students enrolled in public schools across the state for the 2021-2022 academic year, an increase of just under 1,000 students from the previous year. During the 2020-2021 academic year there were 172,424 students enrolled in public schools. During the 2019-2020 school year, before the pandemic, there were 180,336 students enrolled in Maine public schools.  While overall enrollment for 2021-2022 increased…

Eight Maine hospitals will host federal ambulance teams, which will assist the state’s emergency medical services (EMS) workers with non-emergency transportations of patients between medical facilities. Gov. Janet Mills announced on December 21 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved the state’s request for the ambulance teams. The ambulance teams will be hosted by Maine Medical Center in Portland, Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford, Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and St. Joseph Hospital in…

The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) and the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) on December 14 released the Clean Transportation Roadmap to 2030, a study that recommends policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector. The study originated from an executive order signed by Gov. Janet Mills on March 30, 2021. The order directed the GEO and the GOPIF to work with the Department of Transportation, the Efficiency Maine Trust, the Department of Environmental Protection and “other agencies engaged in electrical vehicle advancement” to develop a roadmap to “accelerate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles,…

Federal appeals courts recently issued two decisions impacting federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements mandated by President Joe Biden earlier this year. Reversing a decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Sixth Circuit on December 15 dissolved the stay preventing the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) from implementing its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which requires all employers with 100 or more employees to vaccinate their workers against COVID-19 or implement weekly testing. Unvaccinated employees must also wear a mask in the workplace. The Sixth Circuit denied an en…

According to a schedule released on December 17, the 130th Maine Legislature will hold only two in-person sessions when it reconvenes in January for the second session. Committee meetings will be held remotely, with audio and video streams available to the public. In-person sessions are currently scheduled for January 5 and 26. According to a press release published jointly by Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) and Speaker of the House of Representatives Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford), the legislature’s presiding officers will “release a further session schedule in late January and will continue to evaluate the operations of the legislature on a…

For the month of November, Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 4.8%, a number that has largely been unchanged since February. The labor force participation rate was 60.3%, also little changed over the past eight months. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs in the state decreased by 1,100. In total, 613,100 nonfarm payroll jobs existed in November. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs for October was revised upwards by 700. According to the Maine Department of Labor (DOL), the number of nonfarm payroll jobs available in Maine has been mostly unchanged since summer and levels are similar to last spring. “The…

On December 16, a Maine judge denied a preliminary injunction that would have stopped Question 1, the November ballot initiative approved by voters which halted construction of the Central Maine Power (CMP) corridor, from going into effect. The law will go into effect on December 19. Judge Michael Duddy found plaintiffs New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) Transmission LLC “have not demonstrated a substantial possibility of prevailing on the merits.” The law in question, Duddy found, is uncertain on many of the points NECEC presented. “Thus, while the Court is unpersuaded by Plaintiffs’ legal arguments, this case presents many difficult…

When the 130th Maine Legislature reconvenes for its second session in January 2022, it will debate the state’s next supplemental budget. Following the announcement from the Revenue Forecasting Commission that the projected General Fund revenue surplus for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was revised upwards by 9.7%, Gov. Janet Mills, who is expected to release a supplemental budget proposal next month, expressed a desire to return some of the projected additional revenue to taxpayers. “I would like to examine ways we can use this additional revenue to provide direct financial relief to folks hard hit by these increases to help…

In March 2021, Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law requiring the Legislative Council to study the best method to create a system for attaching racial impact statements to legislation. LD 2 requires state agencies to provide data related to a piece of legislation’s racial impact to a legislative committee upon request.  The law also tasks the Legislative Council with performing a study to determine how to create a system of using racial impact statements for legislation, defined as “an assessment of the potential impact that legislation could have on historically disadvantaged racial populations.” The Legislative Council was required…

Less than one week after announcing she was activating up to 75 members of the National Guard to serve in non-clinical support roles in Maine hospitals and help handle a surge in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Janet Mills announced on December 14 that 38 members of the National Guard will be deployed to 10 health care facilities beginning December 16. The governor is deploying 15 members of the National Guard to Saint Joseph’s Manor in Portland and 12 members to Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston. An additional 11 members will be spread among Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Franklin…

Gov. Janet Mills appeared at a December 8 press conference held by the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to unveil new measures intended to help the state’s hospital capacity handle the recent surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Mills announced she has signed a directive activating up to 75 members of the Maine National Guard to address short-term staffing issues currently being faced by hospitals across the state. The announcement was made the same day Maine recorded 1,275 cases of COVID-19 and 379 people were hospitalized, both record highs for the pandemic. Mills said Maine’s health care…

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Carson v. Makin, a case involving religious freedom and what type of schools can qualify to receive public funding under Maine’s town tuitioning program. Maine’s town tuitioning program allows parents to enroll their child in any public or private school of their choice if they reside in a town that does not operate schools at the child’s grade level, and the town does not have an existing contract with another district to educate its resident students. However, state law prevents families from sending their child to a private school through…

At the Appropriation and Financial Affairs (AFA) Committee meeting on December 7, Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa discussed the stimulus funds Maine received from the federal government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maine State Economist Amanda Rector and Michael Allen, the state’s associate commissioner of tax policy, also provided an overview of recent news that the General Fund revenue forecast was revised upwards by 9.7%. According to Figueroa, Gov. Janet Mills will deliver a supplemental budget proposal addressing the surplus next month. Maine received $4.6 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA),…

On December 1, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in partnership with the Maine Department of Education, announced the winners of its youth COVID-19 vaccination video contest. High school students Renée Morin, Olie Saywell, Hunter Roberts and Ian Kruger, who attend The New School in Kennebunk, were awarded first-place. Second-place went to Spencer Michalski, an 8th grade student who lives in Columbia and is home schooled. Natalie Waters, a 6th grade student who attends Lincoln Middle School in Portland, won third-place. Under the contest rules, the school attended by students with the winning entry receive the prize…

The Commission to Create a Plan to Incorporate the Probate Court into the Judicial Branch held its final meeting on November 30. The commission discussed the recommendations to be made in its final report, which is due to the Legislature by December 1, and voted to approve a final plan. The commission was created by a joint resolution passed by the Maine Legislature in July 2021 and was tasked with creating a plan to create a probate court system with full-time judges, as well as to describe how it would be funded. The commission initially voted to accept a draft…

Maine’s rate of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes is currently the highest in the nation according to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For the week ending November 21, Maine’s rate of COVID-19 deaths per 1,000 nursing home residents was 2.45, revised down from 2.53. That rate is nearly eight times the national average of nursing home deaths. During that time period, there were 11 deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes.  The previous week, ending November 14, the rate of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes was also the highest in the nation, with a…

Following its November 23 meeting, the Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC) upgraded the state’s General Fund revenue forecast. The RFC projected revenue would increase approximately $822 million, or 9.7%, for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. The RFC revised its projections following a November 1 report from the Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission (CEFC), an independent group of economists that meets twice yearly to forecast Maine’s economy. The CEFC looks at wage and salary employment, personal income, the Consumer Price Index, and corporate profits to make its forecasts. In a press release celebrating the projected increase, Gov. Janet Mills’ office said “[p]rudent…

A federal district court judge found that Secretary of State Shenna Bellows violated free association rights of the Libertarian Party of Maine (LPME) when she began removing their affiliated voters from the state’s Central Voter Registration (CVR) system after they failed to meet statutory requirements relating to the number of voters enrolled in the party. In his ruling in Baines v. Bellows, Judge Lance Walker found the party’s right to association had been violated by the state’s political party registration requirements. Walker struck down two of the state’s ballot access laws that apply to emerging and minor political parties. The…

The governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island withdrew their support from the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) last week, effectively killing the plan in 2021. The possibility remains that the regional agreement is revisited in the future, but without at least three participating jurisdictions, the TCI will not take effect in the current calendar year. Washington, D.C. remains the only active participant in the formerly regional agreement. The TCI began in 2010 with a Declaration of Intent signed by 11 states plus Washington, D.C. Its goal was to create a regional compact of states that shared a goal of reducing…

Maine’s workforce conditions in October were little changed from September according to new data released by the Department of Labor (DOL) on November 19. Though the number of nonfarm payroll jobs in the state increased by 900 to 613,700, the state’s overall unemployment rate remained at 4.9%. Maine’s unemployment rate has been either 4.8% or 4.9% for the past nine months. Despite an increase in the number of jobs available in June and July, the DOL reports the number of available jobs has remained “largely unchanged since March.” The labor force participation rate also remained unchanged from September at 60.4%. …

On November 18, the Legislative Council met to consider appeals to legislative requests that were rejected at its October 25 meeting. In total, the council considered 105 requests that had been rejected and appealed by the November 1 deadline. The council accepted 46 bills, rejected 53, an additional five requests were withdrawn by their sponsors and one measure was tabled. To be considered during the 130th Maine Legislature’s second session, which will be held in January, legislation must receive at least six affirmative votes from the 10-person Legislative Council. During the legislature’s second session, the Maine Constitution limits legislation the…

In a blow to Maine’s lobster fishermen, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reinstated a seasonal closure of approximately 1,000 square miles of federally-managed fishing waters in the Gulf of Maine. The Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA1) area was the subject of a rule released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in late August. As part of a plan to protect North Atlantic right whales, which are listed as endangered by the Endangered Species Act, the rule closed the LMA 1 area between October and January and instituted new gear marking requirements for fishermen operating…

A question asking voters whether they want the legislature to direct a commission to study developing legislation that would create a publicly-funded healthcare system may appear on a future Maine election ballot. Maine Healthcare Action, a ballot question committee first formed in 2020, is currently collecting signatures for the effort. Their citizen initiative petition was approved for circulation by the secretary of state’s office on December 3, 2020. The group has until June 3, 2022 to collect enough signatures to pose their question to Maine voters. If their efforts are successful, the question will appear on a future Maine election…

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 12 permanently blocked implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to vaccinate their workers against COVID-19. A few days earlier, on November 6, the Fifth Circuit issued an emergency stay against the emergency temporary standard (ETS). That decision was made pending expedited judicial review of the rule. The Fifth Circuit issued its second ruling and reaffirmed its initial stay after it conducted judicial review. In its order, the Fifth Circuit wrote that it…

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Education (DOE) are currently accepting 30-second videos from Maine children aged 5 to 17 for a contest promoting COVID-19 vaccinations. The contest was announced November 3 and came the day after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. Like the vaccine for adults, Pfizer’s immunization for children under the age of 12 is administered in a two-dose series, but the dosage is lower for children under the age of 11 than for adults and children over…

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on November 10 released its final rule updating the immunization requirements for healthcare workers at designated healthcare facilities to include the COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike the emergency rule that went into effect in August, the final rule does not apply to dental health practices or emergency medical services (EMS) organizations. At a press conference jointly held with Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Nirav Shah and DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, the commissioner announced the publication of the final rule but did not immediately elaborate on the changes that…

The administration of Gov. Janet Mills announced on November 10 it will soon begin distributing “disaster relief payments” passed as part of the supplemental budget that was approved by the Maine Legislature and signed into law by the governor at the end of June.  The payments of $285 will be distributed to 524,754 workers found eligible to receive them by the state tax assessor. Paper checks will be distributed through the mail beginning November 15. Eligible Mainers should receive the payments no later than December 31. The supplemental budget authorized the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) to transfer…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 6 granted an emergency stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to vaccinate their workforce against COVID-19. The emergency temporary standard (ETS) was published in the Federal Register on November 5 and gave employers 30 days to comply with its requirements. The ETS also requires employees who do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine to submit a negative COVID-19 test on at least a weekly basis, as well as to wear a mask while at work and near…

Maine’s requirement that healthcare workers at designated healthcare facilities be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 went into enforcement on October 29. With no religious or philosophical exemptions available to healthcare workers opposed to the mandate, October 29 signaled the final day of work for many healthcare workers opposed to vaccination and not qualified for a medical exemption. Public health officials in Gov. Janet Mills’ administration have not clarified the number of healthcare workers who are no longer in the workforce as a result of the vaccination requirement. Maine CDC first began reporting the vaccination rates of health care workers at designated…

Early returns on November 2 proved to be indicative of the results for Maine’s three ballot questions, which were all approved by the state’s voters. With approximately 15% of the votes returned on the night of the election, the “yes” votes suggested all 3 referendum questions would pass. Questions 2 and 3 were trending towards being approved in all 16 of Maine’s counties. Question 2, a bond issue, was the first statewide race of the night to be called. The Bangor Daily News and Decision Desk HQ, with whom the paper partnered for election night coverage, called the race at…

The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal for injunctive relief on October 29 in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for healthcare workers. The lawsuit was brought against Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by Liberty Counsel on behalf of roughly 2,000 anonymous defendants whom it claims are healthcare workers in Maine. Liberty Counsel claims the lack of religious exemption in the mandate violates the First Amendment rights of healthcare workers who have sincere religious objections to the vaccine. The lawsuit also argues that the lack of religious exemption in…

Recent enrollment numbers released by the Maine Department of Education (DOE) show that the number of students who are being homeschooled for the current 2021-2022 school year dropped approximately 33% from a year ago, but are still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to the DOE, there are just over 8,000 students in the state who are being homeschooled during the 2021-2022 school year. This is less than the over 12,000 students who were being homeschooled during the 2020-2021 school year, but more than the roughly 6,700 students who were being homeschooled during the 2019-2020 school year when…

On October 25 the Legislative Council met to consider bill requests for the 130th Maine Legislature’s upcoming second session. The Maine Constitution limits the business the legislature can consider in the second session to budgetary matters, legislation called for by the governor, emergency bills, legislation referred to committees for study and report during the first regular session and legislation that comes from direct citizen initiatives. In order to be considered during the second session, bill requests must receive affirmative votes from six of the Legislative Council’s ten members. The body is comprised of legislative leadership from both political parties and…

Gov. Janet Mills held a press conference on October 25 to announce funding for four programs intended to address Maine’s health care worker shortage by incentivizing people to pursue a career in medicine in the state. Though Mills billed the initiatives as “new,” funding for the four programs was included in LD 1733, the bill that authorized spending for the $1.1 billion the state received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Though the bill was brought forward as an emergency measure, it did not receive the two-thirds majority vote in both houses required for it to be immediately…

Maine’s unemployment rate remained largely unchanged between August and September. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly, from 4.9% in August to 4.8% in September. The unemployment rate has been either 4.8% or 4.9% for the last eight months. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), September’s “surge of coronavirus cases” set back jobs recovery, resulting in 3,000 fewer nonfarm payroll jobs than in August. The DOL also revised the number of nonfarm payroll jobs available in the state for the month of August. When it initially released data on the employment situation for August, the DOL reported a decrease of…

The Portland City Council voted unanimously on October 18 to change the city fee structure for licenses of amusement devices. Under the new amendment, the city will charge $153 for each of the first 25 devices a business has on its premises and $10 for each additional device. Prior to the vote, the city charged $153 per amusement device or pinball machine a business had on its premises. Whereas the city code previously assessed a fee for pinball machines separate from other amusement devices, the new code does not distinguish between pinball machines and other amusement devices, except for adult…

A commission directed by the Maine Legislature to create a plan to incorporate the state’s probate courts into the judicial branch held its first meeting on October 19. The Commission to Create a Plan to Incorporate the Probate Courts into the Judicial Branch was approved by joint resolution in July 2021 and is required to create a plan for a probate court system with full-time judges. It is also required to describe how the system it creates will be funded. Its report to the legislature is due no later than December 1. Currently, Maine’s probate court system is separate from…

On October 16, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the implementation of a seasonal ban on lobster fishing in Maine waters which was set to take effect on October 18. In a 28-page opinion granting injunctive relief, Judge Lance Walker found that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued “a substantial closure” of Maine’s lobster fishery “based on what appears to be a markedly thin statistical modeling methodology.” Walker said the agency’s approach in issuing its final rule departed “dramatically” from its past practices of “justifying closures based on known and predictable whale aggregations demonstrated by concrete evidence.” The…

As of October 7, there have been just under 3,000 reported cases of COVID-19 in Maine schools within the last 30 days. The Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) standard operating procedure for confirmed COVID-19 cases attempts to minimize the spread of the disease by quarantining infected students. Once a case has been confirmed by a positive test, designated school staff begin contract tracing of close contacts, defined as anyone “with exposure to the confirmed or probable case within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more.” But, in a change from the procedure that was in place last year, not everyone…

The Maine Legislature’s Republican leadership sent a letter to their Democratic counterparts on October 12 urging them to reconvene the legislature to address the Mills administration’s healthcare worker COVID-19 vaccine mandate that has led Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston to suspend some admissions. Days after CMMC revealed a contingency plan to lawmakers that would cut intensive care unit (ICU) beds by 50% and medical surgical beds by 40% in order to address workforce shortages, the hospital announced it is no longer accepting pediatric, heart attack, or trauma admissions. The hospital said it will assess and stabilize patients, if…

As the date of enforcement for Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers approaches, hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) are seeing employees resign rather than become immunized. Some of Maine’s biggest hospitals have had close to 100 employees resign since the vaccine mandate was announced, exacerbating staffing shortages that existed before the pandemic and have been made worse by burnout and quarantines in response to exposure to COVID-19. Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston recently closed its neonatal intensive care unit and is working on a contingency plan to address staffing shortages that will cut its intensive…

The Legislative Council met on October 7 to discuss its legal response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) final rule, which will seasonally close approximately 1,000 square miles of Maine’s lobster fishery. The council went into executive session to discuss details related to litigation and strategy. Based on that discussion, the council made a motion to move forward with finding legal counsel to file a brief in one of the ongoing lawsuits against NOAA’s final rule. Rep. Kathleen Dillinghim (R-Oxford) clarified that Suzanne Gresser, the legislature’s nonpartisan executive director, will search for independent legal counsel. If Gresser is…

At midnight on October 1, the position of state auditor will become vacant. Maine statute requires that the state auditor have certification as a public accountant, internal auditor, or information systems auditor. When Matt Dunlap was elected to the position of state auditor on December 2, 2020 by the Maine Legislature, he did not possess those credentials. Maine statute gave him nine months from January 4, 2021, when he took the oath of office, to receive those credentials. Dunlap chose to pursue internal auditor credentials, but failed to obtain them before the nine month deadline. He sent a letter to…

The Maine Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced the state’s minimum wage will increase by 60 cents on January 1, 2022. The minimum hourly wage is currently $12.15 but will increase to $12.75 next year as the result of a law initiated by ballot initiative in 2016. The law indexes the state minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Northeast Region, which is published by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The law went into effect for the first time on January 1, 2020, and on that same date in 2021,…

The Maine Legislature convened on September 29 and approved new maps for federal congressional districts, state House of Representatives and Senate districts, and county commissioner districts. All four maps passed both chambers by more than the two-thirds majority required by the Maine Constitution. The Senate passed each of the four maps unanimously by votes of 31-0. The House of Representatives passed the congressional districts map by a vote of 127-0, the county commissioner and Senate district maps by votes of 129-0, and the new House districts map by a vote of 119-10. The legislature made no changes to the maps…

Arcadia National Bar, an arcade-themed bar in Portland, has been closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bar’s owners, Dave Aceto and Nicole Costas-Rosa, are preparing to reopen at a new location, but not before paying over $18,000 to the city for a liquor license application. Over $15,000 of that amount is fees for amusement devices and pinball machines. Portland charges $153 per amusement device and $33 per non-mechanical pool table. The application fee is approximately $15,000 more than what Arcadia paid at their previous location, where they rotated between 20 to 30 games available for their patrons…

Hours ahead of its September 27 deadline, the Apportionment Commission met for the final time and approved new district maps for the state Senate, as well as minor changes to the district maps for the state House of Representatives. The commission had previously approved House maps on September 24, but decided to make several changes after receiving public feedback about the importance of keeping communities of interest together. The commission voted to move Sullivan from District 18 to District 12 and Cherryfield from District 12 to District 18. They also voted to move Islesboro from District 39 to District 40…

Maine’s Apportionment Commission voted to approve new district maps for Maine’s House of Representatives and congressional districts during its September 24 meeting. The commission previously approved maps for new county commissioner districts and will meet again on September 27 to discuss district maps for the state Senate. The House map approved by the commission differed from the unified plan originally proposed by the Democratic and Republican caucuses. Dave Emery, a liaison between the Republican caucus and commission, noted that the final House map moved several blocks into Westbrook, which resulted in the Democratic incumbent returning to what will become District…

Maine’s Legislative Council voted to reinstate its COVID-19 Prevention Policy, which requires face masks to be worn in the State House, during its September 23 meeting. The policy is identical to the one that was in place during the legislature’s first session, with the exception of a requirement that committee meetings be held remotely. The motion to reinstate the policy passed by a vote of 7-3. Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin), Rep. Joel Stetkis (R-Canaan), and Rep. Katleen Dillinghm (R-Oxford) opposed reinstating the policy. Stetkis questioned who the policy was trying to protect. He noted there is a difference between today…

According to the Maine Department of Labor’s (DOL) Center for Workforce Research and Information, the number of nonfarm payroll jobs in Maine decreased by 1,200 during the month of August to 617,200. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9%. The DOL reports that the number of payroll jobs has increased by 31,500 over the past year, but there remain 22,800 fewer jobs in the state than in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Private sector jobs decreased by 100. The rest of the month’s job losses came from government jobs, mostly in local government. The DOL also reported that jobs…

The Apportionment Commission held a public hearing on September 20 to hear public input on some of the district maps it released on September 16. The commission has until September 27 to submit its redistricting recommendation report to the legislature for consideration. If it misses that deadline, drawing new district maps will become the responsibility of the judiciary. The commission also unanimously voted to approve plans for new county commissioner districts and submit them to the legislature for approval. Both the Republican and Democratic caucuses agreed on the proposals for the districts. Both David Emery, a liaison between the commission…

On September 14, the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Marine Resources met and discussed the impact new rules recently released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will have on Maine’s lobster industry, as well as the state’s legal options for appealing the rules. On August 31, NOAA announced a new final rule amending its Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, which attempts to reduce the number of injuries and deaths to North Atlantic right whales, listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The new rules not only close nearly 1,000 square miles to lobstering between October and January,…

Approximately 25 percent of jobs in the United States require some kind of occupational license. A condition on which many occupational licenses are granted is that the applicant have “good moral character,” a term that about 70 percent of states that include this language in their occupational licensing regulations don’t define. According to John Wrench, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, “good moral character” phrases in occupational licensing regulations put a lot of power in the hands of licensing boards. Wrench called the phrase an “eye of the beholder issue,” which allows licensing boards to read their personal preferences…

During a September 15 meeting of the legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, Department of Education (DOE) Commissioner Pender Makin discussed the steps her department is taking to create a safe return to schools for the 2021-2022 year. Makin discussed the number of outbreaks schools are currently facing, 160 reported cases in schools as of September 14, which she said are the result of a “perfect storm” of the opening days of the school year colliding with a “precipitous surge” in the Delta variant of COVID-19. Makin attributed the number of cases schools are currently experiencing to several factors.…

The Apportionment Commission, which is responsible for using the 2020 census data to redraw Maine’s political districts, hopes to hold a public hearing on September 20. The commission has not yet released maps to the public, but hopes to by the end of the week. The commission is responsible for redrawing Maine’s congressional districts, state House of Representatives and Senate districts, and county commissioner districts. The commission has until the close of business on September 27 to approve a redistricting plan and submit it to the legislature for a final vote. During its September 10 meeting, members of the commission…

There are a growing number of legal challenges to Gov. Janet Mills’ requirement that healthcare workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit religious liberty organization that routlinely files litigation on behalf of clients whose religious freedom it believes has been violated, sued the state of Maine on August 25. Its class action lawsuit was filed against Mills, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner (DHHS) Jeanne Lambrew, Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Nirav Shah and five of Maine’s hospitals.  The suit, which was filed with the Maine branch of the U.S. District Court, has…

The number of state legislators who have signed a letter calling for President Biden to reverse a recent decision that would close the nearly 1,000 square mile Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1) Seasonal Restricted Area in the Gulf of Maine from October through January is growing. The bipartisan group of 151 state lawmakers who have signed the letter, which calls on “applicable agencies” to re-engage with the state’s agencies and stakeholders to find another path forward, includes the minority and majority leadership from both legislative chambers. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the seasonal closure of the…

According to Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, Maine healthcare workers will not be able to opt out of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate by routinely submitting negative tests. At a September 2 press conference, Lambrew was asked whether concern that the mandate might result in healthcare workers leaving the workforce would lead the state to consider a testing alternative. “I think we believe that the number one best way to protect against COVID-19 is the vaccine. We have in the state of Maine had long-standing policy about the battery of vaccines and immunizations that help keep…

Gov. Janet Mills’ administration recently announced it is awarding Maine hospitals and long-term care facilities $146 million to support workforce retention and recruitment efforts. The announcement came days before three nursing homes in the state announced they will close this fall. The Country Manor Nursing Home in Coopers Mills, the Somerset Rehabilitation and Living Center in Bingham and the Island Nursing Home in Deer Isle all recently announced plans to close, some as soon as October, as a result of a number of factors, including staffing shortages. Maine’s healthcare workforce shortage has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well…

The future of the Shawmut Dam remains in question. Following a draft ruling that announced the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) intention to deny Brookfield White Pine Hydro’s application to renew its license to operate the Shawmut Dam, Brookfield withdrew its application.  The company has announced its intention to file a new application within 60 days. The DEP would have a year after receiving the application to make a decision. Should the DEP deny Brookfield’s second application, the decision would likely lead to the closure of Sappi’s Somerset paper mill. The dam’s long-term survival is uncertain, but it is…