Author: Nick Murray
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Massachusetts’ Flavored Tobacco Ban Costs State $114 Million, Black Market Flourishing
(This article was originally posted at Maine Policy Institute’s Pine Tree Beat. Click here to access more of MPI’s policy related research and anlysis.) Several years after Massachusetts imposed stricter tobacco regulations in June 2020—including a ban on all flavored tobacco products including e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes, plus a 75% tobacco excise tax hike—cross-border smuggling…
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Troy Jackson is Wrong on Income Tax Cuts
In a video posted to Youtube on Saturday, Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) said all income tax cuts are essentially tax cuts for the wealthy. He’s wrong. Jackson touts property tax “relief,” which often means giving more tax dollars to towns with no guarantee of lower mill rates, but he declares any reduction in income…
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Maine Purchasing Power Lags New Hampshire
SmartAsset recently published its 2022 Cost of Living Calculator which charts the average cost of living and per capita income of every county in the United States. The calculator lets readers compare the cost of living in their county to any other county in the nation by tax rate, housing costs, and food costs. Using…
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Opinion: New report shows why statewide housing mandates are unnecessary
Up For Growth (UFG), a nonprofit membership organization which was “founded to elevate and amplify the need for solutions” to the housing issue, recently published a report on the state of housing supply in the United States. It was sponsored by numerous entities like the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Habitat for Humanity, the Walton Family Foundation, and…
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Opinion: Lawmakers must clarify vague mineral mining law on lithium next session
Last October, public interest journalism outfit The Maine Monitor broke the story of a newly-discovered large—and extremely valuable—lithium ore deposit in Newry, a small town in western Maine which is home to the Sunday River ski resort. The deposit, contained on a gem mining site known as Plumbago North, is considered to be one of…
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Opinion: Mills’ broadband bureaucracy grows larger with more Biden bucks
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department approved a plan to invest $110 million “to strengthen or expand broadband infrastructure across the state.” The funds will go through the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), a state agency set up last year to manage and distribute millions in broadband spending. According to state and federal officials, the funding will be focused on…
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Opinion: Mills’ broadband bureaucracy expands with massive infusions of Biden bucks
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department approved a plan to invest $110 million “to strengthen or expand broadband infrastructure across the state.” The funds will go through the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), a state agency set up last year to manage and distribute millions in broadband spending. According to state and federal officials, the funding…
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Why isn’t Maine’s preferred K-12 gender identity curriculum more accessible to parents?
In the aftermath of widespread pandemic-era learning disruptions, many parents and community members are seeking more information on what is being taught in Maine’s classrooms. While the administration of Maine Gov. Janet Mills maintains distance from the actions of school boards and teachers, several recent developments highlight the extent to which the state government has…
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Lockdowners are still unwilling to recognize harms they brought on youth
Is it possible that despite the mounting evidence against them, some lockdown enthusiasts are still unwilling to let go of failed COVID-19 “mitigation” policies? When the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally updated public data this April on which US counties employed mask mandates and which did not, the picture became much…
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Tobacco harm reduction–not prohibition–is the path forward for Maine
Last month, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is developing “product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars.” This is trodden ground for Mainers. Even before President Joe Biden signaled this move, nanny-state politicians and west coast activists have…
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Remote learning correlated with greater K-12 learning loss, study finds
A new study recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that students with greater access to in-person learning versus remote or hybrid learning during the pandemic had reduced learning losses, as measured by state assessments, in Spring 2021. The research team was led by Emily Oster, an economics professor at Brown…
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Final version of local zoning, affordable housing bill leaves much to be desired
Last week, LD 2003, a bill sponsored by Speaker Ryan Fecteau to reform local and state-level housing policy, passed engrossment votes in both the House and Senate, largely along party lines. This Monday, the House voted to enact the bill, and the Senate subsequently placed it on the special appropriations table pending enactment. After weeks of intense…
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State government-controlled healthcare system would raise costs, jeopardize access to quality care
Mainers deserve access to high-quality health care with an affordable price tag. Following the events of the last two years, it’s more important than ever to ensure we’re meeting this goal. That’s why policymakers in Augusta should focus on what has been working for Mainers as they continue to work toward this objective. We should…
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Fentanyl now the leading cause of death for adults ages 18 to 45
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data now show fentanyl overdose to be the top cause of death among US adults aged 18-45, surpassing those attributed to COVID-19, suicide, and car accidents. From 2018 to 2020, out of 100,000 adults of that age group, 19.4 succumbed to a fatal fentanyl overdose. A report by…
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Why are Maine lawmakers letting special interests nickel-and-dime us on vehicle inspections?
Mandatory motor vehicle inspections already cost Mainers $14 million and countless hours of wasted time every single year, but just the other day, a majority of the Maine House voted to double the fee charged per vehicle inspection fee from $12.50 to $25. It’s hard to believe that in the midst of 40-year high inflation seen across…
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Congress must pump the brakes on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
Antitrust is a hot topic in Washington lately. The pervasive reach of big technology companies into our personal lives and economy has drawn the attention and ire of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, but for different reasons. Many Democrats are increasingly wary of the size, power and reach of these companies and the effects…
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Decisions on masking schoolchildren belong to parents
The dominoes are falling. In just the last month, public leaders of numerous (though not all) European countries, the nation of Israel, as well as some Republican-led US states such as Virginia and Iowa have moved to remove much or all of their remaining public COVID restrictions. On Monday, a suite of Democrat-led coastal states followed suit. Governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut,…
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New revenue surplus should prompt real tax reform
In late November, the Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC), a branch of the Maine Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review, released its latest projection of tax revenue expected to reach state coffers by the end of the current two-year biennial budget cycle ending June 2023, as well as the next biennium. Buoyed by higher-than-expected consumer…
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Who’s really to blame for inflation?
Last month, inflation in the US reached 6.2%, the highest year-over-year increase in more than three decades. Measured via the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by what’s known as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a basket of selected goods like food, energy, housing and others are chosen to determine the average price. The Producer Price Index (PPI) is also tracked…
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Ten percent of workers affected by Gov. Mills’ mandate have left covered facilities since July
A recent analysis of the data in Maine CDC’s Health Care Worker COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard revealed that, while rates of vaccination among healthcare workers increased since Gov. Mills decreed that all Maine healthcare workers must be vaccinated for COVID-19 on August 12, this is not the whole story. Maine CDC tracks five types of “designated…
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Hampden voters right to reject $4.5 million bond to establish municipal-owned broadband network
This past election day, Mainers faced two contentious statewide ballot questions, but many local initiatives faced the scrutiny of voters as well. Residents of Hampden, a town of around 7,500 near Bangor, were asked to weigh in on a proposal to bond $4.5 million dollars to build a government-owned network (GON) tasked with delivering fiber-optic…
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The Mills administration’s reliance on (political) science
Reports across Maine over the last month have detailed the several healthcare facilities forced to curtail services because of staffing shortages. While this rationing of care is due in part to issues which have plagued Maine’s economy for years, as Governor Janet Mills contends, it also comes in response to Mills’ mandate that all healthcare workers be “fully vaccinated”…
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New school choice project highlights need for more educational options in Maine
A new publication from Maine Policy Institute shows which municipalities in Maine allow public K-12 education funding to follow their resident students to a school of their choice. These towns, numbering only 87 out of more than 500 localities, provide greater choice for families than the one-size-fits-all ZIP code-based enrollment system the vast majority of…
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Want school choice? Here’s where to live in Maine to get it
Today, Maine Policy Institute released a new analysis on the scope of educational options available for Maine families based on residency. Accompanying the report is an interactive map visualization of localities across the state and the options available to resident students and their families. From the cities and towns to the plantations and townships, more…
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Prevailing pandemic policy is hurting children’s health
Since the world learned of a novel coronavirus emerging from Wuhan, China in December 2019, there has been no shortage of research into the risk factors that contribute to contracting SARS-CoV-2, and to severe COVID-19 illness from infection. Published in April 2021, a Kaiser Permanente study of more than 50,000 people found that the highest…
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What happened to natural immunity?
On September 9th, President Joe Biden ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency tasked with regulating workplace safety, to promulgate an emergency rule mandating all employees in workplaces with at least 100 people be “fully vaccinated” for COVID-19, or require weekly testing of those who remain unvaccinated. The order also extended the mandate…
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Governor’s gamble: Weighing the potential costs of Mills’ healthcare worker vaccine mandate
On August 12, Maine Governor Janet Mills issued an emergency rule change through the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that requires anyone employed by “designated health care facilities” to be “fully vaccinated” for COVID-19 by October 1. This gives those workers who have thus far declined a COVID-19 vaccine about a month to get…
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Kids caught in the crossfire in debate over masks in schools
At the end of July, Governor Mills and the Maine CDC issued a recommendation that all K-12 students wear face coverings in school, after the federal CDC shifted its guidance to recommend all adults wear masks in counties with high transmission, regardless of vaccination status. The Mills administration is also encouraging schools to use their…
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BDN Editorial Board confuses terms regarding Delta variant
In its July 5 piece, the editorial board of the Bangor Daily News opines that while Governor Mills’ 15-months-plus-long State of Civil Emergency is finally over, the COVID-19 pandemic is not. The crux of their argument lies with the oft-referenced Delta variant, coined “the Indian variant” before the CDC reassigned Greek letters to its “variants…
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Systemic tax reform is better than one-time gimmicks
This week, Maine lawmakers will vote on LD 221, Governor Janet Mills’ supplemental budget proposal. Also known as the governor’s “change package,” the bill would tack on about $200 million more to the state’s biennial budget out of the more than $900 million in new tax revenue projected for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, which…
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Lockdowns devastated the poor, not the virus
A new Harvard analysis of various data points throughout the pandemic shows that poor Americans, those earning under $27,000 a year, have suffered the most over the past year and a half. Between January 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, employment among low-wage workers dropped a whopping 23.6% while overall employment fell 6.5% in that…
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Legislators missed the mark on child care reform this session
A prominent refrain in the pandemic recession-recovery story has been the persistent labor shortage seen across the United States. Coupled with mounting inflation and consumer uncertainty, restoring the economy of 2019 has been tricky for policymakers. Even in Maine, the unemployment rate seems tame compared to the nation, but if everyone who was working or…
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There’s no need for a government-owned network in Knox County
Many advocates in Maine and around the nation have highlighted the need for more stable and faster internet speeds, especially in the shadow of the remote-learning, work-from-home, socially-distant economy that many Americans have been thrust into as a result of the last 15 months of pandemic-inspired emergency rule. This month, voters in a handful of…
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It’s time to reopen the US-Canada border
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that at least 50% of Canadians have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, but in order for his government to consider a relaxation of border restrictions with the United States, he said that “cases need to be under control and at least 75% of…
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Mask rules persist for children in Maine schools. Why?
On Monday, May 24, nearly eight months after it was first ordered, Maine Gov. Janet Mills lifted the state’s universal face covering mandate. Mills announced the change 10 days prior, after the US CDC revised its guidance for vaccinated adults. The agency now suggests this population may no longer wear a face covering in public due to a…
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State takeover of CMP, Versant Power a boondoggle in the making
Lawmakers on Maine’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee held a public hearing last Thursday on a bill sponsored by Rep. Seth Berry of Bowdoinham and Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford that amounts to a forcible government takeover of Central Maine Power and Versant Power, the state’s two largest private utility companies, to establish the Pine…
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Starting today, Maine businesses are no longer Gov. Mills’ COVID police
Last week, Heather Johnson, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), announced on a monthly business community video call that the state would be shifting its COVID-19 restrictions for businesses to voluntary recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Businesses still have the option to require certain activity, but…
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New Hampshire the beneficiary of New England’s misguided tobacco policies
Last week, Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing on LD 1550, “An Act To End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products”, sponsored by Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot. The bill would prohibit the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco products in Maine, including flavored cigars and e-cigarettes. A ban on certain tobacco…
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Population growth in Maine trails region and nation
On Monday, the US Census Bureau released its first estimate of state and national population numbers for the 2020 Census. Tasked with administering a national count by the US Constitution, the federal government uses this tally for the apportionment of the nation’s 435-member House of Representatives every 10 years. These numbers are also used to…
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Mainers, not Governor Mills, should decide Maine’s participation in the TCI
Maine’s Committee on State and Local Government held public hearings last Friday on two bills that would require a legislative vote for the state to participate in the Transportation Climate Initiative, a regional cap-and-trade program that would force Mainers to pay more for gasoline and diesel fuel. One bill, LD 1366, is sponsored by Rep.…
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Should Mainers be fined $500 for recording their child’s virtual learning?
Lawmakers on Maine’s Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on LD 864, “An Act To Protect Teachers’ Privacy While Delivering Remote Instruction,” a bill sponsored by Rep. Janice Dodge of Belfast. The bill would allow public and private schools in Maine to determine who is authorized to view live and recorded remote classroom sessions,…
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New England governors are lifting pandemic mandates, but not Governor Mills
On Tuesday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that he will lift all business restrictions, except for mandating masks indoors (including schools), by May 19. On a sooner timeline, Lamont said that the state’s outdoor restrictions will lift on May 1. The pressure is building on the remaining governors in New England, including Massachusetts Governor Charlie…
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Governor Mills thinks her emergency power should be even more expansive
On Wednesday afternoon, Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on LD 1344, a department bill sponsored by Rep. Michele Meyer of Eliot that would expand the powers of the Department of Health and Human Services during a state of emergency, giving the executive branch even more authority to assess punishments…
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In 2020, New Hampshire’s opioid issues got better while Maine’s got worse
So-called “deaths of despair,” those involving drug abuse, alcohol, or suicide, have been the subject of numerous studies over the last year attempting to measure the collateral damage of lockdowns and economic shutdowns in response to COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, this was seen as a growing problem. One study noted the combined death rate…
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It’s time to scrap certificate of need in Maine
Members of Maine’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee will hold public hearings Tuesday on a number of bills that would repeal or reform Maine’s Certificate of Need (CON) laws, which require healthcare facilities to obtain permission from the state and their competitors before offering certain services or expanding their existing capacity. The bills…
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Maine localities set to receive nearly $500 million from federal government
On March 11, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a nearly $2 trillion spending bill as a way to provide relief to state and local governments in funding their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes $6 trillion spent by the federal government in the last 12 months. The…
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Data from around the country affirm schools are safe to reopen
Over the last few weeks, a central pillar of pandemic-era decision making crumbled. The arbitrary measuring stick for defining whether daily life can be “safe.” Six feet. At first, we were told that as long as you could maintain this distance from someone outside your household, you didn’t need to wear a mask. Of course,…
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Breaking down the bills to reform Maine’s emergency powers law
As many Mainers question the appropriateness of a year-long state of emergency, in which a sole political official holds the power to unilaterally alter laws, rules, or regulations, with minimal public input, legislators have been equally frustrated. On Monday, the Committee on State and Local Government will hear a dozen bills to reform portions of…
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After suspension in 2020, it’s time to repeal vehicle inspections in Maine
Lawmakers on Maine’s Transportation Committee held virtual public hearings Thursday on five bills sponsored by members of both parties that would repeal or reform Maine’s vehicle inspection program. Two of the bills, LD 284 and 354, sponsored by Reps. Rich Cebra (R-Naples) and Jon Connor (R-Lewiston), respectively, would reform the program to require a motor…
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Will Maine make it easier for skilled professionals to relocate here?
On Tuesday, lawmakers on Maine’s Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement, and Business Committee held a virtual public hearing on LD 612, An Act To Recognize Occupational Licenses and Certifications from Other States To Attract New Residents and Businesses to Maine, sponsored by Representative John Andrews of West Paris. The bill would allow skilled professionals licensed in…
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Satellite internet panned after only a few months in Maine
The internet is a critical service — everyone can agree on that — but some go as far to say that it should be a public utility, like water or electricity. This has driven massive public spending in rural broadband development over the last decade at both the state and federal levels, and the chatter…
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Certificate of Need hurts health outcomes in rural Maine
In Maine, medical providers like hospitals, out-patient facilities and nursing homes must obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) in order to make significant investments in their offerings. This means that certain healthcare providers looking to build a new facility, offer a new service, substantially increase their capacity, purchase equipment or make other critical investments must seek approval…
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Time to pull back on emergency powers for governors
Last Friday, Democratic state senator John Mannion of New York called for an end to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers. Mannion’s call came after it was revealed that the Cuomo administration had kept information from the public about COVID-19 deaths that occurred within the state’s nursing homes. Mannion isn’t the only state lawmaker in the country looking to…
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How would banning flavored tobacco products impact Maine’s budget?
This week, the anti-tobacco organization “Flavors Hook Kids” held an online news conference for Maine media. During the event, leaders decried the availability of flavored cigarettes and other tobacco products, claiming their existence is oppressive, specifically to the Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ communities. “It would be difficult to name another widely available commercial product that has…
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Adding insult to injury: Governor Mills and the PPP
The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the federal CARES Act passed last year, was crafted by Congress to provide loans to businesses that would be forgiven if they spent the funds on qualifying payroll and non-payroll costs. It was created to help incentivize businesses to retain their employees through the economic downturn caused by state and federal…
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How to reform emergency executive power, in Maine and the nation
At the peak of state-ordered lockdowns in response to COVID-19, 316 million Americans across 42 states lived under a stay-at-home order. Millions witnessed never-before-seen usage of their governor’s emergency powers, while some wondered how a country built on individual liberty could fall so far from its founding ideals. To better frame this crisis of leadership in America,…
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WHO urges ‘careful interpretation’ of positive COVID-19 test results
On January 20, the World Health organization (WHO) issued an advisory for labs which process polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Maine Wire has previously covered Maine’s predominant use of a highly-sensitive PCR test and how it could generate lots of positive results from people who are…
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Maine’s food stamp error blues
As I dig deeper into the recent supplemental and biennial budget proposals from Governor Janet Mills, the truth about her so-called “no drama” budget is coming to light. For the next biennium beginning this July, Mills relies on various accounting gimmicks in order to balance her budget, growing spending as the public reels from the…
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Governor Mills’ budget sleight of hand
Maine Governor Janet Mills released the details of her second proposed biennial budget last Friday following a closed-door media briefing and multiple press releases with minimal detail. It was clear the administration wanted to control as much as possible the initial headlines that would be written about the budget. Just as planned, the Maine media parroted the governor’s talking points that this…
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Understanding the economic cost of 2020 pandemic policy
The economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, exacerbated by the response of many state governors, is just beginning to be understood. As public health officials fixated on a single pathogen, policies enacted to slow transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, have inflicted their own damage on society without effectively mitigating the pandemic. These…
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The myth of widespread asymptomatic transmission
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by researchers from the University of Florida and University of Washington found that so-called “asymptomatic” or “presymptomatic” spread of COVID-19 is quite rare. Controlling for differences, the meta-analysis of 54 studies covering over 77,000 participants found that SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—has…
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Maine’s climate action plan heavy on spending, light on specifics
Earlier this month, the Maine Climate Council released its four-year plan titled, “Maine Won’t Wait”, a proposal covering a multitude of policy areas ranging from transportation to energy infrastructure to workforce development. The plan’s overarching goals focus on how to shift the Maine economy toward significantly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately delaying the predicted…
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New studies on COVID-19 testing underscore need for greater transparency in Maine
Maine Policy Institute has previously noted the potential pitfalls of relying on a single health authority, especially one subject to political consequences, for diagnosing disease among the people. We have also reported on the highly sensitive testing process that many US states and governments around the world use to identify cases of COVID-19: polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. PCR is…
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SCOTUS rebukes NY pandemic orders targeting religious services
In a decision handed down late Thanksgiving Eve, a five-Justice majority of the Supreme Court struck down parts of New York’s recent pandemic-driven emergency orders. Noting that the Gov. Andrew Cuomo had specifically called out the Brooklyn-based hasidic community as a potential hotspot for the spread of COVID-19, and that the governor’s rules specifically targeted…
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PCR tests and the prickly partnership between science and state
As COVID-19 case counts rise across the United States and Europe, it is important to understand how we identify active cases, but some scientists are concerned that positive test results conflate active case numbers. Finding an active case of COVID-19 involves a diagnostic test using a technique known as polymerase-chain reaction, or PCR. PCR is…
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Biden advisor notes incoming administration’s plan to neuter charter schools
Last year, the Maine Legislature and Governor Janet Mills enacted a pair of bills curtailing the growth of the state’s public charter schools. Sponsored by Portland Rep. Mike Brennan, these changes to Maine law will severely limit the educational options available to Maine’s students. In addition to previous limits on charter enrollment enacted in 2015,…
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Governor Mills’ coronavirus narrative is crumbling
Governor Janet Mills’ latest batch of doomsday rhetoric is an admission that her coronavirus narrative is falling apart. In describing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as an “evil genie” which is “attacking babies, teenagers, Millennials and seniors alike in every region of Maine and all across the country,” Mills is knowingly stoking panic over…
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Massachusetts voters reject RCV in surprise Election Day upset
With more than 90% of the votes counted in Massachusetts, it appears that the initiative to implement Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) for future elections has been rejected by a majority of voters in the Bay State. Tracking this race over the last month, The Maine Wire noted that polls were tightening heading into the final week,…
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Gov. Mills stokes fear while doubling down on economic restrictions
Last Friday, Lindsey Crete, spokesperson for Governor Janet Mills, hinted to the Maine media that more economic restrictions would be coming given the higher daily numbers of new COVID-19 cases being recorded across the state. By Sunday, this notion was fulfilled through the governor’s latest batch of executive orders to reinstate numerous restrictions on travel…
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New Poll: RCV ballot question a dead heat in Massachusetts
A poll released Monday by UMass Amherst and WCVB is showing a tightening race among Massachusetts voters on Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV). With 9% of voters still undecided, support for the measure leads the opposition by only 5%. Carrying a margin of error of 4.5%, this is the second poll in a week showing a close…
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Despite massive fundraising disparity, RCV still a close contest in Massachusetts
A recent Ipsos poll asked 1,001 Massachusetts adults about a number of issues, including their thoughts about ranked-choice voting (RCV). The online poll, conducted in conjunction with Spectrum News, reached voters across the Bay State, finding that 45% support RCV, while 34% oppose it. Considering the authors’ “credibility interval” of between 3.5% and 5%, the…
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Scott Atlas a vital voice of reason on White House Coronavirus Task Force
In a recent interview on Lockdown TV, Dr. Scott Atlas, a healthcare policy scholar, medical scientist and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, aired his philosophy and view of how the world has handled the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. In the discussion, Atlas stripped bare the arguments for lockdowns and cleared the air…
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Maine artists continue to struggle under Gov. Mills’ economic restrictions
Our relationship with the arts has been severely and permanently altered this year. As every day passes, it appears more and more likely that the heavy-handed policies enacted by governors across the country–including Gov. Janet Mills here in Maine–have made weathering this pandemic much worse than it needed to be. Businesses across Maine and the…
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Michigan Supreme Court rules governor’s emergency extension unconstitutional
Late last week, the Michigan Supreme Court in a 4-3 vote ruled that emergency orders issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer after April 30 are effectively unconstitutional. In its decision, the court struck down the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945 (EPGA) that allowed the governor to declare and sustain a state of emergency …
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Maine CDC stalling release of coronavirus testing data
When we hear about the challenge of testing for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), we often hear that tests may take a few days to report a result. Perhaps, as a recent piece in the New York Times suggests, we need tests with a quicker response, even if they are less sensitive. Finding an active case of…
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Mills’ curtailment order balances the budget for now, but tough choices remain in the future
Last week, Governor Janet Mills issued a “curtailment order,” a tool Maine governors can wield to balance budgets after the legislature has adjourned. Curtailment orders have been issued by previous governors who faced substantial budget deficits following economic slumps, including the most recent governor, Paul LePage, and his predecessor, John Baldacci. In the order, Gov.…
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BDN Editorial Board tells Mainers to pay up for Gov. Mills’ mistakes
The BDN editorial board’s recent commentary on the state budget shortfall reminds us how different one person’s reality can be from another. Their reminder that raising taxes is an option for balancing the budget is a vapid lecture on zero-sum governing. Talk about tone deaf. Have they not seen the thousands of Mainers who are…
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CBO projects highest rate of US debt-to-GDP since 1945
My colleagues and I have previously written on the State of Maine’s impending revenue shortfall, which is projected to top $1 billion over the next two-year budget cycle due to the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing societal shutdowns. Gov. Janet Mills, in the second and final biennium of her first term, will be pushed to scale…
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Understanding the CDC’s new data on COVID-19 deaths
Recently, some on social media have shared a misrepresentation of an August 26 update to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 data webpage. In the update, the CDC acknowledges that only 6% of the nation’s COVID-19 deaths do not involve any other conditions that lead to death, also known as comorbidities.…
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Waterville-area school district plans to bring students back to school full-time
In mid-August, the board of directors of Regional School Unit 18, a school district spanning five towns just west of Waterville: Oakland, Belgrade, Rome, China, and Sidney voted to proceed with a plan to return students to school this year, which is scheduled to begin Monday, August 31. Nine of the 10 members of the…
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Coronavirus found in Brazil sewage samples months before first cases reported
Researchers studying sewage samples from southern Brazil found remnants of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as early as last November. This potentially-groundbreaking study could have massive implications for how people all over the world understand the timeline and severity of the virus that causes the disease, COVID-19. Not only does this suggest that it was present…
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New CDC report highlights mental health costs of the pandemic
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released a report on the state of mental health among American adults, providing a closer look into the effects of statewide economic shutdowns in response to the spread of COVID-19. The survey was conducted during the last week of June 2020, sparked by a marked…
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Maine’s current economic forecast should prompt substantial spending cuts
The latest report from Maine’s Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC), published earlier this month, revised its estimate of the state government’s General Fund revenues in FY21 (the fiscal year spanning July 2020 through June 2021) to a whopping 10.8% below last year’s figures. This represents a revenue shortfall of $524 million year-over-year. After accounting for about…
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‘Defund the police’ is not a real reform strategy
The last few months have been tense, marked by social distancing and physical isolation amid the outbreak of a new virus. In-person communication and deciphering nonverbal cues is made more difficult by widespread use of facial coverings and plastic barriers. The American public has watched as the chasm between them and their government widens, mostly…
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Pediatric medical experts agree: Send kids back to school
These days, in states across the nation, public health officials are discovering more and more cases of COVID-19 among their populations. This is due to a myriad of factors, including the gradual reopening of public-facing businesses in some states, as well as dramatic increases in testing to determine a fuller scope of the caseload. Although…
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Sanford-area charities rally to urge Gov. Mills to let them open
Yesterday, a few dozen people gathered in the parking lot of American Legion Post 19 in Sanford to raise awareness for the many local nonprofits and social clubs that have been forced to close due to the government response over COVID-19. Speakers included Maine state legislators, Representatives Heidi Sampson of Alfred, Beth O’Connor of Berwick,…
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Maine Brewers Guild urges Gov. Mills to relax reopening rules
On Tuesday, Scott Sullivan, head of the Maine Brewers Guild, a nonprofit trade association that represents the state’s craft brewing industry, urged Governor Mills to reconsider her rules for when businesses can reopen this summer. Citing new information that the spread of the novel coronavirus is more limited while outdoors, the guild is asking the…
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‘How is this constitutional?’ Understanding the limits of emergency executive power
On Thursday, May 14, Maine Policy Institute hosted an online panel discussion with three Maine-based lawyers of diverse experience and specialty examining the legitimacy of emergency executive power. The first question asked by moderator Matthew Gagnon was one that has been on many minds over the last many weeks, “How is this constitutional?” Governor Janet…
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Modest meat reforms would help Americans stay fed during the pandemic
Recent stories of farmers euthanizing livestock and dumping milk have startled many Americans, particularly those of us attempting to weather the economic shutdown by staggering trips to the grocery store every two weeks, or longer. These troubling stories are leaving many to wonder about the state of America’s food supply chains. Arising from the displacement…
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How similar are the recovery plans in Maine and New Hampshire?
Last Friday, Maine Governor Janet Mills released a revision to her phased reopening plan, announcing that restaurants, retail stores and some outdoor recreation businesses in 12 of the state’s 16 counties will be permitted to open this month. Retail outlets in Aroostook, Washington, Hancock, Waldo, Kennebec, Franklin, Oxford, Somerset, Piscataquis, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties…
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Homeschooling experts highlight the varied paths to gaining an education
On Thursday, April 9, Maine Policy Institute hosted a panel of veteran homeschoolers and educators for a virtual townhall to answer questions from parents on how to weather the public shutdown over COVID-19 and facilitate learning at home. Last week, Maine’s education commissioner recommended that districts prepare to keep students physically out of the schools…
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New documentary ‘America Lost’ explores America’s forgotten cities
With recent reports of staggering numbers of new U.S. unemployment claims–including over 21,000 in Maine alone–the oft-forgotten segments of the struggling American economy are facing an even steeper climb out of this period of economic malaise and uncertainty brought on by public and private efforts to discourage social contact to help stem the outbreak of…
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SEIU pledges $150 million to defeat President Trump in 2020
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Janus decision in June of 2018, unions have begun to feel the pressure to retain members and confront their political foes in 2020. The Service Employees International Union, one of the largest unions in the United States with almost two million members nationwide, has pledged to spend $150…
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What you need to know to participate in next week’s election
This upcoming Tuesday will be Maine’s first primary election for president since 2000, and the first ever to occur on Super Tuesday, the day where Maine and 13 other states hold their presidential primary nominating contests. Any Maine voter may participate in the election on March 3rd, but there might be restrictions based on your…
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New report highlights the downfalls of establishing a state-owned utility
A recent report by London Economics International (LEI), a Boston-based financial advisory firm specializing in energy market analysis, commissioned by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) suggests that under certain scenarios, Mainers could pay less over the long term with a state-owned power company. The MPUC commissioned the report with the goal of gaining a…
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Maine’s high court strikes down warrantless blood tests
On Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court struck down a law requiring police officers–without a warrant–to draw a blood sample from individuals on the scene of a deadly crash. Maintaining the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful search and seizure, the Court ruled that this principle applies to the taking of blood, even in…
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Want a new mobile phone? First, give the state your face
Last week, the government of China initiated a mandate that every new SIM card registrant submit to a facial recognition scan to be provided to the state. SIM cards are tiny, portable memory chips in cell phones that carry unique information about each user. Most phones have detachable SIM cards so the user can carry…
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How unworkable government rules separate man from his bacon
Farmer Randy Canarr of Souder Station Farm has been farming and raising livestock in Winterport for almost 10 years, providing locally-raised meats, cheeses, honey, and maple syrup to the greater Penobscot Bay community. He started the farm after returning from U.S. Army active duty, and the birth of his son, Nate, in 2011. Souder Station…
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Calls to break up ‘Big Tech’ are misguided
In recent weeks, Americans have heard much about the problems with “Big Tech.” National politicians from President Donald Trump to many Democrats running to replace him have been public with their disdain for big companies’ collection and dissemination of personal information, as well as data breaches and censorship. Alphabet, the parent company of Google and…
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CMS finalizes rule to end dues skimming of in-home caregivers
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule to no longer allow states to make payments to third parties on behalf of in-home care providers. Under Medicaid, a federal program administered by the states and funded by state and federal tax dollars, elderly or disabled individuals meeting eligibility requirements can…