MAINE GOVERNMENT
Here are our Calls to Action, Guides, and Explainers on Maine legislation, policy, and issues. For contact information for your legislators, information on the legislative process, and to track bills in the current legislative session, visit our Legislature Roundup. Interested in helping us track state legislation and policy? Take action with us.
MAINE LEGISLATURE ROUNDUP: Track Bills, Contact Your Legislators, and Be Heard!
The Legislature has a busy week ahead, with work sessions on bills to restore Tribal sovereignty, paid family and medical leave, health reform, and workers protections and upcoming votes on dental care expansion, equal pay for workers with disabilities, a tax credit for family caregivers, and more. QUICK ACTION: Find information on the bills we’re tracking, learn more about the legislative process, and find your legislators in our Maine Legislature Roundup.
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VOTE NO ON 1: Defend Maine’s Vaccine Law and Protect Maine’s Children
On March 3, Maine voters overwhelmingly rejected Question 1, a “people’s veto” that would have repealed a new law that protects public health and safety by eliminating non-medical exemptions for school-required immunizations. At a time when our state’s immunization rate is already dangerously low and the spread of some communicable diseases is on the rise, 74% of voters chose to protect this strong public health vaccine law.QUICK ACTION: Get answers about the law and the referendum, and learn how to respond to vaccine opponents in our vaccine guide.
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How to Talk About Indian-Themed Mascots
Maine’s last Indian-themed mascot was finally retired in 2019, but many remain in other states and in professional sports leagues. Want to help retire them all? In collaboration with representatives from the Penobscot Nation, we’ve compiled the most common arguments made by those who want to keep these offensive mascots, with suggestions for ways to respond.
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2019 Maine Legislature Roundup Recap
The first regular session of the 129th Maine Legislature was gaveled to a close just after dawn on Thursday, June 20. Legislators considered more than 2,000 bills since convening in December. Our State Government Working Group collaborated with other grassroots...
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VICTORIES & GOOD NEWS ROUNDUP: 2019 Maine Legislature edition
As 2019 draws to a close, we’re taking stock of this year’s many legislative victories. We didn’t win every battle, but Maine is in a far better position today than we have been in a long while, and we’re on our way to repairing the damage of the past 8 years. Read the latest Victories & Good News Report: Maine Legislature Edition and let your legislators know how you feel about their votes!
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TAKE ACTION MAINE: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and communities around Maine are holding events to draw attention to intimate partner violence and violence prevention
QUICK ACTION: Attend an event near you.
DECLINE TO SIGN: Beware petitions to rollback critical legislation
Lawmakers passed a number of key bills this session that protect public health, curb environmental damage, ban conversion therapy and racial discrimination, expand abortion access, promote voter registration, and protect the rights of terminally ill patients. Efforts to repeal these laws via “people’s veto” are underway in Maine as petitioners race to collect the required signatures by Sept. 13. UPDATE 9/18: 11 of the 12 people’s veto efforts have failed. Unfortunately, anti-vaccine groups appear to have collected enough signatures to place a “people’s veto” on the ballot in March to repeal a law that strengthened childhood vaccine requirements. Click below for more details.
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FACT CHECK: Correcting Anti-Vaccine Testimony
While measles outbreaks are spreading across 22 states and Maine’s pertussis rate is the worst in the nation, our state’s non-medical vaccination opt-out rate is more than triple the national average. At the public hearing earlier this year for a law passed by the Maine Legislature to strengthen vaccination requirements for school children, false and misleading information was shared by anti-vaccination advocates. We decided to do some fact checking to set the record straight. Now that it appears a “people’s veto” will appear on the ballot in March to repeal this public health law, having these facts is more important than ever.
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GUN REFORM: Maine’s New Gun Safety Bills Need Your Support
All 11 of the new gun safety bills we tracked this session were defeated in the Maine legislature this session. QUICK ACTION: Find out how your state legislators voted, and hold them accountable for their opposition and continued inaction.
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SUPPORT ERPO BILL: Reduce Suicide & Domestic Violence Gun Deaths
Last year’s “ERPO” bill was vetoed by Gov. LePage, but a new bill, LD 1312, has just been introduced. Extreme Risk Protection Orders reduce gun-related suicides and domestic violence homicides by temporarily suspending access to firearms for people who are a danger to themselves or others.
QUICK ACTION: Submit testimony in support of the bill and contact your legislators and Gov. Mills!
Suit Up Maine is an independent, all-volunteer grassroots progressive group that seeks to build a more informed and engaged electorate in Maine. Founded in 2016, Suit Up Maine is run by and for Mainers, and is not engaged in fundraising of any kind. Representing thousands of constituents across Maine’s 16 counties, Suit Up Maine raises awareness of and advocates for policies and legislation that promote equity and equality in civil rights, social justice, health care, the environment, education, the economy, and other areas that affect the lives of all people. Suit Up Maine is beholden to issues and action, not parties or politicians.
