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: This week in Augusta
The Legislature is just a few weeks away from adjournment and bills we’ve tracked for months are getting final votes. This week in our Legislature Roundup, you’ll find details on imminent votes on bills on expanding dental care to low-income Mainers, gun safety, expanding tax credits to working families, creating a state Equal Rights Amendment, and restoring the social safety net to asylum seekers. QUICK ACTION: Review these briefs on these and other bills and tell your legislators how you’d like them to vote!
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GUN REFORM: Maine’s New Gun Bills Need Your Support
Only one of 11 new gun reform bills remains alive in the Maine legislature, the Extreme Risk Protection Order bill (also known as “red flag”). It now faces an imminent vote in the senate.
QUICK ACTION: Email Democratic senators and leave a message for your own TODAY at 1-800-423-6900, telling them to pass LD 1312, and make sure to hold them accountable if they participated in any of these legislative defeats.
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 a recent hearing for a bill that would 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.
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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!
CELEBRATE EARTH: Join an Earth Day action this week!
Earth Day is April 22 and communities around the state have planned events and actions all week. QUICK ACTION: Find an event near you and take action to celebrate Earth!
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How to Talk About Indian-Themed Mascots
Thanks to many years of outreach to Maine schools by tribal leaders, Maine’s LAST Indian-themed mascot has finally been retired. Know of a school in another state facing a similar issue? 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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MARCH FOR EQUALITY: Join a March or Rally January 18-19
Groups across Maine are planning marches and rallies Jan. 18-19 to speak out for gender, racial and social justice and equality. Join an event near you!
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Settling the First Amendment Case Against Gov. Paul LePage
Suit Up Maine’s co-leaders Karin Leuthy and Kelli Whitlock Burton agreed to a settlement in their First Amendment censorship case against Governor Paul LePage. The terms of the settlement required administrators of the governor’s Facebook page to unblock Leuthy and Burton, create a process allowing others who have been blocked to request that their posting privileges be restored, and agree not to censor or block other constituents during Gov. LePage’s remaining time in office. Read their statement about their decision to settle the case.
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Victories & Good News Roundup: Blue Wave Edition
Democrats flipped the U.S. House of Representatives and broke Republican strangleholds at the all-important state level, where redistricting decisions are made, not to mention countless laws that affect everyday life. These state and national Blue Wave wins are due in large part to the efforts of thousands of citizen activists who ran for office, worked on campaigns, educated voters, knocked on doors, made phone calls, sent postcards, and got out the vote for candidates who support a progressive agenda.
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#VoteThemOut: Defeat House Republicans who opposed Medicaid expansion
58 Maine House Republicans voted to uphold Gov. LePage’s veto of a bill to fund the first year of voter-approved Medicaid expansion in the state. QUICK ACTION: Help #VoteThemOut by volunteering for their opponents’ campaigns.
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Suit Up Maine is a statewide, all-volunteer, progressive, grassroots group of more than 5,400 Mainers that seeks to create and foster a more informed and engaged electorate. We raise awareness of and advocate 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. We are beholden to issues and action, not parties or politicians, and we aren’t engaged in fundraising. Suit Up Maine fosters collaboration among our state’s progressive groups and organizations to collectively connect, educate, and motivate Mainers to rise in non-violent resistance to a regressive agenda.