Michael Shepherd

Staff Writer

Latest

Published
May 22, 2013

No deal in sight to rescue Maine health bill

Gov. LePage looks poised to veto the popular hospital payback plan in order to block Medicaid expansion.
Published
May 21, 2013

LePage vetoes smoking ban on college campuses

If lawmakers want to be consistent, they should submit a bill to ‘outlaw tobacco altogether’ instead of just banning smoking in certain places, he says.
Published
May 21, 2013

Maine Senate passes work-force bill, but budget committee must fund it

The bill, which aims to make it easier to transfer college credits and to reduce wait lists for community college programs, would cost about $9.4 million over four years.
Published
May 21, 2013

Early in-person voting bill gets Maine Senate approval

The bill needs more action in the House, which did not pass it in a preliminary vote Monday.
Published
May 20, 2013

LePage: Let’s eliminate Maine income tax

The governor says he’ll focus on that effort if the people of Maine re-elect him to a second term, but he won’t support the current bipartisan plan to cut the tax in half.
Published
May 20, 2013

Enhanced early voting? Maine a few votes short

The bill passed overwhelmingly, 90-50, but it still fell shy of the two-thirds majority it will need to go to a voter referendum.
Published
May 19, 2013

State House Notebook: Republicans try to debunk Medicaid savings claim

Also: Gun-show bill remains in the Senate.
Published
May 19, 2013

Study claims huge savings under MaineCare expansion

An oft-cited study by the Kaiser Family Foundation claims Maine would save $690 million over the next 10 years if Medicare is expanded nationwide; the fate of a bill designed to stop private sales of guns if buyers aren’t screened for prior criminal activity remains unknown; a “first-of-its-kind” work force bill gets kudos from Democrats and Republicans alike; and Democrats’ vague, conceptual alternative to LePage’s A-to-F grading system for Maine schools gets heard this week.
Published
May 17, 2013

LePage to Democrats: Act now, or bankrupt DHHS

But Democrats accuse the department of mismanagement and say they won’t approve funds until Commissioner Mary Mayhew answers ‘tough questions.’
Published
May 17, 2013

Maine panel rejects abortion-related bills

The ACLU cheers the legislative panel’s votes on measures aimed at ‘chipping away’ at rights.