Lots and lots of paper gets pushed in Augusta — much of it dry, stoic bureaucratic jargon. The business of state government is serious, and that’s reflected in the writing. It’s important, but nearly never thrilling. The stuff that’s not dry often comes from political spin officers. That material is colorful in rhetoric and heavy on emotional […]
Good morning from a tranquil Augusta, where all remains quiet after yesterday’s headline-grabbing snowstorm dumped more than a foot of powder. There’s been no word from Gov. Paul LePage about further state office closures, so it appears government will open once again after being officially put on hold yesterday when the governor declared a state of emergency. […]
All eyes in the State House are eagerly fixed on the second-floor office of Gov. Paul LePage, where the governor and his budget team are in the final stages of crafting the next biennial budget.
At a Chamber of Commerce summit Thursday night, Gov. LePage blasted lawmakers for supporting the revenue sharing bill, and engaged in a brief joust with Troy Jackson, who prodded the governor with a reference to his ‘black heart.’
By setting up a bonds vs. revenue sharing debate, he puts pressure on Republicans — and Democrats — to choose: Revenue sharing or jobs.
So, something weird happened around 6 p.m. Monday. Democrats on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee voted to approve a bill to restore a $40 million reduction in municipal revenue sharing in the state budget. Absent from the process, though, were any Republican members of the committee. The reason for that is … hairy, to say the […]
