The LePage administration says it will take "prompt action" to comply with a law to hire more public health nurses, regardless of the outcome of a pending lawsuit.
A Democratic senator and two nurses sued Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration in July, saying his administration violated a law calling for Maine to hire more public health nurses. The lawsuit filed in state court says the LePage administration isn't complying with the 2017 law that survived LePage's veto.
The law said Maine shall fill funded public health nursing positions by March 2018. Lawmakers funded 48 nurses, but the lawsuit says those positions are unfilled.
Assistant Attorney General Deanna White says the LePage administration reserves its right to defend itself against the lawsuit, even though it's hiring more nurses.