Maine Legislature

State lawmakers have fallen well short of overriding Gov. Janet Mills' veto of bills to boost the incomes of some farm workers and to prohibit businesses linked to foreign governments from participating in Maine ballot campaigns in Maine.

Maine lawmakers will return to the State House on Tuesday to vote on whether to override two vetoes from Gov. Janet Mills.

Post-viability abortions in Maine are rare. There were no abortions after 20 weeks in 2021.

But some of the measures faced pushback from LGBTQ advocates and school groups.

The political rhetoric is heating up in Augusta as lawmakers prepare to vote on an interim budget later this week.

Such a move – “majority budget” in Augusta-speak – is rare, but it happened as recently as 2021. And it could happen next week.

In many ways the address mirrored the first one that took place 21 years ago. This time, however, the tribes addressed state lawmakers who are far more receptive to their main goal — greater self-governance — than the legislators who preceded them.

Voter ID has become a partisan issue in Maine, which is one of just 13 states that do not require individuals to show some form of identification before entering the ballot box.

Maine lawmakers have started the 2023 legislative session by introducing an unusually high percentage of placeholder bills that purport to tackle big issues, but are void of any details that might inform the public of their purpose, price tag or impact.

Mills, all white in suffragette-style and wearing a pair of iconic “Bean Boots,” gave an aspirational inaugural address, front loaded with accomplishments and backfilled with a to-do list for her next four years in office.