Portland City Council

State lawmakers recently agreed to provide about $4 million in General Assistance reimbursement funds to municipalities around Maine for the next two years. But Mayor Mark Dion said the city is still waiting to hear how much Portland will receive.

In her budget proposal, the city manager said Portland is grappling with rising costs, the loss of federal funding, and other headwinds.

The pushback came after the National Association of Realtors said it would spend more than $50,000 to boost several candidates.

The resolution drew hours of emotional testimony. But the city's finance director said Portland's general fund does not directly hold any of the investments listed in the resolution.

Some businesses say the proposal would help fix situations like this winter, when wages were boosted for about a week during a storm that didn't significantly impact the city.

The original measure would have declared a temporary state of emergency at the Portland shelter so that 50 additional beds could be added to the space ahead of the colder weather.

The resolution suggests that prosecuting someone for using and cultivating psychedelic plants should be the lowest priority for law enforcement.

The group opposes an "executive mayor" plan proposed by the city's charter commission.

At a meeting Monday night, the Portland City Council will take up several measures aimed at helping residents experiencing homelessness, including a request that that state establish a homelessness management task force.

Following the announcement that no police officers would be charged in the killing of Breonna Taylor, protesters in Portland took to the streets Wednesday…