Members of a legislative committee voted unanimously Thursday to endorse a bill that would tap $100 million of Maine’s surplus to help farmers impacted by PFAS contamination.
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Democrats blocked a Republican effort Wednesday to rein in Gov. Janet Mills’ emergency powers roughly one year after lawmakers granted her sweeping authority to respond to the developing COVID-19 pandemic.
In a largely party-line vote, Democrats in the House opposed a Republican-drafted resolution to terminate Maine’s civil state of emergency on grounds that Mills had extended it repeatedly “without providing the Legislature with a sufficient scientific rationale or justification.”
The resolution failed on a 67-81 vote, with all Democrats opposed, all but one Republican in support and independent or unenrolled members split on the issue.
Initiated on March 15, 2020, just three days after the first COVID-19 case was detected in Maine, the civil state of emergency allowed Mills to quickly mobilize or shift state resources and tap into billions of dollars in federal relief funds. Mills has also used the emergency powers to restrict businesses, place limits on g