Maine News Wednesday June 17

Press Herald - The Republican primary races in House District 58 and Senate District 4 have gone to ranked-choice tabulation, state officials said Tuesday. The ranked-choice count is expected to take days. Three legislative races will also be recounted.

MaineHealth received a $1.1 million federal grant to study whether childhood exposure to certain synthetic chemicals could influence obesity, diabetes risk and cardiovascular health later in life. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are linked to numerous health risks, including cancer high cholesterol and pregnancy complications.

 Attorneys for the seven school districts being sued by the Maine Human Rights Commission over their policies related to transgender students delivered oral arguments in Kennebec County Superior Court on Tuesday.  It was the first hearing in a case that’s occurring amid a shifting legal landscape for those policies in Maine and the country.  The commission, a quasi-state agency tasked with enforcing the Maine Human Rights Act, sued five school districts last November that adopted new policies in alignment with an executive order from President Donald Trump about the federal discrimination law Title IX. Two more districts were later added.  The president’s order interpreted that 1972 law to say that school districts that allow transgender students to compete on sports teams or use locker facilities in alignment with their gender identity are discriminating on the basis of sex. But the policies adopted by Maine districts directly violate the state’s Human Rights Act, which allows students to participate in school activities on the basis of their gender identity. Six of the districts filed a motion to dismiss, arguing the commission’s case isn’t valid, while a seventh district filed a separate motion, arguing its policies don’t actually violate state law. 

Brunswick’s town councilors Monday night approved an ordinance to curb rent increases at the town’s mobile home parks. Residents have long said that the price of living in Brunswick’s parks is becoming unsustainable, while services provided by landlords are falling behind. The new ordinance prohibits annual rent increases that exceed a certain affordability threshold, determined by the Northeast urban Consumer Price Index, without prior approval by a newly established five-member rent review board.

Maine Morning Star -   A petition to put publicly funded universal healthcare on the ballot next year is gaining traction with voters.

During last week’s primary election, supporters of the initiative — which filed with the Maine Secretary of State last year — collected more than 20,000 signatures, about a third of the amount a citizen-led referendum needs to get the question on the 2027 ballot.

Federal cuts to Medicaid passed under President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget overhaul, HR1, and increasing marketplace health insurance costs have helped catalyze the effort. The more than 120 volunteers who collected signatures at polling places across the state reported overwhelming support for the initiative, according to Healthcare for All Maine field director Sophie Garner, one of the field directors for Healthcare for All Maine, the group leading the citizen initiative.

“The deteriorating healthcare in the United States and particularly rural America, and now with HR 1… it’s sort of a stress test on what’s left of the healthcare system,” said Henk Goorhuis, board chair for Healthcare for All Maine. “People are definitely hurting, and looking for something better.”

The proposal would direct the Maine Legislature to develop a healthcare system that would ensure that all Mainers have “comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare coverage.” It should lower healthcare costs, ensure access for everyone to public and private providers of their choice, and codify payments to providers at prevailing rates. It would also direct the Legislature to establish a supervisory board to oversee the system that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate.

If passed, Maine would be the first state in the country to develop such legislation. Other states have considered universal healthcare, but none have successfully passed a comprehensive plan.

UPCOMING

The following closures in observance of the Juneteenth holiday:

Thursday, June 18: Town Hall Closed

Friday, June 19: Library & Recycling/Transfer Facility Closed

What’s more important this week than taking the time for a conversation about planetary sustainability? As luck would have it, Freeport Speech is bringing together global experts on Thursday, June 18, to do just that. Dr. Katherine Richardson is a professor in Biological Oceanography at the University of Copenhagen and leader of its Sustainability Science Centre, and Dr. Deborah Bronk is the CEO and President of Maine's Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and an oceanographer.  Bring a friend and join the conversation.  Freeport Performing Arts Center, Freeport Thursday, June 18  •  7 PM - 8:30 PM