On the podcast this week, organizing luminary George Goehl sits down to talk with Ben Chin about Fundamentals of Community Organizing, his new treatise, website and podcast on how to bring people together and win structural change. Ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182. Subscribe to the podcast feed using any podcasting app or subscribe on Apple Podcasts. The post Podcast: How to win fights and influence politicians first appeared on Maine Beacon ..read more

State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers. A new state-run website helps young Mainers find ways to use their own talents and interests to counter any climate anxiety and work to build the state’s climate resilience. Abigail Hayne is Maine’s youth climate engagement coordinator. “Whether it’s taking action just in your community or in your life, or exploring different climate jobs that are specific to Maine,” said Hayne, “the youths can just kind of poke around and find something that makes sense to them.” Hayne said the website ..read more

In perhaps the greatest test of her tenure—the massacre in Lewiston that left 31 shot, including 18 dead—Governor Janet Mills deserves praise for proposing one of the most ambitious gun safety laws Maine has ever passed. Background checks on all advertised sales of guns, with increased penalties for those who sell to someone who isn’t allowed to possess a firearm, will save innumerable lives in Maine and in surrounding states. Tragically, it will not be enough to stem the tide of gun violence in Maine nor would it have done anything to prevent the tragedy in Lewiston, but this will be a subst ..read more

This week on the Beacon Podcast, Esther, Ben, and Cate discuss the end of the legislative session. They reflect on some of the wins from the session, including $18 million for rent relief, funding for more recovery community centers, and a bill that will create options for development of offshore wind power in Maine. They also lament some of the big frustrations, such as Gov. Mills’ veto of a wage increase for farmworkers, who are currently exempt from minimum wage. Ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182. Subscribe to the podcast feed using any podcasting app or ..read more

Gov. Janet Mills has again vetoed a bill that would have improved working conditions and wages for farmworkers, though this one was proposed by her own administration. LD 2273 would have made farmworkers eligible to earn the minimum wage, which is $14.15 per hour. Farmworkers in Maine currently make a sub-minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Mills issued the veto Tuesday, saying “the Legislature’s changes to the bill leave me no choice.” As originally drafted by Mills, the bill wouldn’t have allowed farmworkers to bring private lawsuits against their employer. Instead they would have had to go thr ..read more

In Portland and Lewiston on Tuesday, housing advocates delivered a petition to all four members of Maine’s congressional delegation urging lawmakers to take meaningful action to end our state’s housing crisis.  More than 1,100 renters, homeowners, and landlords signed the petition by Maine People’s Alliance, of which Beacon is a project, this fall, winter, and spring. The advocates also urged the federal lawmakers to take action to create housing that’s permanently affordable, publicly-funded, and environmentally sustainable – known as “green social housing.”  Advocates describe soc ..read more

Gov. Janet Mills has signed legislation to increase temporary assistance payments to families experiencing deep poverty. Payments will increase by 20%, meaning a single-parent family of three will now receive nearly $870 per month. Ann Danforth, policy advocate with Maine Equal Justice, said the aid will help families get beyond just surviving. “It enables parents to be able to have child care, to go to work,” said Danforth, “and enables kids to grow up in strong families, where they are then able to participate in the workforce, too.” Nearly one in eight Maine children live in poverty. The b ..read more

This week on the Beacon Podcast, Cate interviews Hillary Knight with the Capital Region Public Defenders Office in Augusta, who clarifies what the right to counsel means for Mainers, some of the realities of meeting the constitutional right to counsel, and some hopeful developments in the state. After a lawsuit in 2022 (which is ongoing) claimed the state was violating poor defendants’ constitutional rights by failing to provide them with adequate counsel, Maine opened its first public defender office in Augusta in 2023 (More on this ongoing saga here.) Resources for talking with your Members ..read more

Last November, I found myself crouched on the tile floor of my bathroom. Its coolness grounded me, helped remind me I’m still breathing. On the counter above sat a pregnancy test with two pink lines — positive.  I knew I would terminate the pregnancy, but despite my certainty, I was terrified, because we live in uncertain, judgmental times with disturbing health outcomes for women.  Two days later, I sat on an exam table in my doctor’s office, the paper beneath me crinkling with my anxious attempts to settle. She confirmed my at-home test. I slumped to my car clutching a paper bag w ..read more

Conservationists in Maine said reinstated protections of the Endangered Species Act could help wildlife already struggling to adapt to climate change. Economic impacts will no longer be considered when listing certain species as threatened or endangered but the threat of climate change will be a factor. Anya Fetcher, federal policy advocate for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said so-called “blanket rule” protections will also be revived. “This is basically, while they are considering whether they should become endangered, they’re going to continue to protect those species as if they ..read more