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August in Augusta

Mike Allen, Director of Economic Research and Revenue Services, regaled MaineWatchdog earlier today with revenue numbers from the summer months.  Allen said he estimates that Maine will end the month of August nearly $10-15 million over-budget, but a finalized report will not be prepared until the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs meets in mid-September.  Meals and lodging ...
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News & Headlines

Biddeford to Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensary

By Stephan Burklin on September 2, 2010
The city of Biddeford is one step closer to approving a medical marijuana dispensary. In the chambers of city hall on Wednesday night, a reluctant planning board voted 4-0 to recommend conditional zoning for a dispensary and concomitant growing facility. Because DHHS designated Biddeford as the site for the first health district’s dispensary, the Planning [...]Read More>>

Conservative Group Threatens Lawsuit Over City Regulation

By Stephan Burklin on August 25, 2010
PORTLAND, MAINE – In the reverberating corridors of Portland’s City Hall this morning, the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) and Matthew Rand, a summer resident of Peaks Island, threatened litigation if the City Council chooses not to annul a recently enacted amendment to the City’s Transportation Ordinance.  The amendment in question would require Rand, a [...]Read More>>

Blaine House: Upgrade or Downgrade?

By Stephan Burklin on August 24, 2010
Maine’s most famous home, the Blaine House, is a marvelous fringe benefit for the office of the Governor, but will it represent an upgrade or a downgrade for the next incumbent? Records obtained from local tax assessors’ offices suggest that the transition into the 10,000 square foot Blaine House may actually be a downgrade for [...]Read More>>

Pingree, Michaud Each Reimbursed For Over $1M

By Stephan Burklin on August 19, 2010
Recent public reports disclose that Maine’s two congressional representatives and their offices were each reimbursed for over $1.2 million in taxpayer-funded expenses in 2009.  Since 1964, Congress has been required by law to publish quarterly reports of all expenditures for the denizens of the Capitol Building, but these documents have only been available online since [...]Read More>>

Pike Industries Receives Large Share of Stimulus in Maine

By Stephan Burklin on August 17, 2010
Records obtained from the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) indicate that 40% of stimulus funds for transportation projects last year were awarded to a single New Hampshire-based company, Pike Industries. Pike Industries received $48.5 million of the nearly $121.3 million given to the Maine Department of Transportation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of [...]Read More>>

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Blog & Analysis

Christie On Maine’s Unfunded Pension Liabilities

By Stephan Burklin on September 2, 2010
“The story of the pension debt that many are calling a looming fiscal crisis is the story of how a government can create a fiscal mess for taxpayers by satisfying the needs of a politically significant group while pushing the costs into a future that has now arrived.” That’s how John Christie’s excellent piece begins [...]Read More>>

USDA Announces Recovery Act Support for Maine

By Stephan Burklin on September 2, 2010
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday that 28 states will be receiving additional recovery act funds through USDA.   “These Recovery Act projects not only provide needed infrastructure in rural communities, they contribute to the Obama administration’s continued efforts to create quality jobs,” Vilsack said. “The Recovery Act is working. These projects, and others like [...]Read More>>

Dispensary Considered in Biddeford

By Stephan Burklin on September 2, 2010
The Portland Press Herald reported yesterday that a Medical Marijuana dispensary may be located in Biddeford.Read More>>

Unemployment Rises in Maine Metropolitan Areas

By Stephan Burklin on September 1, 2010
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data regarding unemployment rates in three of Maine’s metropolitan areas.  The full report is here.   In Portland – South Portland – Biddeford, the unemployment rate rose from 6.5% in June to 6.7% in July.   In Bangor, the unemployment rate rose from 7.6% in June to 8.1% [...]Read More>>

Healthcare Sector Booming

By Stephan Burklin on August 31, 2010
There is a boom commensurate with the baby boom in Maine.   A new report issued by the Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information found that Maine’s health care sector is the state’s strongest jobs producer.  The 17,000 jobs created between 2000 and 2008 in the health care sector were more than [...]Read More>>

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