Steve Mistler

1 week ago | mainepublic.org | Steve Mistler

As President Donald Trump continues to impose steep import taxes on foreign goods, he's rattled financial markets, raised prices for American consumers and brought the U.S. economy to the brink of recession. Some members of Congress, including most of Maine's delegation, are increasingly uneasy — but efforts to curtail his tariff power are likely going nowhere. Maine Public asked each member of the congressional delegation several questions.

2 weeks ago | mainepublic.org | Steve Mistler

Maine's two Democratic members in the U.S. House split Thursday over a bill that would require people to prove they are U.S. citizens before voting. The bill effectively enshrines President Donald Trump's executive order on noncitizen voting into law even though noncitizens are already barred from voting in federal elections and no state allows it. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act, makes sweeping changes to voter registration.

2 weeks ago | mainepublic.org | Steve Mistler

Republicans in the Maine Legislature are calling for investigations after an annual state audit found breakdowns in how the state awards contracts as well as overpayments in some assistance programs. The audit reviewed a sample of the $2.1 billion in contract-related programs in the last fiscal year. It found several procedural deficiencies, including signing contracts after work had already begun and failures to document a cost analysis.

2 weeks ago | mainepublic.org | Steve Mistler

A Republican-led effort aimed at removing obstacles for the development of nuclear power has failed an early test in the Maine House of Representatives. The measure would overturn a 40-year-old requirement that proposed nuclear power projects be subject to a statewide referendum. Lawmakers adopted the requirement in 1983 as a response to public concerns about nuclear power following the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island power plant in 1979.

2 weeks ago | mainepublic.org | Steve Mistler |Kevin Miller

One of President Donald Trump’s cabinet secretaries sends Gov. Janet Mills a comply-or-else letter. The president’s acting Social Security Administration director faces calls to resign after emails show he targeted Maine for retribution. Trump’s tariff gambit against Maine’s leading trading partner, Canada, is less severe than anticipated, at least for now. Welcome to April and a political news cycle that never stops.