The bill would require a prospective employer to report any suspected or confirmed criminal activity uncovered during a police officer’s background investigation or polygraph exam to the applicant’s current employer.
Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, Politics
Maine lawmakers renew push for faster work permits for asylum seekers
Efforts dating to 2015 have failed to gain traction in Congress, stalling in the polarized debates over immigration reform and border security.
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Posted inLocal & State
Legislative committee votes to restore funding for Portland Harbor dredging
Gov. Janet Mills proposed reallocating $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to a program that helps small businesses afford health insurance, but a key legislative committee voted against that idea Thursday.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Maine House speaker strips committee assignment of indicted Democrat
Rep. Clinton E. Collamore Sr. has faced calls to resign since being indicted in December on multiple counts of aggravated forgery, unsworn falsification and violations of the Clean Election Act.
Posted inLocal & State
Gov. Mills nominates York County judge for seat on state’s top court
Superior Court Justice Wayne R. Douglas of Old Orchard Beach previously served as former Gov. Angus King’s chief legal adviser before becoming a judge in 2002.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Maine AG investigating petition drive alleged to be ‘rife with fraud’
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told lawmakers that she referred a case to the attorney general involving a rejected 2022 citizens initiative intended to prohibit noncitizens from voting.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Maine begins mailing $450 relief checks
The Mills administration says it plans to mail out 200,000 a week, and that the ‘vast majority’ of the 880,000 eligible taxpayers should receive them by the end of March.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Politics
Time seems ripe for bipartisan action on income tax cuts in Maine
As the state enjoys a record surplus, lawmakers from both parties have submitted proposals that would reduce taxes for lower-income Mainers.
Posted inLocal & State, News
State lawmaker calls for $200 million investment in affordable housing
Rep. Rebecca Millett’s bill is one of many that will be considered by a new Joint Select Committee on Housing, created by the Legislature this session.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Bill would extend MaineCare health coverage to all low-income noncitizens
House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross submitted a similar bill last session, but it did not advance out of committee after Gov. Janet Mills funded a smaller expansion, limited to noncitizens who are pregnant or under the age of 21.