Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Two federal level legislative efforts are being advanced to further amend the Farm Bill by preempting state and local regulatory authority over pesticides, food production, and manufacturing. H.R. 4288, the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act, would prohibit state and local governments from adopting pesticide laws and ordinances that are more protective than federal rules, while H.R. 4417, the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act, would prohibit the imposition of standards or...
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
The Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) is administering the Domestic Trade Grant Program on behalf of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and is urging municipal officials to share this opportunity with qualifying businesses within their communities. The program, geared toward assisting Maine businesses with selling more goods and services throughout the U.S., will award roughly $6 million in grants through two competitive rounds. Depending on the...
Monday, November 27, 2023
The Maine Tax Portal is now available to help municipalities file the Municipal Valuation Return (MVR), as well as requests for property tax reimbursements under the BETR and BETE programs. Individuals responsible for filing reports or managing reimbursement programs can now set up their Maine Tax Portal accounts, if they have not already done so, by visiting revenue.maine.gov. A video explaining how to use the portal to manage Municipal Valuation Returns can be viewed at...
Monday, November 27, 2023
The National Civic League is accepting applications for the 2024 All-American City Award. Since 1949, over 500 communities have been bestowed this honor, including the five Maine municipalities of Auburn, Lewiston, Portland, Presque Isle, and South Portland. Ready to make it six Maine communities? Well, here is your opportunity. This is year’s theme is “Strengthening Democracy through Local Action and Innovation.” To that end, the National Civic...
Monday, November 27, 2023
On November 21, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services notified 67,000 households that they qualify for the Low-Income Assistance Program (LIAP), which is administered by the Public Utilities Commission. The program will provide up to $22.5 million in credits on the electric bills issued to qualifying customers who provide a copy of the LIAP letter to their utility companies. Residents who do not receive a letter and need assistance are urged to complete the online form...
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
The Department of Economic and Community Development is hosting five in-person sessions in December and January to answer your questions about the implementation of the LD 2003 housing mandates. The next round of sessions will be held on:
December 6, 2023 from noon to 2:00 p.m. at the Peabody Memorial Library in Jonesport;
December 14, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Skowhegan Free Public Library in Skowhegan;
December 14, 2023 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Guilford...
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
On December 5 and 6 from 10:00 a.m. to noon, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with MEMA, will conduct training sessions on the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs. Zoom sessions are designed to provide eligible applicants and sub-applicants with the information and tools necessary for filing grant applications, which in addition to traditional infrastructure resilience and flood...
Thursday, November 16, 2023
On November 16, Anthony Ward, Casco Town Manager and member of the Association’s Executive Committee and Rebecca Graham, MMA’s Senior Legislative Advocate, joined Ric Tyler and George Hale on the Voice of Maine to discuss MMA’s Serve Strong initiative. You can listen to the interview here.
The program, which will be fully implemented and made available to MMA member towns and cities in February 2024, is designed to provide first responders access to web-based...
Monday, November 6, 2023
On August 3, 2023, Governor Mills signed an executive order directing the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) to develop a plan establishing an Office of New Americans. Information about this effort, including the full text of the executive order, can be found here. In summary, by January 19, 2024, GOPIF must: (1) deliver a plan to establish a new state office to support the long-term economic and civic integration of immigrants in Maine; (2)...
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Lewiston announces Wednesday, November 1 as “Act of Kindness and Gratitude Day” to commemorate the one-week anniversary of the lives lost on October 25.
Click here for details.