Advocacy Programs

PORTLAND, Maine – A top U.S. Department of Labor official told a room full of unemployed or minimum-wage-earning Mainers on Thursday that raising the minimum wage, as President Barack Obama and Maine Democrats propose, would not trigger mass layoffs. The event – led by Latifa Lyles, acting director of the department’s Women’s Bureau – took … Read more

Some policymakers act as if they would like to make the poor disappear, as if by magic. Gov. LePage’s budget has many versions of the trick, including a plan to cap state support for General Assistance programs, apparently under the belief that if there were less money to meet people’s needs, there would be fewer … Read more

Augusta – Recipients of MaineCare coverage for childless adults say Governor LePage’s proposal to eliminate the benefit would force many people with chronic medical conditions to go without treatment. Advocates for low-income Mainers and recipients of MaineCare coverage for childless adults held a news conference Monday in the State House to talk about the impacts … Read more

PORTLAND – After advocates created a mock shelter in front of City Hall and a crowd packed the balcony of its chambers, the City Council voted unanimously Monday night to accept task force recommendations for reducing homelessness. For two hours, the council heard public testimony on the sweeping plan. More than 30 city residents, business … Read more

PORTLAND – An overflow crowd turned out for Monday night’s City Council meeting to weigh in on a task force report on homelessness that has sparked public debate over the city’s role in helping people in need. The council accepted the report after nearly two hours of public testimony and referred elements to its committees … Read more

If you watched Monday’s City Council meeting looking for a fight, you would have been disappointed. An expected showdown between downtown business owners and Portland’s homeless advocates turned out to be not much of a debate at all. Instead of tearing apart a report written by a citizen task force calling for more capacity and … Read more

PORTLAND – The head of the Preble Street shelter is calling on supporters to back a task force report calling for new housing for the homeless in the city. An e-mail sent out by Mark Swann, the executive director of the shelter, said supporters are needed at Monday night’s Portland City Council meeting to counteract … Read more

A lot has changed in the three years since I became the first governor in the country to sign legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry. One thing, however, is as true today as it was then: Civil unions and domestic partnerships are not the same as marriage. Opponents of allowing same-sex couples to marry say … Read more

Former Gov. John Baldacci will be ladling out the sauce again next week in Bangor and Portland at events sponsored by Catholics for Marriage Equality and the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination. The money raised at the events will be donated to organizations that support the homeless in Bangor and Portland rather than to Mainers United … Read more

PORTLAND – A task force has unveiled a sweeping plan for reducing homelessness in the city. The plan, still in its draft form, calls for creating a centralized process for assessing homeless people; building three, 35-unit housing facilities, and expanding case management services to better match the needs of clients. Nearly 100 people filled City … Read more