Amidst a wave of non-compete bans sweeping California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota and, most recently, the nation via the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete prohibition, Maine Governor Janet Mills departed from this...more
In 2021, Maine passed the most sweeping law related to the regulation of PFAS in consumer products at that time. Subsequently, the law was amended in 2023, and on April 16, 2024, Governor Mills signed L.D. 1537, entitled “An...more
Maine Governor Janet Mills has vetoed legislation that would have severely restricted the contexts in which Maine employers could use and enforce non-compete agreements. The bill, LD 1496, would have significantly hampered...more
On January 11, 2024, at 12:15 p.m., Governor Janet Mills declared a state of emergency in Cumberland County as a result of the severe storm earlier in the week. The state of emergency will expire January 18, 2024, at 12:15....more
Yesterday, Maine Governor Janet Mills preemptively declared a state of emergency because of the approaching storm, known as Hurricane Lee. While the storm’s projected impacts on Portland are uncertain, there is a clear...more
Early this afternoon, Governor Janet Mills signed into law LD 1895, legislation directing the state to procure up to 3 GW of offshore wind by 2040. The final version of the procurement bill emerged after several weeks of...more
Maine recently joined the list of states—including California, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, and others—with laws restricting employers’ use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and...more
On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, Maine’s state legislature passed L.D. 585 that will legalize retail and online sports betting throughout the state once signed by Governor Janet Mills. If enacted, the bill would give the state’s...more
In spite of significant opposition from Maine’s business community, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and leaders in the tourism, hospitality, and small business communities, Governor Janet Mills signed into law...more
Bloomberg Environment reports that Maine Governor Janet Mills is about to sign legislation banning the land application of biosolids in Maine unless those biosolids are determined to be free of PFAS. Practically speaking,...more
Maine’s new “An Act Relating to Fair Chance in Employment” prohibits employers from requesting an applicant’s criminal history on their initial employment applications. An employer may ask about an applicant’s criminal...more
After two years as host of “Eggs & Issues,” the monthly business breakfast of the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce, Jim Cohen concluded his twentieth appearance with an hour-long interview of Maine Governor Janet T....more
On July 1, 2021, LD 936, An Act To Amend State Laws Relating to Net Energy Billing and the Procurement of Distributed Generation became law after Maine Governor Janet Mills allowed the legislatively enacted bill to go into...more
Maine employees will soon be eligible to take protected unpaid leave to care for serious health conditions of their grandchildren. On June 14, 2021, Governor Janet Mills signed into law L.D. 61, an Act to Include Grandparents...more
On May 24, Governor Janet Mills nominated attorney Patrick Scully, who was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Bernstein Shur, to serve a six-year term on the Maine Public Utilities Commission. For over 36 years,...more
Last week, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) and Office of Policy Innovation and the Future jointly presented to the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities, and Technology (EUT) Committee a report outlining a four-year...more
On March 18, 2021, Maine Governor Janet Mills announced that the state will extend the deadline for Maine individual income tax payments from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021. The governor’s announcement comes one day after the...more
On March 5, 2021, Governor Janet Mills issued Executive Order 35 (FY 20/21) in an effort to prepare Maine’s economy for the upcoming tourism season while also seeking to protect the health and safety of Maine’s residents. The...more
On February 9, 2021, Maine Governor Janet Mills proposed revisions to the supplemental budget that conform to the federal tax treatment of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for the first $1 million of PPP loan proceeds....more
Maine Governor Janet Mills submitted a supplemental budget, as amended by a change package submitted on January 25, 2021. The supplemental budget is notable for its retroactive conformity to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) as...more
In mid-December 2020, Maine Governor Janet Mills, the state’s attorney general’s office, the Maine Department of Health & Human Services, and the Maine Human Rights Commission published new guidance concerning mask directives...more
With COVID-19 cases rapidly rising throughout the state of Maine, Governor Janet Mills yesterday announced new public health and safety measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. These measures include daily early closure...more
Starting today, Friday, November 19, certain Maine businesses will be required to close their doors at 9:00PM each day, through Sunday, December 6. With increasing numbers of positive COVID-19 cases and holiday gatherings...more
COVID-19 cases are on the rise both in Maine and across the nation. In a previous blog post, we shared that bars were set to open in Maine today, Monday, November 2. Unfortunately, due to the significant increases in the...more
On Thursday, October 29, 2020, Governor Janet Mills issued a proclamation extending Maine’s state of civil emergency through November 27, 2020. This is the eighth proclamation renewing the state of civil emergency (which, by...more