Beacon Podcast

Gov. Janet Mills introduced her proposed two-year budget this week, and Esther, Cate and Ben offer their initial thoughts. Also, we chat with MPA lobby team member Rafael Macias about what the lobby team’s all about, and take a look at the competing referendum questions around a consumer-owned utility, and who all is behind them.…

The post Podcast: Taking it to Augusta with MPA’s Lobby Team first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week on the podcast, Esther Pew interviews Tim and Suzanna, field organizers who have been knocking on doors and speaking to tenants in the Redbank Village in South Portland, about what Mainers are going through during a state housing crisis. Also: Mike Tipping interviews reporter Evan Popp on Beacon’s Making a Difference series, profiling…

The post Podcast: What we learned talking to tenants in an ‘affordable’ housing neighborhood first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Today is the last day to sign up for health coverage through coverME.gov. Esther, Cate and Mike discuss this, the January 1 minimum wage increase to $13.80 an hour and other policy holidays on this week’s podcast, along with a review of media coverage of the new state legislature and the long history of REAL…

The post Podcast: From minimum wage to prescription drugs, end of year is full of policy holidays first appeared on Maine Beacon.

On the podcast this week, Cate, Esther and Mike discuss the voting down of Governor Mills’ plan for emergency heating and housing assistance by Republicans in the state senate and what that will mean for Mainers this winter. They also discuss the election of Maine’s constitutional officers, a new report on the effects of tribal…

The post Podcast: Senate Republicans killed heat and housing assistance, what comes next? first appeared on Maine Beacon.

With decisions made on legislative leadership and referenda signatures being submitted, what’s next for politics and policy in Maine is becoming more clear. On this episode of the Beacon Podcast, Esther, Ben and Mike discuss the Our Power referendum, the selection of Rachel Talbot Ross as Speaker of the Maine House and more. Ask a…

The post Podcast: The next two years of Maine politics take shape first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Cate and Mike discuss the full election results, the analysis, autopsies and recriminations and the selection of leaders in the Maine legislature. Among calls for the GOP to move past Donald Trump nationally and Paul LePage in Maine, they wonder what that could look like for a party that has been molded by their influence…

The post Podcast: Is there a Maine Republican Party beyond LePage? first appeared on Maine Beacon.

Ben Chin, Esther Pew, Cate Blackford and Senator-elect Mike Tipping discuss the results of Tuesday’s election – what happened in races across the state, why and what it means for Maine. Ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182. Subscribe to the podcast feed right here using any podcasting app…

The post Podcast: An unexpected sweep for Maine Democrats first appeared on Maine Beacon.

With only a few days before Election Day, Esther, Cate and Nora look at some of what Portland voters will be seeing on that city’s voluminous ballot, and celebrate the signature-gathering successes of Our Power’s consumer-owned utility and Protect Maine Elections’ foreign money out of political campaigns, um, campaigns. The gang also talks about who’s…

The post Podcast: What Portland voters need to know about all. those. questions. first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week, Cate, Nora and Ben gorge themselves on a buffet of this week’s news and what’s burbling up in our state’s politics. The team looks at the history of the Christian Civic League and why its profile has risen in this election; checks in on some NIMBYism in Lewiston; talks about Maine’s national standardized…

The post Podcast: Why are Maine kids’ test scores dropping, and should we care? first appeared on Maine Beacon.

This week, the Cate, Esther and Ben dig into election-eve campaign spending and what it may or may not mean, highlight the new “State of Working Maine 2022” report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy, and talk about state efforts to tackle Maine’s affordable housing crisis (as well as landlord pushback against some pretty…

The post Podcast: There’s no crying in Capitalism! first appeared on Maine Beacon.