Thursday, December 14, 2023
On Tuesday, December 19th at 6:00 the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine will offer a community conversation on antisemitism. The zoom gathering will begin with a 45 minute presentation on the history of antisemitism from Education Coordinator Erica Nadelhaft; she will then open it up to questions and conversation. The gathering will focus on people's personal experiences, not politics. We would like to hear about what you are seeing and experiencing in your daily lives during...
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future is excited to announce the opening of three grant opportunities for municipal and tribal governments and unorganized territories through the Community Resilience Partnership. Visit the GOPIF website for more information and to register for upcoming informational webinars.
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...
Thursday, November 30, 2023
On April 27, 2022, Governor Mills signed affordable housing legislation into law, P.L. 2021, c. 672, entitled, An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions (hereinafter the Affordable Housing Law). The law was later amended by P.L. 2023, c. 192, which was entitled An Act to Clarify Statewide Laws Regarding Affordable Housing and Accessory Dwelling Units. Together, these bills made significant...
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...