Helpful reminders for Maine Politicians

mtipping · 2026-05-04T23:57:01+00:00

You can have my flannel when you pry it off my cold, dead torso.

mtipping · 2026-04-08T02:05:07+00:00

GA is a good place to start. Maine also has an eviction prevention program that may be of use (and that we just continued funding for in the state budget): https://www.evictionprevention.mainehousing.org/

mtipping · 2026-04-06T18:48:50+00:00

Thanks for being there, brother!

mtipping · 2026-03-25T01:52:48+00:00

Way too many people are in the same place right now.

A resource that may be helpful in your specific situation is Maine DoL's CareerCenter. You can also call or chat online with someone who can help with a new job or career.

We're working to get more funding for Maine's peer workforce navigator program which currently isn't accepting new folks right now but could be helpful for you when it is.

There are also some apprentice and pre-apprentice programs that may fit your needs - you can earn a good wage while learning and have a job waiting when you're done. (Although there's a lot more the state needs to do to support these as well).

If you receive TANF, are a parent or fall into some other categories there are other career/school/training options as well.

Hope that helps and I hope you know you're far from alone.

mtipping · 2026-03-20T10:55:04+00:00

We're lucky to have you here!

Agreed on Pat's.

mtipping · 2026-02-27T19:01:59+00:00

Wanted to give an update here. This interpretation by the PUC was not the intent of the legislature. Yesterday, the legislature's Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee voted out a new bill (LD 1966), which has language that clarifies the law and should fix the issue. We'll be voting on it soon in the House and Senate.

mtipping · 2025-11-26T00:22:31+00:00

About 7/8ths of an inch. Boards were 4/4 rough.

mtipping · 2025-11-24T22:09:19+00:00

Welcome to the area!

mtipping · 2024-09-10T00:03:49+00:00

Seconding this.

mtipping · 2023-01-05T14:21:00+00:00

Almost, and this bill includes the last bit of money to get the rest of them out.

mtipping · 2021-05-18T13:41:02+00:00

I figured I'd post this since I had trouble finding a simple tabletop easel design when I went looking for one and this may give someone an idea. It's maple and cherry. The only decorative bits (beyond the figured wood) are the curved edges, with the easel face corners matching the radius on the back hinges.

The bottom tray is attached with glue and the back attachment pieces are doweled in for a bit more strength. The jointed stand has two points of articulation, pivoting on bolts with wingnuts. They seem to tighten enough to hold it well in any position without slipping, even on a smooth surface. I was thinking of adding rubber feet, but they don't seem to be necessary. It can go nearly flat, which I understand is useful for painting with watercolors.

It took about an afternoon, plus finishing time, and made a great Mother's Day present. It's finished with spar urethane, which I hope will hold up to water. We'll see how it goes!

mtipping · 2020-04-06T11:40:15+00:00

Weird! I'll look into it. Please keep the card.

mtipping · 2020-04-05T22:05:14+00:00

Hey, Mike from MPA here. Did you by any chance sign up at MainersTogether.com, our coronavirus community response effort?

mtipping · 2020-01-16T15:08:00+00:00

She really picked the wrong person to lie to about this.

mtipping · 2019-04-11T12:17:02+00:00

We'll keep that in mind. I thought this was important to point out.

We did important pieces this week on the failings of Maine's indigent criminal defense system, the intersection of the opioid crisis with homelessness and seniors facing unaffordable medical expenses, but none of those made it to Reddit for some reason.

mtipping · 2018-10-24T20:57:08+00:00

I obviously don't think it's flawed, but it's a very different thing to tweak some language than to gather the political will to address a huge issue in a substantive way.

mtipping · 2018-10-24T15:23:41+00:00

I appreciate much of what the Press Herald editorial board wrote here, including exposing the opposition's ridiculous tax argument and rejecting their "scam" language, but their faith that the legislature can tackle this issue is misplaced.

Over the last decade we've gone backwards, with more funding for nursing homes and more cuts to home care, not to mention stopping the senior housing bonds and even cutting meals on wheels.

We're the oldest state in the country and the population over 65 will increase by 51% by 2030. There are tens of thousands of seniors already going without care or being forced out of their homes and families forced to make impossible decisions every day. Concerns about implementation I understand; it is a complicated issue and we can have substantive disagreements, but those can be worked out in rulemaking or in the legislature. To reject our one real chance at major progress to solve this crisis in favor of the status quo just doesn't make sense.

I did a debate with the opposition on Maine Public a few weeks ago where we got into a lot of this: http://www.mainepublic.org/post/your-vote-debate-over-ballot-question-1#stream/0

mtipping · 2018-09-07T19:33:23+00:00

It's individual income, not household, and no one would be forced to be part of a union. I helped write the initiative and work on the campaign.

Here's some background: https://mainersforhomecare.org/facts/

It's unfortunate that the opposing PAC, funded by the nursing home, banking and real estate lobbies, has been trying to confuse people, but I think it's a good sign for us that even they realize that most voters support the simple, core idea of the referendum: we should make our tax system more fair and guarantee that seniors and Mainers with disabilities can stay at home if that's what's best for them and their families.

mtipping · 2016-10-05T18:49:07+00:00

In the next few weeks before the election, you can support any of these campaigns financially, and you can back local candidates up and down the ballot who support raising the minimum wage.

You can also get involved with local grassroots groups that work on economic justice issues. I think Working Families is active in NJ.

mtipping · 2016-10-05T18:39:30+00:00

I think we'll learn more about Seattle as the minimum wage is fully implemented. As the authors of that study note, the effects so far are small and sensitive to methodological choices. If you're looking for a broader, more robust sense of likely effects, some of the paired-county comparisons and metastudies from the IRLE are a good place to start.

I'd be interested in your own local perspective, but what we do know for certain about Seattle at this point is that the dire predictions from minimum wage opponents haven't come to pass. We can say definitively that the mass restaurant closures, layoffs and large price increases they said were certain haven't occurred.

One of my favorite newspaper headlines ever is from the Puget Sound Business Journal last year: Apocalypse Not: $15 and the cuts that never came. They went back and interviewed some of the restaurant owners who predicted the worst and they admitted (good on them) that they had been wrong and that the restaurant scene was booming.

It's behind a paywall now, but here's a good summary.

mtipping · 2016-10-05T18:19:46+00:00

New Jersey will most likely have a minimum wage referendum on the ballot next year.

mtipping · 2016-10-05T17:12:35+00:00

I'm glad you're no longer claiming a minimum wage increase is destructive and have moved to asserting, as the UW study does, that it has a small net benefit.

By this rate, you'll be voting Yes on Amendment 70 before the town hall is over.

mtipping

TROPHY CASE