Posts about Public Policy
January 16, 2024
2024 Weekly Legislative Update #1
January 15, 2024 The second session of the Maine Legislature is off and running. Having carried over a record number of bills from the first session and adding another 100 or so “Emergency” bills, every...
January 11, 2024
The Gun Safety Day of Action, and What’s Next
Dozens of Episcopalians were among the hundreds of Mainers gathered at the Maine State House in Augusta on January 3—the first day of the new legislative session—to press for gun safety reform. Among them was...
November 1, 2023
A Pastoral Word from Bishop Brown
A Pastoral Word from Bishop Thomas Brown to the Episcopal Diocese of Maine in the wake of the mass shooting in Lewiston 27 October 2023 On Wednesday evening, our beloved community of Lewiston joined the...
October 12, 2023
2023 Legislative Review
October 12, 2023 The Maine Council of Churches Public Policy Committee met yesterday to do a final debrief of the legislative session. I co-chair this group and was excited to meet, mostly in person,...
May 10, 2023
Maine Episcopalians advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights
A group of Maine Episcopalians from three parishes (Trinity in Portland, St. Albans in Cape Elizabeth, and St. Ann’s in Windham) recently joined forces to express their faith-based support for gender justice to their legislators....
April 7, 2023
Advocacy Update – April 2023
It has been a busy couple of weeks on the advocacy front now that the legislature has dealt with the statebudget. Speaking of the budget, you have heard the democratic majority passed a budget that...
March 21, 2023
Advocacy Report – A Busy 90 Days Coming Up
Update March 18, 2023 The 131st Legislature was very slow to take off and is just now shifting into a quicker pace. As of March 17th, 1210, of an expected 2,000 +/- bills have been...
February 20, 2023
Diocese Working with Government Agencies to Address Current Homelessness Crisis
Update February 20, 2023 Jane Field of the Maine Council of Churches and I participated in a call with state officials from the Governor’s office, the Department of Health and Human Services, Portland legislators, the...
February 5, 2023
Legislative Update – February 5, 2023
Below you will find the first draft of the legislative tracking document and my notes from Advocacy Days. The tracking document is not set up with active links to the legislative documents – yet. I...
January 18, 2023
Trinity Providing Housing to Asylum Seekers
Trinity Church in Portland has begun hosting three families of asylum seekers. They will be sleeping and living at Trinity for two weeks in conjunction with the organization Family Promise. It is a joy that...