News & Media

Opinion, Press Releases, Reports

MPA in the News

Visible Community wins new park in Lewiston (Lewiston Sun Journal)
Maine report reveals staggering cost of privatized Medicare (Maine Public Radio)

A privatized Medicare plan involving nearly 20 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries is costing seniors and other Maine tax-payers millions of dollars in corporate handouts and threatening Medicare’s ability to care for its 47 million beneficiaries, according to a report released by MPA and Americans United for Change...
Read full report
Listen to MPBN coverage of report release
Read press release

Deca Bill Passes!

On Thursday, June 14, 2007, Governor Baldacci signed LD 1658 into law. MPA worked hard on this bill that phases out the toxic flame retardant known as “deca,” in favor of safer alternatives. The bill bans the use of the toxic flame retardant in mattresses and furniture on Jan. 1, 2008 and phases out its use in televisions and other plastic-cased electronics by Jan. 1, 2010... read more

Former owner of Holtrachem trying to take MPA to the Supreme Court

07/09/2007 — Mallinckrodt Inc., the former owner of the Holtrachem chemical plant located on the banks of the Penobscot River in Orrington, has sought Supreme Court review of last December’s First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling requiring the company to fund a comprehensive study of mercury levels in the Penobscot River...
Listen to MPBN story
Read press release

Court: Holtrachem owner must pay for studies

Bangor Daily News, 01/13/07
A federal appeals court has ordered the former owner of the HoltraChem plant to pay for detailed studies of mercury pollution in the Penobscot River downstream from the contaminated Orrington site... read full article
read press release

MPA's “Defeat TABOR” campaign a success!

Hundreds of MPA members demonstrate commitment to their communities and the democratic process by volunteering to help defeat Question 1... read press release

TABOR a Serious Threat to Maine Schools

Maine People's Alliance (MPA) and the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities (ECAP) released an eye-opening report on the status of Maine students. Are we Investing in our Students? A State of the State Report on Education in Maine details the vital supports for Maine students that have been, and continue to be severely slashed by the federal government, and raises serious concerns about the ability of Maine’s school districts to meet students’ needs if faced by TABOR spending limits at the same time as federal cuts... read press release
read report

Tax cap bill takes aim at wrong culprit

Maine Sunday Telegram, 08/16/06 — Some supporters of the proposed government spending cap known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights believe that those who oppose it "just don't understand it." Perhaps they are right. I don't understand why we would want to tie the hands of our government and cut off investment in our community infrastructure... read more

DirigoChoice works for Maine

Bangor Daily News , 11/01/06 — In February 2003, skeptical and angry as a hornet, I went to Augusta, ready to go head-to-head with anyone that dare suggest that anything was right or reasonable about the price of my health insurance doubling in two years. It was the first time I had done anything political beyond voting.... read Dave White's Op-Ed piece

2 Governors Stump for Drug Plan

Bangor Daily News, 08/16/06
ORONO — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was in Maine on Tuesday, appearing with Gov. John Baldacci in South Portland and Orono to promote the three-state prescription drug purchasing alliance known as the Sovereign States Drug Consortium... read full article

Minimum Wage

On October 1, 2006, Maine’s lowest-paid working families earned an increase in their paychecks to $6.75 an hour, a result of legislation passed in the 122nd Legislature. Approximately 27,000 Maine people, predominately women, will benefit directly from the increase, and thousands more will see pay increases indirectly because of the “spillover effect”... read press release

MPA opposes repeal of the Estate Tax

A vote for repeal or drastic reduction of the estate tax means that a relatively few super-rich heirs and heiresses like Paris Hilton will be further enriched by billions, at the expense of working families. Giving more to the ultra-wealthy means providing less education and health care to everyone else...
Read letter sent to Senators Snowe and Collins
Read New York Times article
Read West End News article
Learn more about the Estate Tax

MPA urges Maine Senators not to give tax breaks to millionaires

The Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities held a press conference on May 8, to draw attention to the devastating impact the extension of capital gains and dividend tax cuts would have on Maine...
Read Lewiston Sun Journal article
Read Press Release

MPA recognized for work on Sudan Divestment

04/18/2006 — Fur Cultural Revival of New England, the Portland-based organization of immigrants from the Darfur region of western Sudan, presented awards to Governor John Baldacci, Senator Ethan Strimling, Representative Deborah Pelletier-Simpson, Peace Action Maine, the Portland Branch of the NAACP and the Maine People's Alliance on April 18th in appreciation for their support in passing the Divestment from Sudan Act, which Governor Baldacci has signed into law...
read press release

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Maine People’s Alliance—Organizing for a Better Maine!

565 Congress St., Suite 200, Portland, Maine 04101; (207) 797-0967; mpa@mainepeoplesalliance.org
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