Maine's Legislative Maps Have Changed

Back in August, we learned from the U.S. Census results that Maine’s population grew by 34,000 people, primarily concentrated in the southern part of the state. A bipartisan advisory committee used this information to redraw the state’s legislative districts, a process that takes place every ten years. The Legislature and Governor Mills approved the new maps last Wednesday without too much fuss, making Maine the second state to finish its redistricting process. Here’s what’s changed:

54,000 Mainers have switched Congressional Districts.

13 towns in the Kennebec region, including Augusta, Chelsea, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Manchester, Readfield, and Winthrop, will move from the 1st Congressional District to the 2nd. Meanwhile, Albion, Benton, Clinton, Litchfield, Unity township, and West Gardiner will move from the 2nd District to the 1st. After a great deal of negotiating, Waterville will remain in the 1st Congressional District.

Bangor Daily News has a more detailed map you can search to find your town’s Congressional District.

Borders have shifted in Maine Senate Districts.

District 18, which covers Oxford County, has expanded to include part of northern Franklin County. District 17, meanwhile, now covers the rest of Franklin County and parts of Somerset County. Senate District 1 has also grown by nearly 4,000 people, with Chapman and Fort Fairfield shifting out of District 2. Though we still have 35 Senate Districts, newly drawn lines have essentially created a new district in the southwestern part of the state.

Click here to see the new State Senate map as it compares to the current map.

Population growth divides towns on the House map.

Significant population growth in the southern part of the state has resulted in some towns splitting into multiple House Districts. Topsham is now divided between two districts, while Westbrook now encompasses three districts. Freeport, meanwhile, has become the sole town in its district.

Perhaps most important is that the district numbers have changed drastically. For example, Freeport’s district number, once 48, is now 102. Check the Bangor Daily News for a map of the new House districts.

Maine was fortunate to have a relatively smooth approval process for redistricting in the Legislature, without having to get the State Supreme Court involved. And thanks to the requirement that two-thirds of each chamber must approve the new maps, we steered clear of the partisan gerrymandering that plagues other states.

Senate President Troy Jackson wrote in a joint statement with leaders of both parties, “It is because we believe Maine people deserve better than partisan fighting and political games when it comes to making sure they have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.”

The new Legislative and Congressional Districts will take effect in 2022.

Ellsworth Walmart and How Big Box Stores Are Short-Changing Maine

A battle between Corporate America and municipal government rages on in Ellsworth.

On August 19, Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust filed a second request to lower its assessed property value from $20.1 million to $10 million, cutting its taxes in Ellsworth by upwards of $180,000 annually.

How is this even possible? Through the employment of the “dark store assessment.”

The dark store assessment is a loophole used by big box stores, such as Walmart, to lower their property taxes. Corporations value their active locations as if they were vacant storefronts, costing local communities tens of thousands of dollars in revenue. They often argue that because their stores are designed specifically for their purposes, their value on the real estate market would be far less than traditional estimates.

This is hardly a new strategy for Walmart. In 2017 alone, Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust attempted to use the dark store assessment to appeal its property taxes in eight different Maine towns, including Ellsworth. It did so in municipalities across the country.

And it’s not just Walmart, Maine accountant John O’Donnell told the Ellsworth American: “It’s coming to your town soon, as they say. Walmart, CVS, Home Depot, Kohls, Walgreens. The dark store method is being embraced.”

For municipalities battling the dark store theory, even a win can result in losses due to excessive legal fees needed to counter corporate lawyers.

“Just the threat of going to court may intimidate an assessor to lower the value,” said Ellsworth Assessor Larry Gardner in 2019.

Legislation to close the dark store loophole was introduced in the Legislature this past session. LD 1129 would have required tax assessors to value retail properties based on cost minus depreciation, income generated, and comparable property sales. The bill did not advance.

Our towns cannot be beholden to corporations like Walmart, who use our infrastructure and our labor to benefit themselves. We cannot allow them to deny us the revenue needed to maintain our roads, educate our children, and maintain a decent quality of life for Maine’s working families.

Sign if you agree: Stop big box stores from short-changing Maine.

Teachers and School Staff Combat COVID-19, Protect Students

Pfizer this week announced that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective for children ages 5 to 11. While this is great news in a time where nearly one in four hospitalized coronavirus patients is under 18, it could still be some time before we see vaccines distributed to younger children. How are teachers and education administrators keeping our children safe during this difficult period?

Pooled COVID-19 Testing

Teachers are working hard to ensure students’ safety. Over half of Maine schools participate in pooled testing, where students and staff are regularly tested for COVID-19. Teachers and administrators teach younger children how to swab their noses and put their samples in vials, which are then sent to a Massachusetts lab for PCR testing. If the lab finds a positive test in a school’s batch of tests, individual students are then tested.

Students who test positive and those with whom they have close contact will have to quarantine for 10 days. This testing method is designed to lower the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks by catching them early, as well as reduce the number of close contacts who need to quarantine.

Vaccinations

The State of Maine has maintained a database with the vaccination status of teachers and school staff. As of the end of August, three-quarters of all educators and school staff are fully vaccinated. That said, the rate of vaccination varies widely by school. Just 30 schools boast 100 percent vaccination rates. Many schools have failed to report their vaccination status at all, which still leaves a lot of unknowns.

Universal Masking and Building Upgrades

In accordance with both the federal and state CDC, students, teachers, and staff are asked to wear masks at all times while indoors. Meanwhile, Governor Mills put aside $300 million last summer to upgrade school ventilation systems and expand outdoor spaces, leaving fewer avenues of transmission.

It goes without saying that teachers are deserving of our utmost respect for the work they do. They are often overworked and underpaid, and a shortage of educators exacerbated by the pandemic makes the burden on our teachers that much greater.

Sign our letter to teachers and school staff to thank them for keeping our children safe and healthy during the pandemic.

The best thing we can do to recognize and protect educators during this time is to protect ourselves and our families. This means continuing to wear masks per CDC guidelines and getting vaccinated if we’re eligible. This will also help us to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to children, which has become more prevalent with the Delta variant. It’s on all of us to keep our students, our educators, and our communities safe.