The Latest: Maine boosts availability of overdose antidote

By The Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Latest on veto votes by the Maine Legislature (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

The Maine Legislature has adjourned.

Lawmakers wrapped up business Friday without action on a late proposal by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour.

The Democratic-controlled House voted to indefinitely postpone the bill. And the bill died when the Legislature adjourned its session.

Many Democrats oppose the bill, saying it’s an attempt to undermine a referendum proposal set for the November ballot to lift the minimum wage to $12.

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4:40 p.m.

The Maine Legislature has voted overwhelmingly to override Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill to increase the availability of a drug overdose antidote.

The Senate voted 29-5 and the House 132-14 to reject the veto on Friday.

The governor opposed the proposal to allow pharmacists to provide the lifesaving drug Narcan without a prescription under some circumstances to friends and family members of addicts believed to be at risk of an overdose from opioids.

The idea was to make it more widely available in light of Maine’s heroin epidemic.

LePage said previously that Narcan merely extends addicts’ lives but doesn’t save them. But Assistant House Democratic leader Sara Gideon said Friday it’s important to “seize every opportunity to prevent overdose deaths.”

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3:50 p.m.

A proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Maine is going to be on the November ballot.

The Maine Legislature voted Friday to send the proposal to voters. Lawmakers had had the option of either approving the bill as written, or letting it appear on the ballot.

The secretary of state announced earlier this week that referendum supporters had enough valid signatures to meet the threshold for the ballot.

The measure would legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 and older, allowing them to possess up to 2.5 ounces of processed marijuana. It also would regulate and tax marijuana. Maine already legalized marijuana for medical use in 1999.

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3:15 p.m.

Both chambers of the Maine Legislature have overturned the veto of a bill that earmarks $2.4 million in emergency funding for jails.

The bipartisan bill was overwhelmingly approved in the House, and was approved in the Senate unanimously without a roll call. But it was vetoed by Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who said counties have no incentive to control jail costs when the state steps in to make up the difference.

That bill will now become law over LePage’s objections.

But a proposal to replenish the Clean Elections program is dead. The House failed to muster enough votes to override the veto of $500,000 for the fund.

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1:45 p.m.

The Maine House has voted overwhelmingly to override Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill to allow pharmacists to distribute a drug overdose antidote.

The House voted 132-14 in favour of the bill on Friday. It now goes to the Senate.

The governor opposed the proposal to allow pharmacists to fill prescriptions for Narcan, a lifesaving drug for people who’ve overdosed on narcotics.

The idea was to make it more widely available in light of Maine’s heroin epidemic. LePage said Narcan merely extends lives but doesn’t save them.

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1:30 p.m.

The Maine House has failed — twice — to override Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill to modernize state policies on solar power.

The House took the unusual step of holding a second vote Friday under a procedural rule after a lawmaker who wanted to change his vote requested it.

Lawmakers were passionate on the issue. Democratic Rep. Diane Russell of Portland, who supported the bill, called it a “make it or break it” moment for the solar industry. But Republican Dwayne Prescott of Waterboro said it’s unfair to make ratepayers who get no benefit pay for it.

Supporters actually lost ground on the second tally.

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This story has been corrected to show that supporters lost ground on the second vote.

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1 p.m.

The Maine Legislature has overridden Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a plan to boost pay for workers at the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta and Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital in Bangor.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Roger Katz, a Republican from Augusta, will increase wages by $2 to $4 an hour for mental health workers, nurses, psychologists and other direct care staff.

In vetoing the bill, LePage cited a survey indicating a wage increase was “either unnecessary or too high.” He also said negative publicity is a bigger barrier than wages to retaining workers.

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11:45 a.m.

The Maine House has failed to override Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill to modernize state policies on solar power.

Rep. Sara Gideon, assistant Democratic leader, said Friday the proposal would’ve spurred job creation. But Rep. Ken Fredette, House Republican leader, said he feared it would kill jobs by raising energy costs while helping only a small number of Mainers.

The proposal is dead after failing to muster a two-thirds vote.

The Maine Legislature is off to a fast pace Friday as it deals with 33 vetoes by the governor.

Other vetoed bills include proposals to allow pharmacists to dispense a drug overdose antidote, add funding to the Clean Elections program, boost pay for workers at the Riverview Psychiatric Center, and provide additional funding for state jails.

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12:30 a.m.

The Maine Legislature is returning to session to deal with 33 vetoes, including a bill to make a drug overdose antidote available to the public.

The sponsor of the proposal to make Narcan available via prescription believes she can muster the two-thirds vote Friday to override the governor’s veto.

Other vetoed bills include proposals to add funding to the Clean Elections program, boost pay for workers at the Riverview Psychiatric Center, modernize state policies on solar power, and provide additional funding for state jails.

Lawmakers also will consider a late proposal by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour. Some Democrats oppose the bill, saying it’s an attempt to undermine a referendum to lift the minimum wage to $12.

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