Meanwhile, Sen. Katz and Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) have both submitted proposals that would pursue a student loan policy based on Oregon’s “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” pilot project. Starting in 2015, students are eligible to attend Oregon state colleges tuition-free under the condition that they agree to pay back a small percentage of their income to the state over a couple of decades. Graduates with a four-year bachelor’s degree would pay 3 percent of their income for 20 to 25 years. The money would go into a trust fund set up to fund future students.

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“We clearly want to have a veto-proof majority once it comes to the Senate,” said State Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland. He said at least three Republicans in the Senate were likely to support an expansion under the right conditions. With those three, 19 Democrats and one independent, Alfond has to muster just one more Republican vote.

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After the press conference, Maine Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said, “This administration continues to go after the poorest of the poor, the people with almost no options, and it’s just so contrary to what the governor has said multiple times, that Maine needs to be a welcoming place.”
Maine’s immigrants need help to gain a foothold, he said.

“All they’re asking for is to get a start,” Alfond said. “This is just very unfortunate.”

Click here to read more from the Portland Daily Sun.

Maine Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, the Senate President, said in an interview Friday, “I’m very hopeful; with Medicaid expansion, we’ve been doing some wonderful work with our colleagues across the aisle to get the final votes to make this successful in Maine so 70,000 people can get health care coverage.”

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The Medicaid expansion is “absolutely” the most important issue in the session, says Justin Alfond, Senate president. The debate on it, he adds, will take place “right away.” There’s “a great sense of urgency” about the issue, agrees Mark Eves, House speaker.

Both Alfond and Eves — interviewed separately in their offices — calculate that the state, by not taking the money, is forgoing $700,000 a day from the feds beginning January 1. (That’s $5.6 million by the date the session opens for business.) Besides the moral argument of the need to help people obtain health care, they emphasize the value of that money pumped into the leaky Maine economy.

They’re guardedly upbeat. “I think we’re going to be successful,” Alfond says. A major reason, he adds, is that the state’s hospitals are putting pressure on their local GOP legislators. Still, Eves cautions, the vote will “continue to
be close.”

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The measure, “An Act To Increase Funding for Start-ups,” is sponsored by Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, and seeks to remove existing barriers to “crowd funding” while maintaining Maine’s strong consumer and investor protection laws.

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LEWISTON  — Maine Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, on Monday denounced Gov. Paul LePage’s efforts to derail a deal between the state of Maine and the Norwegian energy giant Statoil.

“What we have seen once again is how far this governor is willing to go to stop you dead in your tracks if he is against you,” Alfond said. “And it doesn’t matter if you are an individual or a company that wants to invest millions of dollars. He basically threw a wrench into the plans and business decisions of Statoil and today’s report makes you ask, ‘What else or what more will his administration be willing to do to upend this investment in Maine?'”

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FAIRFIELD — Maine’s colleges don’t have the space, the buildings, or the technology to train today’s workforce adequately, legislators and education leaders said Wednesday.

Standing amid 30-year-old machinery used to teach students at Kennebec Valley Community College, education leaders and Democratic lawmakers  touted the advantages of a $149.5 million jobs bond they said will provide a critically needed boost in teaching students to function in an increasingly technology-based industrial work environment.

The bond proposal, which legislators are expected to approve during a special session today, will go before voters in November.

Senate President Justin Alfond said Republicans deserve equal credit for coming together on the package, which includes $35.5 million for higher education. Republican leaders were not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Click here to read more from the Morning Sentinel.

 AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ Democratic leaders say a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to opt out of some anti-smog regulations will have serious implications on the health of Maine residents.

In a letter to the Republican governor on Tuesday, House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick and Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland say lawmakers and the public should have a chance to evaluate the proposal.

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