Category: Legislative

By Steven Haycock, Legislative Director
(207) 329-6835

Spring has sprung and Primary Elections are coming right up on June 9.  Participating in the primary is important step in our election process.  By participating in the primary process, you have the best opportunity to choose the candidate that best represents your personal point of view.  As always, do your research and vote your conscience.  I mentioned at a meeting one day during refreshments that we here in Maine politically are a purplish blue state, and one of the members didn’t understand what I was referring to.  She had heard the terms “red” states and “blue” states, but didn’t understand what they meant.  It started with the 2000 Presidential election, the major networks agreed when calling the various states in the Presidential elections that states won by a Republican candidate on the maps would be colored red, and those won by the Democratic candidate would be colored blue.  Apparently, major networks had been using color-coded maps on Election night since the 1970’s, but in 2000 agreed that, across all networks, red would represent Republicans and blue Democrats.  There are states that almost always vote Republican or Democratic during most elections.  The other states, according to political commentators, are purple or swing states as they tend to change from election to election.  We here in Maine are mostly in a blue state with a weird red streak, so we are purple(ish) in my view.  What does this mean for every Mainer?  We are going to spend the next six months or so getting bombarded by political ads, signs, and mailings.  It is nice to have an independent streak, but it comes with a lot of political noise.

So, I hope everyone is thinking about and writing resolutions for the State Grange session this fall, the deadline for resolutions to be considered at theState Grange Session is August 15.  As a reminder, the whereas sections of a resolution outline the problem or issue you want to address, and the resolved section more or less covers the solution to the problem.  This is resolution writing in an extremely small nutshell.  Please reach out if you need some help getting your ideas into resolution form. I have some significant experience with this.  I might not necessarily agree with your resolution, but I promise to help you get the correct form for presentation to your Grange.  All resolutions must be passed or adopted by a Subordinate or Pomona Grange to be submitted to the Maine State Grange for consideration.  (Note: certain Maine State Grange committees can also submit resolutions.)  I also wanted to note that hundreds of resolutions are submitted to the National Grange every year for consideration. Resolutions regarding public policy, not internal Grange policy, do not automatically become the policy of the Maine State Grange unless adopted by the delegates at a session of the Maine State Grange.  Until next time….

By Steven Haycock, Legislative Director
(207) 329-6835

It’s January in Maine, which means it’s cold and snowy and the Maine Legislature is returning to work.   Officially opened on January 7, each party had dueling press conferences at the same time to lay out their priorities for the session.  Why did they have dueling press conferences, because in 2026 in my humble opinion there are no “adults” leading the political parties.  It worries me that politicians’ main goals are stopping the opposite party, even more so than advancing their own plans or agendas.  It’s seeming to me a cultural shift, which applies to most legislative bodies, and Maine is by no means alone, Washington, D.C. is another prime example.  How sad, and how far we’ve fallen from the days when the goal was to advance the common good, not stopping the opposition at all costs.  We have great problems and issues in this State and Nation.  I’m a firm believer that the best possible solution comes when the politicians of both parties work together to create common sense solutions.  “We the People,” are much better off when the Republicans don’t get everything they want and when the Democrats don’t get everything they want.  The best solutions are a combination of both ideas. 

Using Google Gemini A.I. I asked it what the priorities for the coming Maine Legislative Session are and this was the response: Energy Costs & Affordability, Housing Reform, Budget Rebalancing (apparently they found and additional $250 Million to spend), Filling Federal Funding Gaps, Immigration Enforcement, Healthcare Workforce, Tribal Sovereignty, Environment and Industry Support.  These all seem like reasonable areas to address.  The question is will they be able to work together to accomplish some of these issues. 

Healthcare Workforce seems very timely, although I couldn’t venture a clue on how to fix what is obvious Doctor shortage.  Since returning to Maine, my previous Doctor’s office I had closed, when I called to get appointment with a doctor at local office, I was told it would be at least a 6-month wait.  There were more than 8 practitioners at this office, I told them I didn’t really care which one I saw.  I also explained that for me personally I was looking for mental health support, the polite receptionist told me that I would likely be an additional 12 months after my first appointment with my new doctor to be connected with mental health services.  I’m reasonably young and healthy, so I will just have to cope.  On the other side my mother, who has some minor ongoing health issues, was forced to change providers when her Medicare insurance changed.  Her previous doctor was no longer accepted by the plan, and she went searching for a new doctor that took her plan, she called and asked for appointment, the next available appointment was in 2027!!  She has medications that require refills etc., so that worries me.  These are just two simple examples of pending healthcare crisis, without easy solutions.  I’ve been trying to produce a resolution to address this but can’t come up with the “resolve” although I got about a 25 “Whereas” statements I could use.  Any suggestions? 

By Steven Haycock, Legislative Director
(207) 329-6835

Friends, as I write this column, the embarrassment of the 42-day Federal government shutdown should be ending. It’s sad to think that we have gotten to this point in our politics. Portions of both political parties are holding “We the People” hostage for over 40 days and using people in need of food assistance as pawns, just to appease extreme members of both parties. Our Founding Fathers would be ashamed, and “We the People” should be upset. On the bright side, for the people of Maine, ¾ of our Congressional Delegation seems to have been working hard to find common ground and work towards a solution.

In these times of strong political support, opposition & opinions, I would like to stress and remind our members that the Grange is strictly non-partisan. While differing opinions on public policy should be encouraged at our Grange meetings, it is more important to speak in terms of policy rather than politics. Granges do not endorse political candidates or parties, but we do endorse and support various policies and positions. More than anything else, remember to keep it civil. Keep an open mind when encountering people’s views who differ from your own, also remember that compromise is not a “four-letter word.” 

At State Grange in October, delegates were tasked with considering nine resolutions, two of which were referred to the Legislative committee, with one being referred to both the Legislative and Agricultural Committees:

• Resolution #2 – “Resolution to Protect Maine Farmland from Purchase by Foreign Nationals or Governments” – Adopted
• Resolution #6 – “Social Security Retirement Age” – Rejected
• Resolution #9 – “Food Banks Need of State/Federal Money” – Adopted.

In the coming months, I will try to communicate our support for the adopted resolutions to the legislature. Both are timely issues that require attention at the state and federal levels.

Until next time, start working on resolutions for the 2026 State Grange Session, keeping in mind the deadline is August 15, 2026. If you need assistance getting your idea into proper resolution form, I would be happy to help.