Latest news with #BradFarrin
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
New law aims to expand rural pharmacy access
A bill signed into law late last month aims to increase pharmacy access in rural communities across Maine. L.D. 239 directs the Maine Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules for the licensing and regulation of retail pharmacy remote dispensing sites no later than June 2026. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Brad Farrin, said in testimony that allowing retail pharmacies to operate remote dispensing sites 'addresses a critical need for improving access to prescription medications in rural areas while maintaining the necessary safeguards.' A Maine Monitor analysis of state pharmacy licensing data last year found that a tenth of Maine pharmacies closed between 2013 and 2024. These closures hit rural communities particularly hard, with some counties losing more than a fifth of their pharmacies. Farrin, a Republican whose district covers wide swaths of rural Somerset, Kennebec and Penobscot counties, added that while mail order pharmacy services are helpful in some situations, they are not the solution in situations where 'acute medications,' like antibiotics, need to be picked up quickly in order to avoid serious health issues. 'In many rural areas, it's not financially possible for a full-service pharmacy to stay open, but a remote dispensing site that provides essential acute medications could make a huge difference,' he said. 'It would save Mainers hours of travel time and help them start their medications on time.' What exactly a 'remote dispensing site' will look like or how it will operate will be determined by the Maine Board of Pharmacy, which licenses and regulates pharmacies, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The bill Gov. Janet Mills signed into law on May 29 states that the pharmacy board rules 'must, at a minimum, require a demonstration that the geographic area in which the remote dispensing site is to be located lacks adequate access to retail pharmacy services for the general public.' Penny Vaillancourt, director of the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, said that the pharmacy board will develop a timeline to implement the legislation and propose draft rules over the coming months, but that it was too soon to comment on what those rules may look like. Current rules require that retail pharmacies must be open a minimum of 40 hours a week and must have a pharmacist on duty at all times, unless a location receives a waiver from the board. Model rules drafted last August by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, of which Maine is a member, defined a remote dispensing site as a location where 'drugs are maintained and prescriptions are filled by a certified pharmacy technician,' who dispenses drugs under the remote supervision of a pharmacist. A retail pharmacy that obtains a license to operate one of these sites would be considered the 'supervising pharmacy' and must, among other requirements, maintain a common record-keeping system and have a pharmacist on duty available for patient or caregiver counseling via telehealth at all times. Independent pharmacies, typically a lifeline in many rural communities, have shuttered at a higher rate than chain pharmacies such as CVS or Walgreens. Where just about 3 percent of chain pharmacy locations have closed in the decade leading up to 2024, nearly 31 percent of independents have shut their doors. Washington County, which saw the steepest decline in the number of pharmacies statewide, had just nine pharmacies in operation as of February 2024, a 44 percent decline compared to 2013. All four pharmacies that closed in the preceding decade were independents. The Monitor found that overall, 10 Maine counties had fewer pharmacies in 2024 than they did in 2013. Just three counties –– Lincoln, Piscataquis and Waldo –– saw new pharmacies open during that time period.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to kill Gorham Connector crashes in committee
May 8—A bill that would ensure the controversial Gorham Connector proposal is dead was soundly rejected by the Legislature's transportation committee this week. LD 1020 would repeal 2017 legislation that directed the Maine Turnpike Authority to plan and build a toll highway extension from South Portland, through Scarborough and Westbrook, to Gorham. The bill follows the authority's announcement in March that it enlisted the Maine Department of Transportation to consider alternative solutions to commuter traffic congestion west of Portland. Neither agency has said the connector proposal has been dropped entirely. The bill also would order the authority to sell any land purchased for the project to the previous owners or give it to the municipalities where the properties are located. If municipalities didn't want the land, the authority would have to offer it to a local land trust before selling it. The authority has spent $6.3 million on 15 properties totaling 340 acres, or about 30% of the 50 parcels the authority would need to complete the project. The bill's supporters say they want to make sure the plan to build a 5-mile, four-lane toll highway isn't considered a viable option in the upcoming study, which is expected to take 18 to 24 months. The committee sided with the bill's opponents, including Department of Transportation officials, who said eliminating the connector proposal from potential solutions would predetermine the outcome of the study before it starts. "I don't think you'd want to do any of those things until you knew what the options were," said Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, a committee member. The committee voted 9-3 Wednesday to recommend that LD 1020 "ought not to pass" when it goes before the House and Senate in the coming weeks. The committee instructed Department of Transportation officials to report back early next year on the study's progress. "I don't want the department or the turnpike expending resources and energy and time without community support," said Rep. Lydia Crafts, D-Newcastle, committee chair. The MTA has already spent $18 million developing the connector proposal, which has been in the works for more than 20 years. Now estimated to cost at least $331 million, the project drew organized opposition after the authority announced its preferred route in February 2024. Public dissent swelled last summer, when an MTA poll found that 45% of respondents said they oppose (12%) or strongly oppose (33%) the connector, while 40% said they support (20%) or strongly support (20%) building the road. Municipal councils in Scarborough and Westbrook withdrew their support. Supporters of the highway project say it would be an effective solution to traffic congestion, especially as more homes are being built in communities west of Portland. Connector opponents say it's an outdated and costly proposal that would do little to fix commuter congestion. They say it would displace homes, worsen suburban sprawl and vehicle emissions, and destroy wetlands, farmlands and forests. They also note that traffic counts dropped in the wake of the pandemic, in part because more people are working from home, and they say options such as roundabouts and other improvements to existing roads would be cheaper and less invasive. The transportation committee also rejected another turnpike-related bill, LD 1292, also sponsored by Sen. Stacey Brenner, D-Scarborough, recommending 12-1 that it "ought not to pass." It would require the authority to transfer additional toll revenue collected beyond its legislatively approved budget to the Department of Transportation's highway fund. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maine lawmakers consider automated crackdown on speeders in highway work zones
Apr. 23—Speeders on Maine's highways are used to scanning roadsides for lurking state troopers, ducking below the speed limit, then stepping back on the gas. But a group of bipartisan legislators wants to make it harder for the fast and the furious to escape a ticket when speeding through dangerous work zones. A bill debated during a legislative committee hearing Wednesday would allow officials to test the use of an automated camera system to identify and ticket drivers who speed in highway work zones. The three-year pilot project would mark a departure for Maine, which banned most automatic traffic enforcement systems in 2009. Backers of LD 1457, including the half-dozen legislators from both parties who sponsored the bill, say automated enforcement will save lives. Twenty-three people were killed in Maine work zone crashes in a 12-year period ending in 2023, according to state data. "This is not a sweeping mandate. It's a test," Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, said when introducing the bill to the Transportation Committee. "It's time to take a closer look at what technology can do." Farrin said he supports amending the bill to include a pre-enforcement period of 90 or 120 days where offenders drivers receive only warnings. The bill is about improving safety, not punishment, he said. "Our (highway) workers deserve better. Our drivers deserve better. And we as policy makers have a responsibility to act," Farrin said. But several opponents who submitted testimony before Thursday's public hearing said they worry that the cameras could open the door to privacy violations and government overreach. "This bill represents yet another step toward excessive surveillance and control over the daily lives of Maine citizens," Milo resident Jeremy Nichols wrote in a letter to the Legislature's transportation committee. "The introduction of automated speed control systems in highway work zones may be presented under the guise of safety, but in reality, it paves the way for constant 24/7 monitoring and enforcement." Although research suggests automated enforcement systems can reduce both speeding and the rate of serious crashes by encouraging drivers to remain on their best behavior, the nation remains divided on them. Thirty states have laws permitting the use of cameras to track drivers who speed or run red lights, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Others, including Maine and New Hampshire, explicitly ban them. The bill before the Legislature would limit the use of the traffic camera systems to highway work zones with speed limits of 45 mph or greater, and only three systems could be active anywhere in the state at any given time. Multiple "conspicuous road signs" would alert drivers when they approach or leave the area of an active camera. The device would automatically snap a picture of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more, which would then go to the Maine Department of Public Safety for review. Speeders would receive a warning in the mail for a first offense and a fine for subsequent tickets. Meghan Russo of the Maine Department of Transportation, which is not supporting or opposing LD 1457, testified that the program "would serve as a valuable addition to MaineDOT's safety toolbox." There were more than 7,000 work zone crashes in Maine between 2011 and 2023, resulting in 23 deaths, said Russo, who noted that similar automated ticketing systems have significantly cut crash rates in other states. "It's not about punishing anyone. It's about educating folks," Saco resident and retired Maine Turnpike Authority employee Bill Thompson wrote to the transportation committee prior to Wednesday's public hearing. "The practices that this bill would help provide will help protect workers and travelers achieve the ultimate goal: that we all go home at the end of the day." Jeff Stevens, a supervisor at the Maine Turnpike Authority, has known workers who were killed or injured while doing highway work. He and his co-workers regularly witness close calls because of increased speeding and driver inattention, Stevens told the committee on Wednesday. "We live it every day," he said. One of his co-workers was injured in a crash in 2024 and he and other crew members didn't know until later whether he would survive. "Now we're expected to clean up the aftermath while traffic continues to fly by," Stevens said. But the majority of residents who submitted testimony felt the bill was an unacceptable step down a slippery slope. While LD 1457 bans the use of traffic camera images "for any surveillance purpose," Harris Van Pate of the conservative Maine Policy Institute said there was reason to be cautious. "This introduces a precedent for automated government surveillance of ordinary Mainers under the guise of safety, especially troubling when the surveillance is tied to civil penalties," he wrote. "The risk of misuse or data breaches is real, and we must ask: Is this level of surveillance justified for a traffic enforcement pilot?" The program would run from 2026 through 2028. The director of the Maine Turnpike Authority would then submit a report evaluating the pilot and recommending further legislation. Copy the Story Link
