Latest news with #JohnBaldacci
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
More money could be headed to help Maine mobile home residents
May 23—Maine lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill to boost mobile home park residents' chances of purchasing their parks. Proposed by Sen. John Baldacci, D-Bangor, the bill would add $3 million to a fund designed to help residents put in a competitive offer against the increasing number of out-of-state investors trying to buy up some of the state's last affordable housing. The House voted 78-64 in favor and the Senate approved it in a procedural move that does not require a tally. The bill still needs final votes in each chamber, then it must win approval from the appropriations committee to be included in the next budget. The vote comes as one park prepares to submit its own offer and another hits the market. In 2023, the Legislature passed an "opportunity to purchase" law that requires park owners to give residents at least 60 days' notice if they plan to sell, giving the community members the chance to purchase it themselves. The park owner isn't required to accept the offer, but must negotiate "in good faith." Last year, the governor and Maine State Housing Authority created the Manufactured and Mobile Home Park Preservation and Assistance Program — a $5 million fund to help residents purchase their parks. So far, residents in Brunswick, Bangor and Monmouth have put in successful bids to buy their parks, but more than twice as many have failed, and more parks keep hitting the market. With so many parks weighing their options, there is more need than there is funding. Gov. Janet Mills earmarked $3 million in the budget, and Baldacci's bill would infuse another $3 million. Next week, residents of Friendly Village in Gorham plan to submit an offer to buy their roughly 300-lot park. The owners have a multi-state, eight-park, $87.5 million offer from Wyoming investment firm Crown Communities LLC. Crown is offering $22 million for Friendly Village, specifically. Dawn Beaulieu, one of the organizers of the park's purchase effort, wouldn't say how much the residents are planning to offer but did say it's more than the asking price. More than 80 miles north, another investment firm is eyeing a smaller park in Winslow. On Tuesday, MaineHousing received notice that the owners of Spruce Ridge Mobile Home Park have a $3.1 million offer to buy the 45-lot community. The prospective buyer, Homes of America, is an affiliate of Alden Global Capital, a New York-based hedge fund most known for purchasing and gutting newspapers. According to a September report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Homes of America owns at least 138 mobile home parks in 17 states, the majority of which are in Florida and Michigan. The report says the company follows a familiar pattern: raising the rents (sometimes by up to 100%), instituting fees for services that had previously been free, and evicting residents who don't pay on time. It's estimated that one in five of Maine's 486 licensed mobile home parks is owned by a private equity firm. Parks have, in the last few years, pushed back against these purchases and the Legislature is considering multiple bills to help. Lawmakers are expected to soon vote on another bill that would give residents the "right of first refusal" if their park comes up for sale, and an emergency moratorium that would prohibit the sale of mobile home parks with more than 25 lots for three months, unless the sale would be to a relative or if residents of the park have decided they do not wish to purchase. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Timeline: Gender identity in Maine's Human Rights Act
Apr. 20—2005: Maine state lawmakers approve a bill sponsored by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci to prohibit discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act based on sexual orientation. Gender identity is included within the definition: "Sexual orientation means a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity or expression." Later that year, voters upheld the new antidiscrimination law by rejecting a people's veto attempt, 55% to 45%. 2013: The Maine Principals' Association adopts a policy allowing transgender athletes to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identities, establishing a waiver process that included a hearing before a Gender Identity Equity Committee. 2014: Citing the Maine Human Rights Act, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court rules that a school district in Orono discriminated against a transgender student by not allowing her to use a restroom consistent with her gender identity. 2016: North Carolina passes a bathroom ban, saying that people could only use bathrooms consistent with their sex assigned at birth. The bill sparked national outrage and boycotts. The restriction was repealed the following year. 2019: Maine lawmakers remove gender identity from the definition of sexual orientation and give it its own, distinct definition in the Maine Human Rights Act. "Gender identity means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth." 2021: Lawmakers change the Maine Human Rights Act to expressly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in the policy statement of the law. 2024: The Maine Principals' Association changes its rules to no longer require transgender athletes to go through a waiver process, which advocates said was unnecessarily intrusive. The updated rule allows transgender athletes to declare with their local district that they want to participate, and local school administrations make the final decision on access. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less
