SHOT: In a Portland Press Herald op-ed published on June 19, Republican Assistant Senate Minority Leader Jeff Timberlake wrote that it was important to reconvene the Maine Legislature “so we can get to work addressing some of our state’s most pressing matters,” and claimed that problems Maine faces as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic “require urgent action from the Maine Legislature.”
CHASER: Less than a month later on July 16, Sen. Timberlake was singing an entirely different tune, telling the Bangor Daily News that “he was not convinced there are any bills remaining that constitute an emergency after the Legislature passed a flurry in March.”
It’s clear that Republicans’ repeated calls to reconvene the Legislature were “all talk”. And now, even with new reporting revealing that Maine small businesses could be hit with burdensome and preventable taxes unless lawmakers take action, Maine Republicans are refusing to get back to work on behalf of Maine people.
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