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Maine Senate President Troy Jackson said “we’re getting close” to the point where state lawmakers may reconvene, three months after they adjourned and gave Democratic Gov. Janet Mills broad emergency powers to address the pandemic.
While Mills has come under criticism, state lawmakers have remained on the sidelines and tensions flared last week when the labor commissioner skipped an oversight hearing.
But that may be changing.
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“I certainly feel like we are getting close to the point where we may reconvene and, at that time, her emergency powers either won’t be the same, or they won’t be there at all,” Jackson told the Portland Press Herald.
Neither Jackson nor House Speaker Sara Gideon, both Democrats, would provide a specific timetable, because details have yet to be worked out about how best to safely reconvene amid an ongoing public crisis.
Mills could call the Legislature back into special session at any time. She told lawmakers in March that they’d reconvene “when it is safe to do so.”
On Thursday, members of the much-larger New Hampshire House of Representatives were reconvening at an indoor arena on the University of New Hampshire campus to ensure social distancing guidelines.
Watch: What Maine is doing to expand contact tracing
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