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Today will be sunny with temperatures in the 80s in Greater Bangor. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat watch for southern Maine, and that’ll extend north tomorrow, so it may be a good time to get out on the water. If you’re looking for something to bring the family together, try your hand at kayak fishing.

Susan Collins’ stock law with ‘no teeth’ is under attack from both parties

Members of Congress are trying to overhaul the stock trading law U.S. Sen. Susan Collins helped create 12 years ago. Credit: Illustration by Paul Koenig / BDN, photo by the Associated Press

The 2012 law co-written by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to prevent insider trading and bolster transparency in Congress — which she and dozens of others have violated — is facing scrutiny from those in both parties pushing for tougher restrictions.

That comes after recent polling shows that around 86% of Americans, and up to 95% of Mainers, support banning individual stock trading across all three branches of government. 

It’s also become a hot topic ahead of Maine’s midterm elections, with Collins facing Democratic nominee Graham Platner, a critic of Collins’ financial backing. 

Collins wrote the STOCK Act alongside the late U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, and it received overwhelming support from both parties. After former President Barack Obama signed it into law, Collins has acknowledged at least one instance of violating the law she helped write.

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The view from the children’s corner of Ashland’s public library. Credit: Cameron Levasseur / BDN

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