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Full-Text Articles in Law
Putting Equity Back In Reverse Mortgages: Helping Seniors Retire With Dignity, Andrew C. Helman
Putting Equity Back In Reverse Mortgages: Helping Seniors Retire With Dignity, Andrew C. Helman
Maine Policy Review
Policymakers can help some seniors age in place through policies to strengthen private-sector reverse mortgages. In reverse mortgages, individuals who may be “house rich but cash poor” can use their home’s equity to receive regular income or get money through a credit line. Andrew Helman argues that state legislatures can help seniors avoid the “tricks and traps” of reverse mortgages by establishing programs in which lenders who agree to play by rules that ensure the safety and security of such mortgages are placed on a “preferred” list for seniors seeking a loan. He observes that laying the groundwork now can …
Smart Growth, State Policy And Public Process In Maine: The Dunstan Crossing Experience, Sylvia Most, Samuel B. Merrill, Jack D. Kartez
Smart Growth, State Policy And Public Process In Maine: The Dunstan Crossing Experience, Sylvia Most, Samuel B. Merrill, Jack D. Kartez
Maine Policy Review
Sprawling development in Maine’s growth areas continues in spite of the state’s emphasis on comprehensive planning over the past 20 years. In this article, the authors present some lessons to be learned from Scarborough’s Dunstan Crossing project, a planned development which would have incorporated many of the goals of the national “smart growth” movement. The project was approved by the elected town council (one of whom is co-author Sylvia Most), and it was in compliance with Scarborough’s town comprehensive plan. Nonetheless, the project for now has effectively been blocked after a lengthy period, described here, that saw a citizen referendum, …
Five Hundred Sixty Nations Among Us: Understanding The Basics Of Native American Sovereignty, Stephen Brimley
Five Hundred Sixty Nations Among Us: Understanding The Basics Of Native American Sovereignty, Stephen Brimley
Maine Policy Review
Stephen Brimley presents a general background on the historical context of Native American tribal sovereignty on the national level, and the current political and legal environment in which tribal rights are defined. He describes how tribes have retained varying degrees of the rights they had prior to European contact, and the ways in which state power over tribes has been expanded through court action in the past several decades. Maine’s Native American groups are in a somewhat unique situation with regard to sovereignty, as defined in the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980.
The Changing Nature Of Long-Term Care In Maine, Paul Saucier, Julie Fralich
The Changing Nature Of Long-Term Care In Maine, Paul Saucier, Julie Fralich
Maine Policy Review
The increase in the proportion of older adults, many with one or more chronic medical conditions, will increase the demand for long-term care. Paul Saucier and Julie Fralich discuss the socio-demographic factors affecting long-term care policy, and describe various state and federal options for providing and financing long-term care. They note that Maine’s long-term care system has so far been able to absorb considerable growth in people by serving increasing numbers in lower-cost settings. Cost sharing has been introduced, and tax policy has been changed to provide incentives for long-term care insurance. Policymakers must now consider whether the current balance …
Why More Is Required To Address Maine’S Childhood Lead-Poisoning Problem, David Littell
Why More Is Required To Address Maine’S Childhood Lead-Poisoning Problem, David Littell
Maine Policy Review
Although largely hidden from the public eye, childhood lead poisoning has been identified as one of Maine’s leading environmental health problems. Recent data show not only that lead-poisoning levels are unacceptably high among Maine’s children, but also that screening rates are lower than recommended by national health organizations and lower than in other New England states. David Littell discusses why childhood lead poisoning is such a problem in Maine and what can be done to remedy the situation, providing a thorough examination of how children are exposed to lead and the magnitude of the problem. He reviews the state’s existing …
The Opportunities And Threats Of Coastal Development: An Mpr Roundtable Discussion, Paul Anderson
The Opportunities And Threats Of Coastal Development: An Mpr Roundtable Discussion, Paul Anderson
Maine Policy Review
In May 2000, nine discussants—each with a unique perspective on coastal development—convened to explore changes occurring on the Maine coast, whether those changes are consistent with what Maine people want, and what looming issues invite further debate and creative problem solving. Their discussion spanned a range of sensitive issues including aquaculture development, the displacement of traditional economies, the effects of development on coastal wildlife populations, and the reality of diminishing public access to the coast. All agreed that with vision and careful planning we have an opportunity to shape the future of the Maine coast, but the jury is out …
Tax-And-Match: Resolving Tension Between State Financial Pressure And Federal Public Policy Intentions, A. Mark Woodward
Tax-And-Match: Resolving Tension Between State Financial Pressure And Federal Public Policy Intentions, A. Mark Woodward
Maine Policy Review
How tax-and-match, a federal program designed to help states subsidize hospital care for low income patients, came into existence and how it was overexploited is recent history Mainers should pause to consider. Woodward traces Maine’s tax-and-match experience from its inception in 1991 to its repeal in 1995 and in doing so illustrates a set of larger issues related to the integrity of federal-state relations, the difficulties in developing fiscally sound health policies in a resource tight environment, and the political machinations that can lead to quick-fix solutions over long-term policy resolutions. With federal block grants looming in the future, Woodward …
Maine Implements The Clean Air Act: Federalism, Environmentalism And Interest Group Accountability, Jon Reisman
Maine Implements The Clean Air Act: Federalism, Environmentalism And Interest Group Accountability, Jon Reisman
Maine Policy Review
The implementation of environmental policy initiatives often brings about a complex interplay between science and policy, public opinion, interest groups, federal and state mandates, and political machination. Jon Reisman uses Maine’s recent experience of compliance with the 1990 Clean Air Act to illustrate this complexity. In doing so, he addresses several important, but often ignored, issues, such as stakeholder participation in the policy making process, interest group accountability to implementation, and the long term consequences to the environment if these issues are avoided.