MAINE PUBLIC • August 10, 2021
A Superior Court justice ruled today that Gov. Janet Mills' administration exceeded its authority when it leased public lands to Central Maine Power for its high-voltage transmission line through Maine's western woods. Justice Michaela Murphy says officials in the Bureau of Parks and Lands under both Mills and former Gov. Paul LePage bypassed a constitutional requirement that leases of public lands require a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the state Legislature. "BPL has no authority to ignore or re-write a statute of the Legislature, particularly one with such a clear constitutional foundation," Murphy wrote.