Before I begin, I want to thank Portland voters for re-electing me on November 2nd. I am honored that nearly 80% of District 8 voters wanted me to return to Augusta for a second term.

I am also proud to announce that my Senate Democratic colleagues elected me assistant minority leader. I look forward to the leadership role in Augusta.

Community Events
Since the election, I have been traveling around the District meeting with constituents. Some of these meeting include the District 2 annual meeting at Reiche School, the Maine Irish Heritage Center’s awards evening for Cynthia Murray Bealiveau, and Spurwink’s Annual Fundraiser honoring Richard Conner.

The District 2 annual meeting was well attended.  We discussed issues involving trash, snow and grass removal, graffiti, zoning issues and other topics. It was great to see so many people invested in their neighborhood.

Education Update
Last year, I sponsored a bill to work toward increasing Maine’s high school graduation rate. Starting in July, a stakeholders group has been meeting to work on the law. We met nine times over the summer and fall, and we released our preliminary findings last Tuesday.

The twenty-three member stakeholder group focused on policies around high school graduation calculations, expulsions, zero tolerance, truancy, and compulsory school age.

Click here to read the report summary. (DOC)
Click here to read an article from the Portland Press Herald.

Closing
With the new legislative session before us, I will be sending emails regularly again. I hope that you find them useful. As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and opinions.

-Justin