As a state representative and now as a state senator, Chloe Maxmin, D-Nobleboro, has hosted several “Coffees with Chloe” around her district. With Election Day a month away, the latest chat was Oct. 4 at Cupacity in Damariscotta with the main topic being Question 1. Other topics included mandatory vaccinations, the right whale and bipartisanship.

Maxmin is a two-term legislator. She was elected to the state senate in 2020 defeating incumbent Dana Dow, a Waldoboro Republican. She told a dozen participants at her coffee chat about her opposition to the CMP (Central Maine Power) corridor. “It’s confusing and the No side is misleading voters with their advertising,” she said. 

Question 1 is a a citizen-initiated measure designed to stop New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a 145-mile long, high-voltage transmission line project that would transmit around 1,200 megawatts from hydroelectric plants in Quebec to electric utilities in Massachusetts and Maine. One participant believed the LePage administration allowed NECEC to skip a key regulatory step. Maxmin agreed, and added the Mills administration also let the developer skip the same provision.

Maxmin said her opposition to the project stems from how the process granted leases to NECEC for the project on public lands. Maxmin explained she was part of a legislative effort to stop the leases. “I was on the committee which saw the information come to light on how CMP obtained  the public land leases. We tried to stop them, and I am definitely voting yes on Question 1,” she said.

A question not on the upcoming referendum ballot is mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, which still garnered lively discussion. Several participants, one who feared that children would lose more school time, urged Maine to require vaccinations for better protecting citizens against the deadly disease.

Another participant warned, all of the vaccines were still experimental and over 9,000 scientists and doctors worldwide advised against mandatory vaccinations.

When the Boothbay Register asked Maxmin if she supported mandatory vaccinations, the senator replied, “I’d be happy to discuss it with you privately later, but I don’t want to get into it now.”

After the hour-long session, the Boothbay Register asked about her view on mandatory vaccinations, and she requested to call her later in the week.

Several participants asked Maxmin about former Gov. Paul LePage’s campaign for governor. Maxmin reported she has concerns. But she also reported signs of bipartisanship in the legislature. “There are still strands of hate and divisiveness, but there is some good bipartisanship at work, too.”

She described her bill for the Pine Tree Amendment,  a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to a healthy environment as an example of bipartisanship. “It’s been the highlight of my session working with Republicans Rick Bennett and Billy Bob Faulkingham on this,” she said.

When talk turned to Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s court challenge to federal regulations to save the right whale in the Gulf of Maine, Maxmin said she has seen data that showed Maine fishermen weren’t the problem with right whale numbers, and believed more compromise would result in a better decision for all parties.

This article has been updated from its original posting.