Senate confirms five reappointments to Maine Connectivity Authority, praises broadband gains

The Maine Senate on March 25 confirmed five reappointments to the Maine Connectivity Authority, including Andrew Butcher as president, following committee recommendations and floor votes.

Senator Lawrence (York) thanked colleagues after the confirmation and pointed to the authority's recent work: "Since 2022, the Maine Connectivity Authority has connected a 135,000 new funded locations to the Internet in the state of Maine," he said, citing the agency's progress toward universal service. Senator Bennett (Oxford) also praised the bipartisan effort that created the authority and described the difficulty of reaching remote parts of the state.

The Senate recorded roll-call tallies for each nomination on the floor. The chair announced the results for Andrew Butcher's reappointment after the yeas-and-nays: the chair reported "13 senators having voted in the affirmative and 22 senators having voted in the negative," and then stated the nomination was confirmed. Subsequent committee recommendations for James Carlson (Gorham), Hannah Carter (Orono), Michael Reed (Palermo) and Danielle Lauter (Cornville) were likewise considered and the chair announced their confirmations on the floor.

The confirmations followed routine committee recommendations from the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology. The chair directed the secretary to inform the Speaker of the House of the Senate's actions.

The Senate briefly recognized the reappointed president, Andrew Butcher, and several senators paid tribute to the authority's accomplishments and the continuing work to reach remaining unserved areas. The matter now moves to the House as part of the concurrence process.