The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee deadlocked on a bill Wednesday to prohibit paramilitary activity intended to cause a violent public disturbance, according to reports.
The Portland Press Herald reports that the vote was 6-6, and one committee member who was absent did not vote, but they have two days to do so.
Regardless of how they vote, the Press Herald writes that the narrow margin foreshadows a tough floor fight when the bill is taken up by the House of Representatives in the coming weeks.
The bill aims to prevent unauthorized paramilitary groups from establishing a headquarters in Maine, something prominent neo-nazi Christopher Pohlhaus tried to do in northern Maine last year.