AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill aimed at addressing racist place names in Maine will no longer move forward.
State Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Cumberland, has withdrawn a bill to formalize the process for naming places in Maine, citing concerns about President Donald Trump’s executive order that allowed for unilateral changes to the names of geographic features like the Gulf of Mexico.
During a State and Government Committee meeting last week, she said actions like this indicate it would be difficult for her bill to progress under the current administration.
However, Ross’ bill, LD 247, did not recommend any changes to existing locations in Maine.
Instead, the bill aimed to create a more transparent and accessible naming process for Maine places.
While it did not mandate name changes, the bill stems from previous efforts to remove racial slurs or offensive terms from place names in Maine.
“LD 247 grew out of a decades-long effort to address racist and derogatory place names in Maine, one that began when my father, the honorable Gerald E. Talbot, learned in 1974 of ten geographical features in Maine bearing the N-word in their name,” Ross wrote. “Representative Talbots Act to Prohibit the Use of Offensive Names for Geographic Features and Other Places Within the State of Maine was signed into law in 1977 and made national headlines. Four decades later, soon after becoming a Representative myself, I was shocked to learn that my father’s landmark bill had not been effectively enforced.”
According to Ross’ testimony, LD 247 sought to create the Maine Board on Place Names.
“The Maine Board on Place Names that LD 247 sought to create would have provided a mechanism for addressing racist place names, but it also would have helped to standardize basic (re)naming procedures and make a convoluted system legible to and accessible to the general public,” Ross wrote.
Ross said in her testimony that 16 racial and ethnic slurs still remain on Maine maps, as well as 12 derogatory terms and “hundreds of problematic commemorative names that honor individuals who harmed Black and Indigenous people.”
Ross also said asking for the bill to be withdrawn was not a reflection of its merit, but of current political realities at the federal level that she said have “undermined the integrity of the place-naming process.”
“While the need for such a board remains, the unfortunate reality is that federal actions have disrupted the system in ways that make its implementation impractical at this time,” Ross wrote. “I remain deeply committed to ensuring that Maine’s place-naming policies reflect our values of respect, inclusion, and historical accuracy. I hope that in the future, we will have the opportunity to revisit this effort under more favorable conditions.”
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