Monitor
131st Legislative Session - Updated December 6
| Bill | Title | Summary | Status | Position | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LD 49 (HP 15) | An Act To Authorize A General Fund Bond Issue To Invest In Infrastructure To Address Sea Level Rise | The funds provided by this bond issue, in the amount of $50,000,000, will be used to improve waterfront and coastal infrastructure in municipalities to address sea level rise. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/25) | ||
| LD 58 (HP 24) | An Act To Improve Information Sharing By Criminal Justice Agencies With Government Agencies Responsible For Investigating Child Or Adult Abuse | This bill expands the authority of criminal justice agencies to share confidential intelligence and investigative record information with government agencies responsible for the investigation of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children or incapacitated or dependent adults. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 252 (6/17) | ||
| LD 64 (HP 30) | Resolution, Proposing An Amendment To The Constitution Of Maine Regarding Environmental Rights | This resolution proposes to amend the Constitution of Maine to provide that every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment. This includes the right to clean air, pure water and healthy habitats. The amendment requires the State to preserve public natural resources. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/10) | ||
| LD 99 (HP 65) | An Act To Require The State To Divest Itself Of Assets Invested In The Fossil Fuel Industry | This bill requires the State to divest itself of assets invested in the fossil fuel industry. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 231 (6/16) | ||
| LD 145 (HP 101) | An Act To Amend The Maine Uniform Probate Code | This bill contains recommendations of the Probate and Trust Law Advisory Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 18-C, section 1-803, subsection 2. 1. This bill amends Title 18-C, section 3-108 to resolve an ambiguity as to whether the provision applies to decedents who died prior to the effective date of Title 18-C. Section 3-108, subsection 1, paragraph D allows the probate of a will of a decedent more than 3 years after death in a formal proceeding, but as a result of the limitations imposed by section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A, the probate is permitted only for a decedent who died after the September 1, 2019 effective date of Title 18-C. Section 3-108, subsection 1, paragraph D appears to allow an appointment of a personal representative, in an informal or formal proceeding, more than 3 years after death regardless of whether the date of death was before, on, or after the September 1, 2019 effective date of Title 18-C. As a result, if a decedent died more than 3 years prior to the September 1, 2019 effective date, with a purported will, it would not be possible to probate the will under current law because of the limitation imposed by section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A. However, it appears that the decedent's heirs could, under section 3-108, subsection 1, paragraph D, still obtain an informal or formal appointment of a personal representative because the appointment is permitted regardless of the date of death. The heirs would submit an informal application or a formal petition for appointment of a personal representative, indicate that they are aware of an unrevoked testamentary instrument and explain that it is not being probated because it cannot be probated due to section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A. There is ambiguity, however, as to whether the limitations of section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A prevent the appointment of a personal representative more than 3 years after the date of death. The interplay between section 3-108, subsection 1, paragraph D and section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A appears to create unintended inconsistencies in outcomes regarding the appointment of a personal representative and the probate of a will that can be cured by making it clear that section 3-108, subsection 1, paragraph D applies regardless of the date of the decedent's death. 2. This bill amends section 5-308, subsection 4 and section 5-409, subsection 4 to delay the effective date of the confidentiality of records provisions governing guardianships of adults and governing conservatorships. When Title 18-C was enacted, with a September 1, 2019 effective date, the provisions of section 5-308 and section 5-409 had a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. The purpose of the delayed effective date was to give the Supreme Judicial Court time to address confidentiality of court records in the state courts and perhaps in the Probate Courts, and then give the commission an opportunity to propose amendments to sections 5-308 and 5-409 to ensure consistency with confidentiality of records provisions adopted by the Supreme Judicial Court. With an effective date of August 21, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court adopted the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems, which contains extensive provisions governing the confidentiality of records filed with the Supreme Judicial Court, the Superior Court and the District Court. The Supreme Judicial Court has not yet had an opportunity to consider rules governing confidentiality of records filed with the Probate Courts. This bill further delays the effective date of sections 5-308 and 5-409 to January 1, 2023 to provide additional time for the Supreme Judicial Court, in conjunction with the commission and the Advisory Committee on Probate Rules, to complete its review and approval of rules governing confidentiality of records in the Probate Courts. Because this bill will not take effect before January 1, 2021, these changes are made retroactive to January 1, 2021. 3. This bill amends section 5-423, subsection 2, paragraph E to remove the mandatory credit report for the individual subject to conservatorship from the conservator's annual report and accounting and make the credit report a requirement only if ordered by the court. The reason for the amendment is because it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, for the conservator to obtain a credit report for the individual subject to conservatorship and the credit report requirement is interfering with the timely submission of conservators' annual reports and accountings. The statutory requirement of submission of copies of recent financial statements along with the detailed accounting schedules provide sufficient court monitoring of conservators for most situations and the Probate Court will have flexibility to order a credit report if the court deems the credit report an appropriate element of the conservator's report and accounting. 4. This bill amends section 5-431, subsection 8 to clarify that the subsection applies to both the termination and modification of a conservatorship. The headnote for section 5-431 is "Termination or modification of conservatorship," but subsection 8 refers only to the termination of a conservatorship, with no reference to modification. Section 5-319, subsection 6, which is the counterpart provision that applies to adult guardianships, includes both terminations and modifications of adult guardianships. The uniform act, on which section 5-431, subsection 8 is based, mentions only termination and not modification; however, the uniform comment to the corresponding paragraph of the uniform act describes both terminating and modifying conservatorships. It appears that reference to modification of a conservatorship was inadvertently omitted from section 5-431, subsection 8 and that the drafting error originated in the uniform act. To correct the apparent inadvertent omission, this bill amends subsection 8 to cover modifications of adult guardianships as well as terminations. 5. This bill amends section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A-1 to add a reference to the wrongful death provisions of section 2-807 of Title 18-C to avoid ambiguity as to whether the intestacy provisions of former Title 18-A or the intestacy provisions of Title 18-C govern the distribution of a recovery of a wrongful death claim. The first 2 sentences of section 2-807, subsection 2 require the distribution of a recovery of a wrongful death claim to be paid to the decedent's heirs without becoming part of the decedent's probate estate. The intestate succession provisions of Title 18-C are materially different, in a number of respects, from the intestate succession provisions of former Title 18-A. Although section 8-301, subsection 2, paragraph A-1 already states that the intestate succession provisions of Article 2, Part 1, Subpart 1 apply to the estates of decedents who die on or after the effective date, there remains ambiguity as to whether actions for wrongful death brought after the effective date, for deaths occurring before the effective date, are governed by the provisions of former Title 18-A or by the provisions of Title 18-C. The amendment resolves any ambiguity by making it clear that the date of death of the decedent will control which provisions apply. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 4 (3/17) | ||
| LD 150 (HP 106) | An Act To Authorize A General Fund Bond Issue To Fund Hazardous Substance Site Cleanups | The funds provided by this bond issue, in the amount of $20,000,000, will be used to provide funds for state match on federal superfund sites and for uncontrolled hazardous substance site investigation and remediation and response actions at dry-cleaner sites, sites contaminated with emerging contaminants like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and brownfield sites. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/25) | ||
| LD 155 (HP 111) | Resolve, Directing The Board Of Pesticides Control To Prohibit The Use Of Certain Neonicotinoids For Outdoor Residential Use | This resolve directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Board of Pesticides Control to prohibit the use of any product containing certain neonicotinoids used for application in outdoor residential landscapes such as on lawn, turf or ornamental vegetation. The resolve also provides that products used for preserving wood, controlling or treating indoor insects and treating pets are specifically exempt from the prohibition. | Signed by the Governor Resolve Chapter 33 (6/10) | ||
| LD 163 (HP 119) | An Act To Revise Maine's Environmental Laws | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to revise laws governing environmental protection. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 294 (6/21) | ||
| LD 177 (HP 130) | An Act To Support Apprenticeship Programs | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to improve labor laws for workers in Maine. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 709 (5/3) | ||
| LD 206 (HP 141) | Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review Of Chapter 234: Lead Testing In School Drinking Water Rule, A Major Substantive Rule Of The Department Of Health And Human Services, Maine Center For Disease Control And Prevention | This resolve provides for legislative review of portions of Chapter 234: Lead Testing in School Drinking Water Rule, a major substantive rule of the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. | Signed by the Governor Resolve Chapter 44 (6/11) | ||
| LD 209 (HP 144) | An Act Concerning Name Changes For Minors | This bill clarifies and consolidates in a single section of Maine law the process and standards for changing the names of adults and minors. The current process to change the name of an adult is for the adult to file a petition in the Probate Court in the county where the adult lives, except when an adult is petitioning to change that adult's name pursuant to a divorce proceeding, and this bill does not change that. This bill provides that a parent or guardian of a minor may file a name change petition for the minor in the Probate Court in the county in which the minor lives, unless the District Court has exclusive jurisdiction regarding the minor pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 4, section 152, subsection 5-A, in which case the petition must be filed in District Court. The bill also permits a parent or guardian to request to change the minor's name as part of a proceeding concerning parentage or other parental rights with respect to the minor in the District Court. A separate petition is not required in these cases. This bill defines "parent" and "guardian" for the purposes of changing the name of a minor. This bill requires the parent or guardian who requests a name change for the minor in District Court to provide notice pursuant to the applicable rules of procedure to any other parent, any guardian, any guardian ad litem and any person or agency with legal custody of the minor and to the minor if the minor is 14 years of age or older. The court must provide an opportunity for those entitled to notice to be heard and may change the name of the minor if the court finds that the change is in the best interest of the minor. This bill provides that a parent or guardian does not have to publish notice of a minor's name change unless the court orders that notice be prohibited. It authorizes the court to make the request of a name change confidential or not public if the court limited the notice required for the name change. This bill provides factors a court must consider to assess whenever a request or petition for a name change is in the best interest of the minor. Because this bill consolidates the provisions governing the process for change of name, except in the case of annulment, divorce or adoption, it revises the provision in the Maine Parentage Act providing for change of name of a minor on determination of parentage. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 14 (3/17) | ||
| LD 222 (HP 157) | An Act To Update The Maine Parentage Act | This bill amends the Maine Parentage Act to include 2 provisions that are part of the Uniform Parentage Act adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in 2017. The bill amends the acknowledgment of paternity provision to broaden the process to be an acknowledgment of parentage and allows intended parents participating in assisted reproduction, as well as presumed parents, to sign the acknowledgment of parentage. The bill adds a new subchapter 9 to the Maine Parentage Act to apply to the collection and sharing of information about donors who donate gametes used in assisted reproduction. It requires gamete banks and fertility clinics to collect information from donors and requires a donor to sign a declaration allowing the sharing of identifying information about the donor or prohibiting the sharing of identifying information about the donor. A person conceived by assisted reproduction who has attained 18 years of age or, if the person is a minor, the parent or guardian may request identifying information about the donor from the gamete bank or fertility clinic. If the donor signed a declaration prohibiting the sharing of identifying information about the donor, the gamete bank or fertility clinic may share only nonidentifying information. If the donor did not agree to the sharing of identifying information, the gamete bank or fertility clinic must make a good faith effort to contact the donor, who may then authorize the sharing of the information. Otherwise, the gamete bank or fertility clinic may share the identifying information upon request. The person or, if the person is a minor, the parent or guardian may request nonidentifying information about the donor, and the gamete bank or fertility clinic is required to make a good faith effort to provide the information. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 141 (6/10) | ||
| LD 225 (HP 160) | An Act Regarding The Treatment Of Vacation Time Upon The Cessation Of Employment | This bill amends the law governing the provision of vacation pay on cessation of employment. Under current law, on cessation of employment, if the terms of employment or established practice includes provisions for paid vacations, vacation pay has the same status as wages earned. This bill provides that on cessation of employment all accrued vacation pay must be paid to the employee. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 561 (4/7) | ||
| LD 233 (HP 163) | An Act To Provide Electronic Access To Confidential Juror Information | Current law authorizes a court to provide certain individuals access to confidential juror questionnaires, and the law allows such discretionary access to these questionnaires only at the courthouse itself. This bill eliminates the court's discretion and requires the court to provide access to these questionnaires at the courthouse. The bill also requires the court to electronically provide these questionnaires to authorized persons upon their request. The bill does not affect the confidentiality of such questionnaires and does not affect the receivers' obligation to maintain this confidentiality. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 251 (HP 172) | An Act Regarding Public Utility Assessments, Fees And Penalties | This bill does the following: 1. It requires the Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocate, respectively, in calculating assessments charged to public utilities to apportion the assessment within each category of public utility, that is, transmission and distribution, gas, telephone and water, between investor-owned utilities and consumer-owned utilities based on an accounting of the portion of the commission's resources and the Public Advocate's resources, respectively, devoted to matters related to investor-owned utilities and the portion devoted to matters related to consumer-owned utilities. 2. It requires the commission, in its annual report, to report on any filing fees or penalties collected from public utilities in the previous year that have not been adjusted in the previous 5 years and to provide draft legislation to adjust the dollar value of filing fees and penalties based on the actuarially compounded Consumer Price Index for each fee and penalty since the last adjustment. 3. It requires the commission and the Public Advocate to report annually, beginning in 2022, on the portion of resources devoted to matters related to investor-owned utilities and the portion of resources devoted to matters related to consumer-owned utilities and on commission and Public Advocate expenses, respectively, per dollar of intrastate gross operating revenue for investor-owned utilities and consumer-owned utilities. 4. It amends the law governing filing fees for reorganizations of utilities to authorize the commission to order a filing fee of up to .05% of the estimated total value of the reorganization and to require the commission to order payment of a filing fee equal to .05% of the estimated total value of the reorganization if a reorganization would result in the transfer of ownership and control of a public utility or the parent company of a public utility. Under current law the commission may charge a filing fee of up to $50,000 to an applicant seeking approval for a reorganization. 5. It requires the commission to submit legislation to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature to adjust all fees and penalties paid by public utilities based on the actuarially compounded Consumer Price Index for each fee or penalty since enactment. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 318 (6/22) | ||
| LD 256 (HP 177) | An Act To Adjust Sewer And Wastewater Lien Fees | This bill increases from $13 to $25 the flat fee paid by a delinquent sewer or wastewater ratepayer. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 70 (5/25) | ||
| LD 264 (HP 185) | Resolve, Directing The Board Of Pesticides Control To Gather Information Relating To Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances In The State | This bill prohibits the aerial application of a pesticide unless the Board of Pesticides Control has determined that the pesticide has been analyzed by a 3rd-party entity not associated with the manufacturer of the pesticide who has determined that perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are not part of the formulation of the pesticide. The bill also prohibits the aerial application of a pesticide if perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are part of the formulation of the pesticide. | Signed by the Governor Resolve Chapter 83 (6/21) | ||
| LD 272 (HP 188) | An Act To Establish Separate Prosecutorial Districts In Downeast Maine | This bill reduces Prosecutorial District Number 7 to Hancock County and creates Prosecutorial District Number 9 for Washington County. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 279 (HP 195) | An Act To Protect Persons Detained Or Committed In A Correctional Or Detention Facility From Excessive Telephone Or Video Charges | This bill protects inmates in county jails and municipal detention facilities and prisoners or detainees in state correctional and detention facilities from excessive telephone and video communications charges. The bill amends the law governing standards established by the Commissioner of Corrections for inmates of county jails and municipal detention facilities and establishes the right to communications 2 times per week without charge. The bill contains similar rights for prisoners and detainees in Department of Corrections correctional and detention facilities. The bill allows county jails and municipal detention facilities to contract for communications services and limits the charges that may be imposed and fees to be paid to the jails and municipal detention facilities for the calls. The bill includes similar provisions to protect prisoners and detainees in Department of Corrections correctional and detention facilities. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/30) | ||
| LD 296 (HP 209) | Resolve, To Create The Family Caregiver Grant Pilot Program | This bill expands the role of the Department of Health and Human Services with respect to the Respite Care Fund to include services for family caregivers. It provides a refundable income tax credit of $2,000 for certified family caregivers and permits eligible family caregivers to choose to receive services or a tax credit. It requires the department, by routine technical rulemaking, to prescribe the details of eligibility for family caregiver services and the tax credit within the context of the Respite Care Fund and the National Family Caregiver Support Program. The bill requires the department to establish a stakeholder group to assist in carrying out the purposes of the family caregiver program, evaluating the effect of the program and assisting with the compilation of an annual report. The bill requires that revenue losses to the General Fund attributable to the family caregiver income tax credit be reimbursed from the Respite Care Fund and provides that aggregate expenditures under the Respite Care Fund may not exceed $5,000,000 annually excluding existing funds and federal revenue. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 328 (HP 232) | An Act To Fully Fund And Restore State-municipal Revenue Sharing | This bill increases state-municipal revenue sharing to 5% from 3.75% in the final 6 months of fiscal year 2020-21. Current law restores state-municipal revenue sharing to 5% beginning in fiscal year 2021-22. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 346 (HP 244) | An Act Requiring The Use Of Propane And Natural Gas Detectors | This bill requires the installation of fuel gas detectors to detect propane, natural gas and liquified petroleum gas. The requirement applies to owners of: multifamily occupancy buildings; fraternity houses, sorority houses and dormitories that are affiliated with educational facilities; children's homes, emergency children's shelters, children's residential care facilities, shelters for homeless children and specialized children's homes; and hotels, motels and inns. The bill is modeled on the laws applicable to those same buildings or facilities with regard to smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. The bill provides an effective date of January 1, 2022. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 194 (6/14) | ||
| LD 348 (HP 246) | An Act To Give Oversight Powers To The Maine Commission On Indigent Legal Services | Currently there is no process for the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services to remove an attorney from the roster of attorneys qualified to provide legal services. This bill authorizes the commission to remove an attorney from a roster when the commission determines, after notice and hearing, that the attorney violated the law or a standard adopted by the commission. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 383 (HP 267) | An Act Concerning Small Wireless Facilities In Maine | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would amend the law regarding small wireless facilities in the State. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (2/10) | ||
| LD 398 (HP 282) | An Act To Implement Recommendations Of The Sixth Amendment Center Concerning Indigent Legal Services | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Amendment Center, a national center dedicated to protecting rights secured by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, regarding the delivery of indigent legal services in Maine. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/15) | ||
| LD 403 (HP 287) | An Act To Assist Service Center Communities By Adjusting State-municipal Revenue Sharing | This bill, for fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23, sets the percentage of state-municipal revenue sharing at 4.25%, which is one-half of a percentage point above the amount proposed in the Governor's 2021-2022 budget. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/28) | ||
| LD 409 (HP 293) | An Act To Provide Funding To Restore Fully State-municipal Revenue Sharing | This bill increases state-municipal revenue sharing to 5% from 3.75% in the final 6 months of fiscal year 2020-21. Current law restores state-municipal revenue sharing to 5% beginning in fiscal year 2021-22. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/28) | ||
| LD 411 (HP 295) | An Act To Ensure Fair Judicial Outcomes | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to ensure fair judicial outcomes. | Report READ and REJECTED and the Bill INDEFINITELY POSTPONED in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) |
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| LD 449 (HP 325) | An Act To Strengthen The Ability Of Public Employers And Teacher's Unions To Negotiate | Current law provides that the obligation of a public employer and a bargaining agent to bargain collectively includes their mutual obligation to meet within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the other party requesting a meeting for collective bargaining purposes, as long as the parties have not otherwise agreed in a prior written contract. This bill removes the exception for the case in which the parties have otherwise agreed in a prior written contract. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 752 (5/8) | ||
| LD 460 (HP 336) | Resolve, Directing The Department Of Labor To Convene A Stakeholder Group To Examine Workforce Development Issues In The Hospitality And Food And Beverage Industries | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would amend certain employment laws to help front-line and other workers. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Resolve Chapter 165 (4/23) | ||
| LD 464 (HP 340) | An Act To Change Certain Labor Laws | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to change certain labor laws to help the people of this State in organizing a labor union and negotiating a fair contract. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/24) | ||
| LD 476 (HP 350) | An Act To Provide Licensed Assisted Living And Nursing Facilities Levels Of Care For Incarcerated Persons | This bill provides for assisted living and nursing facility levels of care in licensed units in correctional facilities of the Department of Corrections and in licensed facilities in the community for prisoners in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The bill provides for assessment of medical and social needs of prisoners using the Medicaid eligibility assessment. The bill requires the Department of Corrections to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to develop licensed units in correctional facilities, to provide long-term and assisted living and nursing facility levels of care in licensed facilities in the community and to encourage licensed community facilities to accept prisoners as residents. The bill requires the Department of Corrections to provide training to licensed facilities in the community regarding the specific needs of prisoners committed to the department. The bill requires the Department of Corrections to adopt routine technical rules to implement the requirement that the department provide long-term care services. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (2/16) | ||
| LD 496 (HP 359) | An Act To Increase Timely Access To Mental Health Services By Increasing Mainecare Reimbursement Rates | This bill provides funding to increase rates in rule Chapter 101: MaineCare Benefits Manual, Chapter III, Section 65, Behavioral Health Services, Children's Home and Community Based Treatment and Section 97, Appendix D, Principles of Reimbursement for Child Care Facilities by 30% no later than July 1, 2021. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 500 (HP 363) | Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review Of Portions Of Chapter 895: Underground Facility Damage Prevention Requirements, A Major Substantive Rule Of The Public Utilities Commission | This resolve provides for legislative review of portions of Chapter 895: Underground Facility Damage Prevention Requirements, a major substantive rule of the Public Utilities Commission. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Resolve Chapter 16 (5/25) | ||
| LD 546 (HP 391) | An Act To Implement The Recommendations Of The Maine Juvenile Justice System Assessment And Reinvestment Task Force | This bill repeals a provision of the Maine Juvenile Code that establishes as a purpose of pre-adjudication detention providing physical care for a juvenile who cannot return home because there is no parent or other suitable person willing and able to supervise the juvenile adequately. The bill, based on recommendations of the Department of Corrections, calls for the setting of benchmarks for measuring progress in reducing the average daily populations of detained youths and committed youths through July 1, 2024. The bill directs the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group to reestablish the juvenile justice task force to help implement the recommendation made in the February 2020 report issued by the Maine Juvenile Justice System Assessment and Reinvestment Task Force. The task force is directed to work with stakeholder groups and the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the development of a community- based system of therapeutic services for justice-involved youths that works to divert youths from detention and commitment, reduce the rates of detention and commitment across the State and achieve the benchmarks for progress established in this bill. The bill requires annual reports on juvenile justice from the Department of Corrections to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters through January 31, 2025. The bill requires that, by January 1, 2022, the Department of Corrections report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters on possible locations for 2 to 4 small, secure, therapeutic residences for youths for the purposes of providing detention and confinement for a maximum occupancy of a total of 20 youths. One of the residences must be located in Cumberland County, one must be in Penobscot County and 2 other possible locations may be identified. Options must include existing structures for renovation as small, secure, therapeutic residences. The report must include information regarding staffing options and options and cost estimates at each possible site and location for the provision of therapeutic services and programs, including educational services, for youths living in the residences. The bill appropriates $1,500,000 to the Department of Corrections and $500,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide ongoing funding for community- based, therapeutic services or programs for the purpose of diverting justice-involved youths from detention and commitment and reducing the rate of youth detention and commitment. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 553 (HP 398) | An Act To End At-will Employment | This bill prohibits an employer from terminating the employment of an employee without cause. The bill specifies that an employer may terminate an employee for cause only after applying a 3-step progressive discipline policy and providing notice of termination in accordance with certain requirements. The bill also eliminates references to at-will employment in current law. | On motion by Senator VITELLI of Sagadahoc The Senate INSISTED To Report B Ought Not To Pass ACCEPTED In NON-CONCURRENCE Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/15) |
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| LD 558 (HP 403) | Resolve, Directing The Department Of Agriculture, Conservation And Forestry To Develop A Study Plan Relating To Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Contamination In The Agricultural Sector | This resolve directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, in consultation with the University of Maine, to study alternative cropping systems that are more cost-effective than soil and water remediation systems for farmers whose land has been contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and whose business development has been limited. | Signed by the Governor Resolve Chapter 38 (6/10) | ||
| LD 579 (HP 422) | Resolve, To Conduct An Independent Examination Of The Protection Order System To Determine Whether There Is Systemic Misuse By Applicants | This resolve directs the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse to study whether there is systemic misuse of protection from abuse orders by applicants and requires the commission to invite a wide variety of interested parties in the judiciary, the legal profession and public and private organizations involved in the issues of domestic abuse to participate in the study. The resolve directs the commission to issue a report on the study to the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary by December 1, 2021, and the commission is authorized to report out legislation based upon any recommendations made in the report. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 621 (HP 457) | An Act To Increase The Number Of Franklin County Commissioners | This bill requires that, upon approval by the voters of Franklin County at referendum held in November 2022, after the redistricting of the county commissioner districts is done in 2021 pursuant to the Constitution of Maine, Franklin County must be divided into 5 county commissioner districts. The bill requires that the reapportionment for each of the new 5 districts reflects, as closely as practicable, the specified geographical composition of the district. | Signed by the Governor Private and Special Law Chapter 8 (6/15) | ||
| LD 654 (HP 481) | An Act To Create A 24-hour Shelter Capital Project Funding Program | This bill establishes the Twenty-four-hour Shelter Capital Project program within the Maine State Housing Authority to support new construction or expansion of emergency 24-hour shelters for persons experiencing homelessness. New construction and expansion projects funded by the program must address an increase in the need for shelter capacity in the region since the construction, or expansion, of an existing shelter or shelters in the region or since the start of the outbreak of COVID-19 or both. The bill includes a one-time General Fund appropriation of $3,000,000 in fiscal year 2021-22 to the Maine State Housing Authority to fund the program. This bill specifies that the funding is supplemental to funding for the Maine State Housing Authority's emergency shelter and housing assistance program. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 656 (HP 483) | An Act To Strengthen The Integrity Of The Office Of Marijuana Policy | This bill requires a person who was employed by or otherwise worked for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, office of marijuana policy to wait at least 24 months before being employed by or engaging in compensated activities as a lobbyist or being employed by or engaging in compensated activities for an entity requiring licensure or registration under the adult use or medical marijuana provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/28) | ||
| LD 661 (HP 488) | An Act To Ensure Equity In Petitions For Rulemaking Under The Maine Administrative Procedure Act | This bill requires the Department of Corrections to initiate appropriate rule-making proceedings upon receipt of a petition from 150 inmates or 25% of the total male or female population of a correctional facility or county or municipal detention facility, whichever is fewer. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 257 (6/17) | ||
| LD 662 (HP 489) | An Act To Allow The Use Of An Additional Light On The Roof Of Vehicles Of Active Members Of A Municipal Or Volunteer Fire Department | This bill allows ambulances, emergency medical service vehicles, fire department vehicles and hazardous material response vehicles to use blue lights other than the one blue light mounted facing toward the rear of the vehicle presently allowed by law, upon approval of the chief of the local law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction of the vehicle. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 113 (6/8) | ||
| LD 668 (HP 495) | An Act To Ensure Public Accountability While Implementing A Practical Approach To Remote Participation | This bill clarifies when members of public bodies may participate remotely in public proceedings of those bodies. It prohibits a body subject to the Freedom of Access Act from allowing its members to participate in its public proceedings through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of communication unless the body has adopted through major substantive rulemaking a written policy that authorizes remote participation in a manner that allows all members to simultaneously hear and speak to each other during the public proceeding and allows members of the public attending the public proceeding at the location identified in the meeting notice to hear all members of the body. It outlines requirements for setting up remote participation, quorums, participation in executive sessions and voting. The bill also requires that each member of a public body subject to the Freedom of Access Act be physically present in at least one public proceeding each year and prohibits the Legislature from allowing its members to participate in its public proceedings remotely. The bill authorizes municipalities and counties to impose stricter requirements than are provided in the bill and allows municipalities and counties to prohibit the use of remote participation by any public body under their jurisdictions. It provides that an elected public body may adopt a remote participation policy only after the constituency of the elected public body has voted to authorize the body to adopt the policy. The bill provides, in Parts A and B, that the exemptions for the Finance Authority of Maine, the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, the Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority, the Maine State Housing Authority, the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, the Emergency Medical Services' Board and the Workers' Compensation Board, whose statutes currently provide for remote participation, expire on July 1, 2027. Those entities will need to adopt policies that comply with the law to continue any remote participation. The bill amends, in Part C, the Freedom of Access Act to require the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters to conduct a review of any proposed statutory authorization of remote participation or change in accessibility with respect to public proceedings. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/8) | ||
| LD 669 (HP 496) | An Act To Ensure Public Ways Are Compliant With The Federal Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 | This bill requires that any project for construction, maintenance or repair of a road maintain the compliance of, or bring into compliance, the public way with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and that any facility located in a public way that must be relocated in order to ensure compliance be relocated at the expense of the facility owner. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 334 (6/23) | ||
| LD 695 (HP 507) | An Act To Allow Municipal Utility Expansion Under Certain Conditions | This bill limits the approval by the Public Utilities Commission of a municipal power district's proposal to furnish service in a municipality or municipalities in which another utility is already furnishing service to the commission's determination that there is no proven net harm to other ratepayers associated with the loss of customers by the transmission and distribution utility and that the municipal power district was created in conformance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, chapter 39, which includes a favorable municipal vote to create the district. It specifies that the transmission and distribution utility furnishing service in the municipality or municipalities where a municipal power district is created and approved by the commission must facilitate the transfer of property and be provided just compensation, as determined by the commission, for that property. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 696 (HP 508) | An Act To Define "solitary Confinement" | This bill prohibits solitary confinement in jails and prisons in the State. It defines "solitary confinement" to mean that a prisoner is segregated and has contact with another person less than 3 times a day. | Speaker laid before the House The House INSISTED on PASSAGE TO BE ENGROSSED as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (H-846) as Amended by House Amendment "A" (H-1008) thereto. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (4/19) |
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| LD 703 (HP 515) | An Act To Increase The Amount To Which A State Employee Or Teacher Retiree's Cost-of-living Adjustment Is Applied From $20,000 To The Retiree's Actual Retirement Benefit | This bill provides that cost-of-living increases for retired state employees and teachers and their beneficiaries apply to a retiree's entire retirement benefit instead of only to the first $20,000 of the retirement benefit. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 704 (HP 516) | An Act To Amend The Laws Governing Culvert Replacement | This bill makes the cost of replacing a culvert the expense of the abutter. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 716 (HP 526) | An Act To Enhance And Improve The Maine Developmental Services Oversight And Advisory Board | This bill establishes the Aging and Disability Mortality Review Panel to review deaths of and serious injuries to all adults receiving home-based and community-based services under a waiver approved by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The bill also makes changes to the laws governing the Maine Developmental Services Oversight and Advisory Board, moving the budget of the board from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services and requiring disclosure of final reports of investigations pursuant to the Adult Protective Services Act to the board. It also clarifies the appointment process for members of the board. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 686 (5/2) | ||
| LD 725 (HP 536) | An Act To Improve Transparency In State Code And License Violations By Making Public The Names Of Complainants | This bill requires under the Freedom of Access Act the name or identity of any person who files a complaint alleging a violation of an order, code, license provision or any other requirement placed upon a person by a government official or agency under the laws or rules of the State or any government subdivision of the State to be made public upon request. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/9) | ||
| LD 727 (HP 538) | Resolve, To Eliminate The Asset Test For The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program | This resolve directs the Department of Health and Human Services to request the United States Department of Agriculture to waive the asset test for determining the eligibility for the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program of any household in which there is an individual who is 60 years of age or older. It also directs the department to develop a pilot project to provide home-delivered meals to individuals who are 60 years of age or older and who are homebound or at risk for readmission to a health care facility. It requires the department to report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters at the conclusion of the pilot project. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Resolve Chapter 115 (7/15) | ||
| LD 739 (HP 544) | An Act Regarding Credible Allegations Of Fraud By Mainecare Providers | This bill allows the Department of Health and Human Services, after a final determination that an allegation of fraud concerning a MaineCare provider has been established, rather than that fraud has occurred, to retain and apply as an offset to amounts determined to be owed to the department any payments to the provider that were suspended by the department. This bill also decreases from 31 days to 21 days after exhaustion of all administrative appeals when the department may take that action and removes reference to judicial review. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 745 (HP 550) | Resolve, Directing The Maine Vaccine Board To Review And Make Recommendations Regarding Expanding The Universal Childhood Immunization Program To Include Adults | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would improve public health by expanding access to certain health programs and services. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Resolve Chapter 90 (6/23) | ||
| LD 746 (HP 551) | An Act Regarding Remote Participation In Municipal Meetings | This bill establishes in law the authorization for boards, commissions, agencies and authorities of municipalities to conduct meetings remotely. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/8) | ||
| LD 749 (HP 554) | An Act To Establish A Council On Health Systems Development | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would establish a council on health systems development that consists of representatives of health systems, including representatives from long-term care, mental health, public health, health care quality and insurance companies and organizations, as well as small and large businesses, and consumers, who would discuss and review health data and make recommendations regarding improving the health systems in the State. The bill would model the council on the Substance Use Disorder Services Commission under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 13-C and the repealed Advisory Council on Health Systems Development under the former Maine Revised Statutes, Title 2, section 104. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 754 (HP 559) | An Act To Promote Municipal Climate Action | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would create a program to help municipalities set ambitious climate goals and achieve them with state support. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 757 (HP 562) | An Act Concerning Large-scale Water Extraction | This bill amends the State's laws concerning contracts and agreements for the large- scale extraction and transportation of water by requiring any such contract or agreement to be approved by a vote of the legislative body of each municipality and township located within the watershed from which water is to be extracted and transported pursuant to that contract or agreement. It also provides that a consumer-owned water utility may not enter into any contract or agreement with another entity for the large-scale extraction and transportation of water with a term longer than 5 years. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 758 (HP 563) | Resolve, To Study Streamlining The Background Check Process For State-licensed Professions That Require Background Checks | This resolve establishes the Background Check Consolidation Commission to study consolidating and centralizing as many state-required background checks required for employment as possible, including background checks for teachers, state workers and persons seeking Maine guide licenses. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 771 (HP 576) | An Act To Amend The Laws Governing Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certification | This bill modifies the laws governing the wastewater treatment plant operator certification program administered by the Department of Environmental Protection. It changes the procedure for revocation of a wastewater treatment plant operator certification, provides authority for suspension of a wastewater treatment plant operator certification, clarifies how the department may administer the program, updates outdated terminology and eliminates outdated provisions. It also clarifies the department's existing authority with respect to licenses and its authority with respect to wastewater treatment plant operator certificates. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 173 (6/11) | ||
| LD 775 (HP 580) | An Act To Include Within The Definitions Of "public Employee" And "judicial Employee" Those Who Have Been Employed For Less Than 6 Months | This bill provides that, for the purposes of the public employees and judicial employees labor relations laws, a person who has been an employee of the State or another public employer for less than 6 months is considered a public employee and a person who has been an employee of the judicial branch for less than 6 months is considered a judicial employee. A person who has been an employee of the State or another public employer for less than 6 months may be dismissed, suspended or otherwise disciplined without cause during the probationary period. Termination of an employee or any other disciplinary action against an employee during the probationary period is not subject to the grievance and arbitration provision of the collective bargaining agreement. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 601 (4/14) | ||
| LD 780 (HP 585) | An Act Regarding Uncontrolled Hazardous Substance Sites | This bill makes the following changes to the State's uncontrolled hazardous substance sites law. 1. It amends the definition of "hazardous substance" in the laws governing uncontrolled hazardous substance sites by including substances defined as hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. 2. It provides a limited exemption from liability for publicly owned treatment works based on the contribution by the publicly owned treatment works of effluent or sewage sludge to an uncontrolled hazardous substance site. 3. It provides a limited exemption for public water systems based on the contribution by the public water system of water treatment residuals to an uncontrolled hazardous substance site. The bill also requires that, on or before January 15, 2023, the Department of Environmental Protection report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources matters the uncontrolled hazardous substance sites where the department has used its authority to require responsible parties to investigate or remove hazardous substances that are pollutants or contaminants and, for each site, information identifying the substance involved. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 117 (6/8) | ||
| LD 787 (HP 592) | An Act To Comprehensively Address Homelessness And Affordable Housing In Maine | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to enact measures to comprehensively address homelessness and affordable housing in the State. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) | ||
| LD 830 (HP 598) | An Act To Restructure The Taxation Of Adult Use Marijuana | This bill repeals the excise tax on adult use marijuana on January 1, 2022 and raises an estimated equivalent amount of revenue by increasing the sales tax on adult use marijuana and adult use marijuana products to 20% on January 1, 2022. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 835 (HP 603) | An Act To Allow Citizens To Petition Government Agencies To Repeal Or Modify Occupational Regulations | This bill requires, by January 1, 2022, all state agencies and other units of government to review all rules regarding a person's ability to use an occupational title or work in an occupation, trade or profession to determine whether the rule is necessary and carefully tailored to protect health, safety and welfare and does not unnecessarily burden a person's ability to enter an occupation, trade or profession. After review, the agency is required to repeal or modify every rule that does not meet the standard of review or recommend to the Legislature the necessary steps to repeal or modify the rule if it is not within the agency's authority to do so. Any person can at any time petition the agency or the District Court to repeal or modify a rule that does not meet the standard of review required by this legislation. | Reports Read On motion by Senator BALDACCI of Penobscot the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED. in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) |
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| LD 841 (HP 609) | An Act Regarding Deferred Disposition | This bill provides for a presumption of probation as the sentence for certain Class C crimes and provides for penalties for first and subsequent violations of probation. The bill also makes deferred disposition available for a person who pleads guilty to unlawful possession of a scheduled drug under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1107-A, subsection 1, paragraph A. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 308 (6/21) | ||
| LD 842 (HP 610) | Resolve, To Create The Commission To Examine Reestablishing Parole | This bill establishes the option of parole for persons sentenced to the custody of the Department of Corrections. Current law provides that only persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections pursuant to a sentence imposed under the law in effect before May 1, 1976 may apply for parole. This bill incorporates the concepts of positive reentry parole, is modeled in part on a parole law from the State of Colorado and uses some of the technical aspects of Maine's existing parole law. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Resolve Chapter 126 (3/8) | ||
| LD 843 (HP 611) | An Act To Create A Pathway To Housing Stability For Homeless Young People And Those At Risk Of Entering And Those Exiting Corrections Systems | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would require the completion of an assessment to determine whether young people and their families who are identified by the federal Family First Prevention Services Act state plan program being developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services as homeless and young people and their families who are at risk of entering into the custody of the Department of Corrections or exiting that custody are homeless or housing insecure. Following the assessment, this bill would require the State to provide a housing navigator and a state-funded or federal housing voucher to create a pathway to housing security for those individuals and their families. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 844 (HP 612) | An Act To Examine And Amend The Conditions Of Release And Probation | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would require the examination of the reasons individuals undertake actions that lead to incarceration and recidivism due to a violation of conditions of release or probation and propose changes, based on the findings of that examination, to reduce incarceration and recidivism due to such a violation. | This Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 2 of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the House proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" ROLL CALL NO. 616V 54 having voted in the affirmative and 64 in the negative, 4 Vacancies with 29 being absent, and accordingly it was the vote of the House that the Bill not become a law and the veto was sustained. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (5/9) |
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| LD 847 (HP 615) | An Act To Divert Young Adults From The Adult Criminal Justice System | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to create the Transition to Adulthood Diversion Program that mirrors the Maine Juvenile Code in terms of its goals of rehabilitation and diversion, including diversion to programs based in restorative practices. This bill would require that a percentage of persons 18 years of age or older and under 25 years of age who are black, indigenous or other persons of color currently in the criminal justice system be diverted into the Transition to Adulthood Diversion Program. This bill would provide to the Transition to Adulthood Diversion Program the same percentage of funding currently provided for juveniles in this age group who are in community-based diversion programs. | This Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 2 of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the House proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" ROLL CALL NO. 395V 70 having voted in the affirmative and 71 in the negative, with 10 being absent, and accordingly it was the vote of the House that the Bill not become a law and the veto was sustained. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (6/30) |
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| LD 848 (HP 616) | An Act To Increase High-speed Internet In Rural Maine | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would expand high-speed Internet access in rural communities in the State by creating incentives for companies to expand their services to those communities. It would expand the definition of "rural" to include specific levels not included in the federal definition. Each level would create more incentives for companies to connect to the most rural areas of the State. It would propose 4 tiers for populations under 2,500 people: 1. Rural tier 1: 2,000-2,499; 2. Rural tier 2: 1,500-1,999; 3. Rural tier 3: 1,000-1,499; and 4. Rural tier 4: fewer than 1,000. Tax breaks would be offered to companies to help offset the costs of expanding to the rural areas, which would become available once 90% of the citizens of a community are connected to high-speed Internet service. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) | ||
| LD 858 (HP 626) | An Act To Limit Reincarceration For Persons On Probation | This bill provides definitions in the Maine Criminal Code chapter regarding probation for the terms "certified intentional peer support specialist," "certified recovery coach," "integrated medication-assisted treatment," "person with substance use disorder," "recovery," "recovery residence" and "recovery support services." If a person on probation is subject to conditions requiring the person to refrain from drug use and excessive use of alcohol and the probation officer has cause to suspect a violation of those conditions, but not a violation of law that constitutes a crime, the bill prohibits arrest and revocation of probation for the violation of probation conditions. If a person on probation is subject to conditions requiring the person to refrain from drug use and excessive use of alcohol and the probation officer has cause to suspect a violation of those conditions, but not a violation of law that constitutes a crime, the bill authorizes the probation officer to impose additional conditions in lieu of probation revocation, including referral to a certified recovery coach, a certified intentional peer support specialist or a qualified recovery support service, allows participation in a public restitution program or treatment program regardless of whether the program is administered through a correctional facility or county jail and prohibits the use of incarceration. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 403 (7/6) | ||
| LD 902 (HP 658) | An Act To Enact The Uniform Registration Of Canadian Money Judgments Act | bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 903 (HP 659) | An Act To Enact The Uniform Foreign-country Money Judgments Recognition Act And The Uniform Registration Of Canadian Money Judgments Act | bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 689 (5/2) | ||
| LD 905 (HP 661) | An Act To Enact The Uniform Voidable Transactions Act | bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 906 (HP 662) | An Act To Provide Passamaquoddy Tribal Members Access To Clean Drinking Water | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill, as emergency legislation, proposes to provide clean drinking water to the Passamaquoddy Reservation at Pleasant Point and to nearby municipalities. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 650 (4/21) | ||
| LD 913 (HP 669) | An Act To Make Certain Civil Court Records Accessible By The Public Only At The Courthouse | This bill creates the Maine Data Collection Protection Act, which prohibits data collectors from collecting and aggregating, selling or using specific types of public documents or information from those documents for the purpose of determining a consumer's eligibility for consumer credit, employment or residential housing. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 644 (4/20) | ||
| LD 917 (HP 673) | An Act Regarding Electronic Monitoring Of Pretrial And Post-conviction Defendants | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to amend the laws governing electronic monitoring of pretrial and post-conviction defendants. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 933 (HP 689) | An Act To Facilitate The Expansion Of Broadband To Unserved Areas Of The State | This bill authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules establishing a mechanism or process by which utility pole joint use rates in unserved areas of the State are required to be reduced or capped in a manner designed to encourage broadband expansion in those unserved areas and joint use rates in areas of the State that are not unserved areas are required to be increased. The bill also requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the ConnectMaine Authority, to study methods of promoting broadband expansion in unserved areas of the State through a limited-period reduction in utility pole attachment rates for broadband providers that agree to deliver new high-speed Internet service in those unserved areas in conjunction with a limited-period increase in utility pole attachment rates in areas of the State that are not unserved areas. No later than January 1, 2022, the Public Utilities Commission is required to submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology describing the findings of that study and any recommendations, including proposed legislation, resulting from that study. After reviewing the report, the joint standing committee may report out legislation relating to the report to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) | ||
| LD 938 (HP 694) | An Act To Ensure Maine Workers' Right To Request A Schedule Change At Their Places Of Employment | This bill creates a right of an employee to request a change of schedule. The employer is not required to grant the request but must describe in writing the reason for denial if the request is denied. The employee's right to request a schedule change does not apply to employers with 10 or fewer employees. A violation is a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $5,000 may be adjudged. | Reports READ On motion by Senator HICKMAN of Kennebec The Majority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/10) |
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| LD 940 (HP 696) | An Act To Establish Appliance Energy And Water Standards | This bill provides that, beginning January 1, 2023, a person may not sell or offer for sale in the State any of the following new products that were prohibited from sale in the State of California under its appliance efficiency regulations, as those regulations were in effect on January 1, 2021: computers and computer monitors; certain general service lamps; commercial hot food holding cabinets; plumbing fittings that are showerheads, lavatory faucets, kitchen faucets, public lavatory faucets, metering faucets, kitchen replacement aerators and lavatory replacement aerators; plumbing fixtures that are water closets and urinals; portable electric spas; spray sprinkler bodies; and water dispensers. The Governor's Energy Office is required to enforce this prohibition, and fines for a violation of the prohibition are specified. The office is authorized to enter into a memorandum of understanding or other formalized agreement with the Efficiency Maine Trust for the provision of technical assistance by the trust to consumers and businesses regarding this prohibition. The office is also required to submit an annual report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy, utilities and technology matters describing any recent or anticipated changes to the California appliance efficiency regulations and including recommendations as to whether, based on such changes or for other specified reasons, the state provision requires amendment. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 433 (7/8) | ||
| LD 942 (HP 698) | An Act To Waive Professional And Occupational Licensing Fees For Calendar Year 2020 | This bill waives all licensing and certification fees for calendar year 2020 that are imposed pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 32, which governs professions and occupations. A person who has paid a licensing or certification fee for calendar year 2020 must be reimbursed. | Reports Read On motion by Senator CURRY of Waldo the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED. in concurrence Roll Call Ordered Roll Call Number 242 Yeas 22 - Nays 13 - Excused 0 - Absent 0 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/8) |
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| LD 965 (HP 711) | An Act Concerning Nondisclosure Agreements In Employment | This bill prohibits an employer from requiring an employee, intern or applicant for employment to enter into a contract or agreement that waives or limits any right to report or discuss discrimination, retaliation or harassment occurring in the workplace or at work- related events. It also prohibits an employer from requiring an employee, intern or applicant for employment to enter into a settlement, separation or severance agreement that limits an individual's right to report, testify or provide evidence to a federal or state agency that enforces employment or discrimination laws, prevents an individual from testifying or providing evidence in federal and state court proceedings in response to legal process or prohibits an individual from reporting conduct to a law enforcement agency. This bill allows a settlement, separation or severance agreement, under certain circumstances, to include a provision that prevents the subsequent disclosure of factual information relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation or harassment. It provides the Department of Labor with the duty to enforce these provisions and allows an individual to receive liquidated damages or to be employed or reinstated with back wages when an employer discharges or refuses to hire an individual who declines to enter into a contract or agreement that waives or limits any right to report or discuss discrimination, retaliation or harassment occurring in the workplace or at work-related events. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 760 (5/12) | ||
| LD 982 (HP 728) | An Act To Protect Against Discrimination By Public Entities | This bill provides that public entities may not discriminate on the basis of a protected class. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1024 (HP 762) | Resolve, Directing The Workers' Compensation Board To Study The Impact Of Workers' Compensation Laws On Certain Public Sector Employees | This resolve directs the Workers' Compensation Board to study the fiscal impact of certain workers' compensation laws providing a rebuttable presumption that certain employees received injuries in the course of their employment on municipalities and to devise a high-risk pool to protect the municipalities from that impact. | Reports Read On motion by Senator HICKMAN of Kennebec the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED. in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/7) |
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| LD 1026 (HP 764) | An Act To Update The Regulation Of Public Utility Monopolies | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to update the laws governing the regulation of public utility monopolies. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1030 (HP 765) | An Act Regarding Courts' Authority To Protect Children When A Parent Has Been Awarded Sole Parental Rights And Responsibilities | This legislation is proposed by the Family Law Advisory Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, section 354, subsection 2. This bill expands courts' authority to protect children when a parent has been awarded sole parental rights and responsibilities in 2 ways. First, it amends the Maine Uniform Probate Code to ensure the court has authority to appoint a guardian for a minor upon the death of the parent who was awarded exclusive parental rights and responsibilities. Second, it provides a process to allow, in very limited situations, one parent to file a petition to terminate another parent's parental rights and responsibilities outside of an adoption proceeding. The Maine Uniform Probate Code currently allows a court to appoint a guardian for a minor when the court finds the appointment is in the best interest of the minor and the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the parents are unwilling or unable to exercise their parental rights and responsibilities. The law provides 2 examples of situations in which the parents are unable or unwilling to exercise their parental rights and responsibilities. The bill adds a 3rd example: when the parent to whom a court has awarded exclusive parental rights and responsibilities dies and the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that there is neither a substantial change in circumstances between the time of the order and the parent's death nor other facts that would render a finding based on the order to be inequitable or unjust. Current law provides that when one parent dies, all parental rights and responsibilities pertaining to a child devolve upon the surviving parent. The bill allows a court to appoint a guardian if the deceased parent had been awarded exclusive parental rights and responsibilities, with the now-surviving parent having been given no rights of contact, access to records or decision making, if the order was in effect at the time of the parent's death. The court must find that clear and convincing evidence exists to show that there is neither a substantial change in circumstances between the entry of the exclusive parental rights and responsibilities order and the parent's death nor that other facts exist that would render a finding based on the order to be inequitable or unjust. In current law, Title 19-A, section 1658 allows a petition to terminate the parental rights and responsibilities of a parent who committed sexual assault and the sexual assault resulted in the conception of a child. The bill allows a petition to be filed to terminate the parental rights and responsibilities of a parent in another context: when a final court order awarded exclusive parental rights and responsibilities to another parent and that order has been in effect at least 12 months and the petition alleges that termination of the parent's rights and responsibilities is necessary to protect the child from serious harm or the threat of serious harm. The order must have awarded exclusive parental rights and responsibilities with respect to all aspects of the child's welfare, with the possible exception of the right and responsibility for support, without reserving for the parent any rights to make decisions, to have access to records or to have contact with the child. The bill allows the parent of a child to file a petition to terminate the parental rights and responsibilities of another parent of the child. If the child's parent is a minor, the parent or guardian of the parent who is a minor may file a termination petition. This bill clarifies the procedure for the termination of parental rights and responsibilities once a petition is filed. The court must appoint an attorney for a parent who is the subject of a termination petition and is indigent. If the action is contested and the parent who is the subject of the petition is represented by counsel, then the court may appoint an attorney for any indigent petitioner. If the petition alleges that termination of parental rights and responsibilities is necessary to protect the child from serious harm or threat of serious harm and an order awarding exclusive parental rights and responsibilities has been in effect at least 12 months, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem. A parent may consent to an order terminating the parent's rights and responsibilities after a judge has fully explained the effects of a termination order and if such consent is written and voluntarily and knowingly executed in court. Even if a parent consents to the termination of that parent's rights and responsibilities, the court must nevertheless still make the required findings. For a petition that is based on an exclusive order of parental rights and responsibilities and that alleges that termination is necessary to protect the child from serious harm or the threat of serious harm, the petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence the allegations as well as that termination is in the best interest of the child. Evidence that termination is necessary to protect the child from harm or threat of serious harm may include, but is not limited to, proof of the parent's conduct demonstrating an intent to permanently forgo all parental duties or relinquish parental claims regarding the child or proof of the parent's acts of abuse, as defined in the child protection laws, upon the petitioner or a minor child in the parent's or petitioner's household. The bill provides that, except as provided in Title 19-A, section 1658 and the adoption laws in Title 18-C, a court may not terminate the parental rights and responsibilities of a parent on a petition filed by another parent or the parent or guardian of a child's parent who is a minor. The bill amends the child protection laws to make consistent who may file a petition to terminate the parental rights to a child. The requirements set out in the bill apply when a parent or the parent or guardian of a minor parent is petitioning to terminate another parent's parental rights and responsibilities, but if the petitioner is also petitioning to adopt the child, the requirements of the adoption laws in Title 18-C, Article 9 apply. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 340 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1043 (HP 771) | An Act Concerning The Unannounced Execution Of Search Warrants | This bill requires law enforcement agencies to adopt written policies regarding the unannounced execution of search warrants. Such policies must meet the minimum standards adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 342 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1044 (HP 772) | An Act To Protect The Rights Of Certain Incarcerated Individuals | The bill provides to a person residing in a correctional or detention facility the right to have that person's consistently held gender identity respected and acknowledged and to have staff and representatives of the correctional or detention facility use the pronouns, titles and names identified by the person. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 263 (6/17) | ||
| LD 1045 (HP 773) | An Act To Support Universal Health Care | This bill establishes the Maine Health Care Plan to provide universal health care coverage to all residents of this State. The bill is modeled on proposed legislation considered in Minnesota. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 391 (7/1) | ||
| LD 1065 (HP 794) | An Act To Clarify The Qualifications And Oversight Of Sheriffs | This bill requires a candidate for sheriff or someone serving as sheriff to have met and continue to meet any statutory requirements of preservice, basic or in-service law enforcement training required for certification or continued certification as a law enforcement officer. This bill also provides that any person who served as a full-time law enforcement officer employed by a state agency, including the University of Maine System, on or before July 1, 1990 is considered to have met the standards required by this bill. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 202 (6/14) | ||
| LD 1127 (HP 805) | An Act To Prohibit The Use Of "no-knock" Warrants | This bill prohibits the use of no-knock warrants, which are warrants that allow the executing authority to forcibly enter a location that is the subject of a search warrant without first announcing the authority to execute the warrant and the purpose for which the warrant was issued. This prohibition applies to law enforcement officers and any employee of the State or a political subdivision of the State. This bill also prohibits a law enforcement officer or an employee of the State or a political subdivision of the State from participating in or providing material support for the execution of a federal no-knock warrant. A political subdivision of the State is prohibited from adopting a rule, ordinance, order or policy that allows the execution of no-knock warrants. A law enforcement officer who violates the prohibition against no-knock warrants commits a Class E crime and is subject to a mandatory sentence of 6 months in a correctional facility. A political subdivision that violates the prohibition against the use or support of no-knock warrants is subject to a loss of state funding for the entire fiscal year in which the political subdivision is determined to have intentionally committed the violation. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1128 (HP 806) | An Act Relating To Personnel Working In Public Safety | This bill does the following. Part A authorizes transport officers to transport prisoners to and from court pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus and to provide safe and secure custody of prisoners during the proceedings, as directed by the court. Part A allows a transport officer to use a reasonable degree of nondeadly force and deadly force, based on the provisions applicable to law enforcement officers. Part A clarifies the power of corrections personnel to use force by eliminating the current law's cross-reference to law enforcement officers' use of force when making arrests and using language appropriate to the corrections context. Part A extends the prohibitions on using deadly force against a law enforcement officer to corrections officers, corrections supervisors and transport officers. Part A extends the prohibitions on using laser pointers and electronic weapons against a law enforcement officer to corrections officers, corrections supervisors and transport officers. Part A extends to transport officers the exception to the prohibition on possession of a firearm in a courthouse. Part A provides a definition of "transport officer" in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A and Title 30-A, empowers transport officers to perform transport-related duties only and provides that a transport officer does not have general law enforcement authority outside the scope of duty of the transport officer or powers of arrest. Part A authorizes a jailer or jailer's subordinate to be a transport officer. Part A also provides for private persons to assist transport and corrections officers. Part A also requires mental health first aid training for transport officers as part of the certification and training program of transport officers. Part B adds to the definition of "officer" in the laws governing death benefits for officers, firefighters and emergency medical services persons by including transport officer and corrections officer and making transport officers and corrections officers eligible for benefits. Part B provides a definition of transport officer in the workers' compensation law on communicable diseases and includes a transport officer in the definition of emergency rescue or public safety worker. | On motion by Senator VITELLI of Sagadahoc The Senate INSISTED To The Majority Ought to Pass As Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (H-340) Report ACCEPTED and the Bill PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED AS AMENDED BY Committee Amendment "A" (H-340) In NON-CONCURRENCE Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/17) |
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| LD 1134 (HP 812) | An Act To Amend The Maine Bail Code Regarding Certain Conditions Of Release | This bill amends the Maine Bail Code by specifying certain conditions of a violation of a condition of release that remain a Class E crime and specifying that certain violations of conditions of release, including crimes against a family or household member, sexual assault or violations of protective orders, are Class E crimes, unless the underlying crime was punishable by a maximum period of imprisonment of one year or more and certain conditions of release are violated, in which case it is a Class C crime. This bill also amends the provisions in the Maine Criminal Code involving situations when a law enforcement officer may make a warrantless arrest and prohibits a warrantless arrest for certain Class D or Class E crimes when it is feasible to issue a summons. | This Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 2 of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the House proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" ROLL CALL NO. 399V 71 having voted in the affirmative and 71 in the negative, with 9 being absent, and accordingly it was the vote of the House that the Bill not become a law and the veto was sustained. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (6/30) |
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| LD 1167 (HP 845) | An Act Relating To Fair Chance In Employment | This bill prohibits an employer from requesting criminal history record information on an initial employee application form or stating on an initial employee application form or advertisement or specifying prior to determining a person is otherwise qualified for the position that a person with a criminal history may not apply or will not be considered for a position. The bill provides exceptions to those prohibitions, including instances in which federal or state law or regulation or rule mandates for a position that a criminal conviction disqualifies an applicant, or imposes an obligation on an employer not to hire an applicant who has been convicted of a certain type of offense, or requires that an employer conduct a criminal history record check. An employer who violates this prohibition is subject to a penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each violation, to be enforced by the Department of Labor. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 404 (7/6) | ||
| LD 1170 (HP 848) | An Act Regarding Unauthorized Possession Of A Firearm In A Correctional Facility Or Jail | This bill makes the unauthorized possession of a firearm in a correctional facility a Class D crime. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 266 (6/17) | ||
| LD 1171 (HP 849) | An Act To Curtail No-knock Warrants | This bill requires a law enforcement officer, prior to forcibly entering a location that is the subject of a search warrant, to announce the law enforcement officer's authority to execute the warrant and the purpose for which the warrant was issued. This requirement does not apply if the authority issuing the warrant clearly states that providing such notice would create an imminent risk of death or bodily harm to a law enforcement officer or an individual in the location that is the subject of the warrant. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 267 (6/17) | ||
| LD 1174 (HP 852) | An Act To Allow Municipalities To Send Separate Tax Bills For Municipal, County And School Taxes | This bill permits municipalities to issue separate bills for the portion of their tax commitments attributable to education funding and the portion attributable to county taxes and all other municipal costs. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1175 (HP 853) | An Act To Prohibit Excessive Telephone Charges In Maine Jails And Prisons | This bill prohibits the Department of Corrections, county jails and municipal detention facilities from accepting a commission or charging a fee for the provision of services from an outside provider to incarcerated individuals, including telephone, video and commissary services. This bill also requires the department to negotiate contracts for services, allowing county jails to opt in, at the lowest cost to the client. A contract for services may not include a connection fee. A contract for telephone services may not exceed a rate of 11¢ per minute and must allow incarcerated individuals to receive 2 15-minute telephone calls per week at no charge. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 615 (4/15) | ||
| LD 1179 (HP 857) | An Act To Restrict Maine Law Enforcement Participation In Federal Firearm Confiscation Or Buy-back Programs Without Legislative Approval | This bill requires a majority vote of each House of the Legislature and approval by the Governor for any use of a law enforcement officer or agency in a federal firearm confiscation or buy-back program. This bill applies to any firearm or ammunition magazine legally owned on or before January 1, 2021. | Taken from the table by the President On motion by Senator DESCHAMBAULT of York The Majority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence Roll Call Ordered Roll Call Number 341 Yeas 21 - Nays 14 - Excused 0 - Absent 0 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/14) |
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| LD 1194 (HP 872) | An Act To Reduce Health Care Worker Shortages | This bill makes permanent the authorization for licensing out-of-state and recently retired doctors, physician assistants and nurses that was provided through executive order during the declared state of civil emergency related to COVID-19. The bill also expands the scope of health care services that can be provided though telehealth to include the use of audio-only telephone. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 1210 (HP 885) | An Act To Remove Barriers To Employment By Sealing The Records Of Persons Convicted Of Certain Nonviolent Crimes | This bill allows a person convicted of a Class E, Class D or Class C crime to petition the court where the person was convicted to seal all records of the crime 5 years after the completion of the person's sentence by making the record a confidential criminal history record. Sealing a record is not available for persons who have subsequent convictions or pending criminal charges; for crimes involving bribery, corruption, violence or sex offenses; or for crimes that had as an element of the offense victims who were minors or were 65 years of age or older. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/9) | ||
| LD 1216 (HP 891) | An Act To Amend The State Tax Laws | Part A makes changes to the insurance premiums and income tax law. Part A: 1. Changes the due dates for community colleges, colleges and universities, Department of Education and Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services, Office of Tax Policy reports on the implementation of the educational opportunity tax credit from February 1, 2021, for the colleges, and March 1, 2021, for the Department of Education and Office of Tax Policy, to February 1, 2022; 2. Repeals the requirement that remaining funds in the Medical Use of Marijuana Fund be used to fund the cost of the tax deductions provided pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 5122, subsection 2, paragraph PP and Title 36, section 5200-A, subsection 2, paragraph BB and the cost of the position in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services to administer the tax deductions; 3. Expands the so-called Maine insurance premiums retaliatory tax to include insurance companies incorporated in the District of Columbia or a possession of the United States; 4. Clarifies that the Maine reporting and tax payment requirements related to federal partnership adjustments under the new federal centralized partnership audit rules includes negative federal adjustments arising from Internal Revenue Service partnership audits and administrative adjustment requests filed with the Internal Revenue Service, and amends the requirements to allow a refund directly to the partnership in lieu of a refund to the affected partners to the extent that negative adjustments exceed positive adjustments; 5. Clarifies that the Maine reporting and tax payment requirements related to federal partnership adjustments under the new federal partnership audit rules also apply to a partnership that has filed an administrative adjustment request with the federal Internal Revenue Service; 6. Establishes a penalty for persons who fail to provide returns of information to the State Tax Assessor or who willfully furnish to the assessor a false or fraudulent return of information. Generally, returns of information consist of Forms W-2, Forms 1099 and other similar forms containing tax information necessary for filing Maine tax returns. Similar to the penalty imposed for failure to provide information statements, or for willfully providing a false or fraudulent statement to payees, the penalty is $50 for each failure to provide a return of information to the State Tax Assessor. The penalty applies to returns of information required to be filed on or after January 31, 2022; 7. Makes the following changes to the renewable chemicals tax credits: A. Adds taxpayer information reporting and 3rd-party testing and verification credit requirements, to be specified by rules of the State Tax Assessor; B. Clarifies that the renewable chemicals may not be sold as food, feed or fuel and that they must be produced in Maine; and C. Modifies the February 1, 2024 report on the renewable chemicals tax credit issued by the Department of Economic and Community Development to remove required reporting on the number of indirect jobs created and to include reporting on the newly reinstated credit for biofuel commercial production and commercial use under Title 36, section 5219-X. Part B makes changes to the sales tax law, applicable to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2022. Part B: 1. Clarifies that the Title 36, Part 3 definition of "in this State" includes sales of tangible personal property and taxable services sourced in this State pursuant to Title 36, section 1819; 2. Repeals the presumptive sales and use tax registrations requirements for affiliate- based and certain agent-based connections with the State; 3. Corrects a conflict created when 2 different public laws enacted the same section of law and: A. Clarifies that the remote seller and marketplace registration requirements apply based on sales in this State and not the location from which they are delivered; B. Repeals the remote seller and marketplace facilitator sales and use tax registration requirement for persons or marketplace facilitators, respectively, with at least 200 separate sales transactions in the State; and C. Clarifies the agent, representative, salesperson, solicitor or distributor registration requirements by removing the redundant term “storage”; and 4. Expands the sales and use tax sourcing provision to apply to all sales and not just retail sales. Part C makes changes to the property tax law. Part C: 1. Lowers the declared ratio accuracy threshold from within 20% to within 10% of the state valuation ratio last determined to align with the accuracy requirement provided for state reimbursement for the homestead exemption; and 2. Updates and aligns the audit authority for exemptions that are reimbursed by the State to municipalities, allowing for the audit of all reimbursable exemptions. Part D makes the following updates to respond to certain COVID-19 impacts and is effective when approved. Part D: 1. Aligns the Title 36 definitions of "disaster period" with the Title 10, section 9902 definition; 2. Relaxes the "work in Maine" requirement of the educational opportunity tax credit by deeming a qualified individual who worked in this State immediately prior to, or at any point during, the state of emergency declared by the Governor due to the COVID-19 pandemic to have worked in this State for the entire state of emergency; 3. Relaxes the primary use requirement of the sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment by determining the equipment's primary use based only on the days in use; and 4. Allows taxpayers to use the sourcing law of another jurisdiction when calculating the credit for income tax paid to other jurisdictions in certain COVID-19 pandemic-related teleworking circumstances. Part E clarifies and simplifies the corporate income tax law by establishing clearly defined, objective nexus thresholds as a practical structure for the current general "economic nexus" standard. These so-called factor presence thresholds clarify the minimum thresholds that, when exceeded by a corporation, subject that corporation to the Maine corporate income tax. In addition, the new thresholds create a safe harbor for corporations with little activity within the State that nonetheless have nexus under current law due to a small, but greater than de minimis, physical presence in the State. The new thresholds are $250,000 of property, $250,000 in payroll or $500,000 in sales in Maine, or 25% of total property, payroll or sales in Maine, as determined under Title 36, chapter 821. The thresholds apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Part F updates, clarifies and simplifies the service provider tax law regarding consumer purchases of digital media by equalizing the tax treatment between the various modes of purchase for sales occurring on or after October 1, 2021. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 181 (6/11) | ||
| LD 1219 (HP 894) | Resolve, To Facilitate The Modernization And Streamlining Of The Utility Pole Attachment Process | This resolve directs the Public Utilities Commission to convene a stakeholder group to develop recommendations for the implementation of 3rd-party administration of utility pole attachment joint use under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 711. The commission is directed to submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology on or before December 1, 2021 detailing the work of the stakeholder group and including proposals and other recommendations to implement the recommendations. After reviewing the report, the committee may report out a related bill to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. | The House INSISTED on PASSAGE TO BE ENGROSSED as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (H-417) Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (6/17) |
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| LD 1227 (HP 898) | An Act To Provide Equity In The State Income Tax Deduction For Certain Public Employees Retirement System Pensions | This bill establishes an income tax exemption for taxpayers who receive civil service retirement plan benefits who do not participate in the federal Social Security program in recognition of the fact that the current law provides an income tax exemption for all Social Security benefits in addition to a $10,000 pension exemption for retirement plan benefits. The bill phases in greater parity in the treatment of the 2 types of pension systems by increasing the civil service pension deduction amount by $5,000 per year until 2025 when it reaches the maximum annual benefit that an individual retiring at retirement age would receive under the federal Social Security Act. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1228 (HP 899) | An Act To Promote Transparency In Nonconsensual Towing And Roadside Assistance | This bill requires the Central Fleet Management Division within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services to develop standards governing requests for roadside assistance or towing services. | RELEASED. Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/30) |
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| LD 1250 (HP 916) | An Act To Allow Law Enforcement Officers With Federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act Clearance To Carry A Concealed Weapon | This bill allows a qualified active or retired law enforcement officer who possesses a current federal identification under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 to carry a concealed weapon in areas in which the carrying of concealed weapons is prohibited by law or rule. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1270 (HP 930) | An Act To Establish Resentencing Units In The Attorney General's Office And All Maine Prosecutorial Districts | This bill requires the Attorney General and every district attorney to maintain a resentencing unit to review ongoing sentences of cases they prosecuted to determine whether the sentences should be reduced or terminated in the interests of fairness or justice. The resentencing units are to review sentences that are disproportionate based upon the crime committed, especially for incarcerated people over 50 years of age or who committed the offense as a minor, sentences of at least 5 years when release is 12 months or less away, sentences for felony murder when the person did not commit the killing or intend to kill, sentences for people with terminal or debilitating illnesses, sentences in which illegalities or irregularities may have occurred and any other sentences that the resentencing unit determines should be reviewed in the interests of fairness or justice. The resentencing unit makes a recommendation to the Attorney General or district attorney who may accept, reject or modify the recommendation and may file a petition for resentencing review at any time during the duration of the sentence to request the court for a reduction or termination of the sentence. | On motion by Senator VITELLI of Sagadahoc The Senate INSISTED To The Minority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED In NON-CONCURRENCE Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/18) |
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| LD 1273 (HP 933) | An Act To Establish A Conviction Integrity Unit In Maine | This bill requires the Attorney General and every district attorney to maintain a conviction integrity unit to review convictions in cases they prosecuted to determine whether there is plausible evidence of innocence, a constitutional violation or prosecutorial misconduct or when the facts and circumstances require a review in the interests of fairness and justice. A conviction integrity unit may recommend that a conviction be dismissed or replaced with a lesser charge or may recommend a reduction or termination of a sentence or other disposition upon agreement with the defendant. The Attorney General or district attorney may file a petition for post-conviction review based upon that recommendation. Prosecutors are prohibited from participating in the review of cases that they prosecuted and justices and judges are prohibited from presiding over the post-conviction review of cases over which they presided. Cases of prosecutorial misconduct must be reviewed by an independent authority. The standard of review for petitions claiming innocence is by clear and convincing evidence. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1274 (HP 934) | An Act Regarding 2021 Municipal Elections And Town Meetings | This bill: 1. Deems approved a municipal budget that was approved or deemed approved in the prior year if an annual budget meeting is delayed beyond the date an annual budget is customarily submitted to a legislative body of a municipality for approval due to public health concerns arising from COVID-19; 2. Permits municipal assessors to commit property taxes on the basis of a municipal budget deemed approved; 3. Permits a municipal treasurer to disburse money on the authority of a warrant drawn for that purpose seen and signed individually by a majority of the municipal officers outside of a public meeting, notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 5603, subsection 2, paragraph A or any other law or municipal charter provision or ordinance to the contrary, for the duration of the state of emergency declared by the Governor due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and for 30 days following its termination; 4. Permits municipal officers during the calendar year 2021 to postpone the date of a scheduled secret ballot election for which nomination papers have already been issued or filed by posting notice in a conspicuous public location at least 2 days prior to the date of the election. The notice must be signed by a majority of the municipal officers and must either state a specific date and time during which the polls will be open to complete the election or state that the date of a rescheduled election will be determined by the municipal officers; 5. Provides that any secret ballot election rescheduled under this Act must be noticed by a warrant calling the election that is approved and posted pursuant to Title 30-A, section 2523 at least 7 days prior to the date of the rescheduled election; 6. Permits municipalities to use ballots that were printed for a postponed secret ballot election despite the inclusion of the original election date; 7. Requires municipalities to use ballots that were printed for an originally scheduled secret ballot election if absentee ballots have been issued and returned; 8. Requires a municipal clerk to safeguard and secure any absentee ballots already returned until the date of a rescheduled secret ballot election and process them as required by Title 21-A; 9. Permits a municipal clerk to issue and accept absentee ballots and applications and to allow voting in the presence of the clerk pursuant to Title 21-A during the period between the originally scheduled secret ballot election and the rescheduled secret ballot election; 10. Applies the rescheduling, ballot and absentee ballot provisions of this Act to municipal secret ballot referendum elections; 11. Permits a hearing required by Title 30-A, section 2528, subsection 5 or municipal charter before a referendum vote to be held via remote means; 12. Suspends Title 30-A, section 2528, subsection 1 to allow the municipal officers of any municipality that has not voted to accept secret ballot voting to do so during the state of emergency and allows elected officials in those municipalities to remain in office until an election is called pursuant to Title 30-A, section 2525; 13. Permits a municipal officer to file with the clerk an order establishing the wording of any referendum question by the 30th day before a referendum election, notwithstanding Title 30-A, section 2528, subsections 4 and 5; 14. Suspends during the state of emergency the requirement under Title 30-A, section 5721-A, subsection 7, paragraph A for a written ballot to exceed or increase the property tax levy at an open town hall meeting and permits the use of either a show of hands or a voice vote; and 15. Applies retroactively to January 15, 2021 and is repealed on January 15, 2022 and, in view of the emergency cited in the Act, takes effect when approved. | Became Law without Governor's Signature (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 333 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1279 (HP 939) | An Act To Increase The Minimum Wage | This bill increases the minimum hourly wage, starting January 1, 2022, from its present $12.00 per hour to $13.00 per hour and by an additional $1.00 per hour each year until the minimum wage on January 1, 2025 is $16.00 per hour. Beginning January 1, 2026 and every year after, the minimum wage increases by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. | Reports READ On motion by Senator HICKMAN of Kennebec The Majority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) |
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| LD 1283 (HP 943) | An Act To Amend The Maine Tree Growth Tax Law To Encourage Public Access | This bill excludes from benefits under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law a parcel of land to which public access for recreational use is limited or prohibited. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1296 (HP 952) | An Act To Guarantee Housing Rights During A State Of Civil Emergency | This bill provides that during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, the process of forcible entry and detainer may not be commenced or maintained and judgment for forcible entry and detainer may not be granted for failure of a tenant to pay rent. It also provides that a utility regulated by the Public Utilities Commission may not terminate or disconnect utility service for a residential customer during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor. | Reports READ On motion by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland The Majority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/16) |
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| LD 1312 (HP 968) | An Act To Remove Barriers To Accessory Dwelling Units And Allow Accessory Dwelling Units Where Single-family Houses Are Allowed | This bill requires municipalities to allow one accessory dwelling unit to be included within or located on the same lot as a single-family dwelling unit. It prevents municipalities from imposing any of the following for accessory dwelling units: setback requirements on accessory dwelling units incorporated within an existing single-family dwelling unit; setback requirements of more than 5 feet for accessory dwelling units not included within a single-family dwelling unit; off-street parking requirements; separate sewer or water systems; or owner occupancy of one of the units unless one of the units is being used for short-term or vacation rentals. A municipality may not restrict use of one of the units on a lot as a short-term or vacation rental. A municipality may not require correction of a nonconforming use when an accessory dwelling unit is incorporated into an existing single- family dwelling unit or of an existing structure converted into an accessory dwelling unit, but a municipality may require compliance with applicable building and fire safety codes for all accessory dwelling units. A municipality's design standards for accessory dwelling units must be clear and objective. Accessory dwelling units within historical preservation districts must comply with historical preservation standards. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1338 (HP 989) | An Act To Prohibit Employers From Retaliating Against The Use Of Earned Paid Leave | This bill repeals the sections of law concerning prohibited acts and judicial enforcement under the laws governing family medical leave employment practices in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, chapter 7 and enacts similar provisions that apply to all laws in the same chapter governing employment practices. | This Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 2 of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the House proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" ROLL CALL NO. 615V 58 having voted in the affirmative and 59 in the negative, 4 Vacancies with 30 being absent, and accordingly it was the vote of the House that the Bill not become a law and the veto was sustained. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (5/9) |
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| LD 1340 (HP 991) | An Act To Ensure Municipal Compliance With Federal Immigration Laws | This bill provides that a municipality is ineligible to receive general purpose aid for local schools, municipal general assistance and state-municipal revenue sharing if that municipality prohibits or restricts, formally or informally, the exchange of information with federal immigration authorities or any other federal, state or local government entity regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual or the maintenance of such information. | IN POSSESSION OF THE SENATE WHEN THE SENATE ADJOURNED SINE DIE AND PLACED IN THE LEGISLATIVE FILES (DEAD) (7/19) | ||
| LD 1378 (HP 1012) | An Act To Facilitate Compliance With Federal Immigration Law By State And Local Government Entities | This bill establishes prohibitions concerning restricting the sharing and use of immigration and citizenship information. It prohibits restricting the enforcement of federal immigration law. It establishes a complaint process and a duty to report. This bill also provides that if the Attorney General, upon investigation, determines that a government entity is violating these prohibitions, the Attorney General must issue an opinion stating that finding. The government entity has 30 days to appeal the finding to the Superior Court. If the Superior Court agrees with the Attorney General, the court must immediately enjoin the policy or practice. The government entity that continues the policy or practice is subject to a $500 fine for each day the policy or practice remains in effect. If the Superior Court disagrees with the Attorney General, the Attorney General must immediately certify that the government entity is in compliance with the law. | On motion by Senator VITELLI of Sagadahoc The Senate INSISTED To The Minority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED In NON-CONCURRENCE Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/7) |
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| LD 1399 (HP 1033) | An Act To Continue Temporary Modification Of Certain In-person Notarization And Acknowledgement Requirements And Developing Permanent Implementation Of Remote And Online Notarization | This bill provides for remote online notarization by notary publics located in the State. The bill is based on the model legislation of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Land Title Association. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 337 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1402 (HP 1036) | An Act To Remove A Requirement Regarding Payment Of Union Fees | This bill removes the authority to require public employees who do not join a union to pay service fees to the union. | Reports Read On motion by Senator HICKMAN of Kennebec the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED. in concurrence Roll Call Ordered Roll Call Number 204 Yeas 21 - Nays 13 - Excused 1 - Absent 0 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) |
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| LD 1403 (HP 1037) | An Act To Protect Maine Businesses, Nonprofits, Educational Institutions And Municipalities During The Covid-19 Pandemic | This bill provides a limitation against liability for a municipality, educational institution or for-profit or nonprofit business organization from suit alleging personal liability due to exposure to coronavirus if the municipality, educational institution or business organization is following applicable government standards and guidance related to coronavirus exposure. | Reports READ On motion by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland The Majority Ought Not To Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/16) |
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| LD 1465 (HP 1081) | An Act To Remove Barriers To Occupational Licensing Due To Criminal Records | This bill adds restrictions to the use of criminal history record information in the context of licensing decisions by licensing agencies. It also makes certain criminal history record information in the possession of a licensing agency confidential. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/9) | ||
| LD 1478 (HP 1093) | An Act To Require The Use Of Homelessness Crisis Protocols By Law Enforcement Agencies | This bill provides a response other than traditional arrest for a person who lacks a home who commits certain listed low-level violations of law. The bill requires the Attorney General to adopt a homelessness crisis protocol to be adopted by law enforcement agencies. The protocol must provide mental health and substance use disorder professionals who are trained in crisis response to respond to the encounter between the law enforcement officer and the person who lacks a home and provide appropriate information and referrals to resources in the community, including, but not limited to, crisis services, emergency and transitional housing and case management services. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 393 (7/1) | ||
| LD 1480 (HP 1095) | An Act Regarding The Review Of Law Enforcement Use Of Deadly Force | This bill requires the Attorney General to complete an investigation of and submit the findings regarding the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer to the Attorney General's Deadly Force Review Panel within 180 days of receiving notice of the use of deadly force. The Attorney General is required to provide notice to the panel if the investigation and findings are not complete within 180 days and provide a summary of the investigation up to the date of the notice, identify the reason for the delay and provide an anticipated conclusion date for the investigation and findings, which may not exceed 270 days from receiving notice of the use of deadly force. The bill also excludes from the definition of "intelligence and investigative record information", which is confidential under the law, a video recording of the use of force by a law enforcement officer. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 353 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1488 (HP 1102) | Resolve, To Study And Recommend Improvements To Maine's Dam Safety | This resolve requires the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to conduct a study of the State's dams and the State's dam safety efforts, including an assessment of the hazard potential and classification of each dam, the potential risk of dam failure to downstream communities and public resources, dam resiliency, and the efficacy of the State's dam safety efforts. The department is required to have the Association of State Dam Safety Officials conduct a peer review of the State's dam safety efforts by December 1, 2021. The department is required to submit a report on the results of its study, including suggested legislation, and the peer review to the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs by January 14, 2022. The committee is authorized to submit a bill based on the report to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. | Signed by the Governor Resolve Chapter 176 (5/3) | ||
| LD 1513 (HP 1121) | An Act To Establish The Maine Abandoned And Discontinued Roads Commission | This bill requires that when a road or a discontinued town way pursuant to section 3026-A in which a town holds a public easement is the only road or way that can be used to access one or more residences and the town issues permits for residential use of residences or collects property taxes on those residences, the town is not required to keep the road or way safe and convenient for travelers with motor vehicles but must provide sufficient maintenance to keep the road or way passable to access the residences on the road or way, as determined by the county commissioners. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 743 (5/7) | ||
| LD 1529 (HP 1133) | Resolution, Proposing An Amendment To The Constitution Of Maine To Create A Right To Privacy | This resolution proposes to amend the Constitution of Maine by creating a natural and inherent right to privacy in which a person's personal life and affairs are free from governmental and private intrusion and not diminished by a person's interaction with an Internet, communication or other electronic data service and that requires a warrant prior to government access of a person's electronic data and electronic communications. | The RESOLUTION was in the possession of the House when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) |
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| LD 1536 (HP 1141) | An Act Regarding Municipal Public Hearings On Citizen-initiated Municipal Referenda | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to amend the laws governing municipal public hearings on citizen- initiated municipal referenda concerning municipal ordinances. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 185 (6/11) | ||
| LD 1542 (HP 1147) | An Act To Repeal And Replace The Kittery Water District Charter | This bill repeals and replaces the Kittery Water District charter, changing the boundaries of the district and making it a standard water district pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, chapter 64. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Private and Special Law Chapter 2 (6/8) | ||
| LD 1552 (HP 1157) | An Act To Provide Reentry Services To Persons Reentering The Community After Incarceration | This bill: 1. Establishes the Community-based Reentry Services Account as a special nonlapsing account within the Department of Corrections to issue grants to community-based nonprofit and faith-based organizations that provide or seek to provide reentry services to adults or juveniles reentering the community after incarceration, referred to as reentry service providers; 2. Requires the department to administer the Community-based Reentry Services Account and fund it by applying for federal and grant funding, including through the federal Second Chance Act of 2007, or transferring other available funds; 3. Requires the department to use the funds available in the Community-based Reentry Services Account to award grants to one or more reentry service providers to establish or provide reentry services programs, including assessment and planning of reentry services; individual case management or system navigation services; peer-to-peer mentoring; housing assistance; housing development; job training and placement services; medical and behavioral health assessment, treatment and support; parenting skills and family support services; development of a substance use disorder treatment program as an alternative to incarceration for primary caregivers; and organization of community and victim impact panels or educational classes; 4. Permits an individual who previously provided mentoring services to an incarcerated adult or juvenile to continue to provide mentoring services to that adult or juvenile as part of a reentry services program unless the department demonstrates that doing so poses a significant security risk to the individual, the adult or juvenile or any other individual; 5. Requires a reentry service provider to submit an application to the department that describes the reentry services program to be funded and the need for the program, a long- term strategy and implementation plan for the program and the reentry service provider's experience working with formerly incarcerated individuals and individuals from marginalized communities; identifies any entity, including any governmental agency, community organization or faith community, the reentry service provider will coordinate or partner with; contains an annual budget for the program; and describes the method and outcome measures that the reentry service provider will use to evaluate the reentry services program; 6. Requires the department to adopt rules for the administration of the Community- based Reentry Services Account, the evaluation of grant applications from reentry service providers and the distribution of grants from the account; 7. Requires the department to adopt rules requiring an individual participating in a substance use disorder treatment program who does not successfully complete the program to serve an appropriate sentence of imprisonment with respect to the underlying crime and requiring that the individual be notified of this requirement before the individual begins the program; 8. Requires a reentry service provider that receives a grant from the Community-based Reentry Services Account to submit a report for each fiscal year in which the reentry service provider spends funds from the grant containing a summary of the activities carried out under the reentry services program, an assessment of whether the reentry service provider is meeting the need specified in its grant application and any other information the department may require; and 9. Requires the Commissioner of Corrections to submit a report at the end of each fiscal year to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters and the Governor containing assessments of the impact of reentry services funded through the Community-based Reentry Services Account on various factors and statistics on the relative reduction in recidivism for inmates released by the department within that fiscal year and the 4 prior fiscal years and comparing the rates of recidivism of individuals that participated in reentry services programs that received a grant to individuals that did not. | The Bill was in the possession of the House when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) |
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| LD 1565 (HP 1162) | An Act To Strengthen Maine's Agriculture, Food And Forest Economy | This bill: 1. Requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to work with the Department of Economic and Community Development and other relevant state agencies, industry stakeholders and community organizations to carry out the following duties: A. Strengthen the State's agricultural, food and forest products economy with a priority of making resulting efforts more inclusive of and increasing investments in historically marginalized, underrepresented and underserved communities; and B. Improve investment in agricultural, food and forest products industries to increase access to new markets and opportunities for producers, processors, small businesses and consumers in the production, processing, packaging, distribution, marketing, sale and consumption of products in ways that balance the desire for short-term returns on investment with the State's commitment to redress racial and other inequities; 2. Establishes the Maine Agriculture, Food and Forest Products Investment Fund to facilitate strategic investments in the State's agricultural, food and forest products processing and manufacturing industries, including value-added products; and 3. Establishes the Maine Agriculture, Food System and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Advisory Board, representing a diversity of skills and experience relevant to investment in agricultural, food and forest products industries and the racial diversity of the food system in the State with specific representation by Indian tribes, communities of color and other underserved communities and populations, to determine disbursements from and oversee the Maine Agriculture, Food and Forest Products Investment Fund, to devise a process for requests for proposals and enter into 3rd-party contracts to carry out the purposes of the fund and related technical assistance programs and to provide regular reporting and evaluation related to performance and sustainability. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1569 (HP 1166) | Resolve, Establishing The Commission To Study The Role Of Water As A Resource In The State Of Maine | This bill creates an excise tax of 5¢ per gallon on the extraction of groundwater or surface water for commercial bottling for sale. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Resolve Chapter 185 (5/8) | ||
| LD 1593 (HP 1182) | An Act To Provide Pathways To Rehabilitation, Reentry And Reintegration | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to provide multiple pathways to rehabilitation and reentry into a community for people who are or have been incarcerated. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 376 (6/27) | ||
| LD 1600 (HP 1189) | An Act To Investigate Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Contamination Of Land And Groundwater | This bill creates the Land Application Contaminant Monitoring Fund to be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to test and monitor soil and groundwater for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and other contaminants and for other related activities. The fund is funded by a $10 per ton fee assessed on any disposal of septage, industrial sludge, municipal sludge, bioash, wood ash or other residual, which is material generated as a by-product of a nonagricultural production or treatment process that has value as a source of crop nutrients or soil amendment. This bill also requires the department to test land that has received residuals for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and other contaminants and to notify the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry of the findings of any contamination of land currently being used for the production of agricultural products. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 478 (7/15) | ||
| LD 1607 (HP 1196) | An Act To Criminalize Calls Made To Emergency Services Based On Racial Profiling | This bill adds to the crime of false public alarm or report knowingly giving or causing to be given false information about another person to a law enforcement officer, a member of a firefighting agency, including a volunteer fire department, or a public safety answering point or any other person knowing that the other person is likely to communicate the information to a law enforcement officer, a member of a firefighting agency or a public safety answering point, due to race-based profiling of the person about whom the false information was given. The bill also creates a private right of action in small claims court with damages up to $250 for a race-based false public alarm or report. "Race-based profiling" is defined as taking an action or causing an action to happen against another person because of the race, color, ancestry or national origin of the other person. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 1655 (HP 1226) | An Act To Create A Data Broker Registry And Improve Consumer Protections | This bill requires data brokers, which are businesses that obtain and sell or license to 3rd parties or allow 3rd parties to access the personal information of a consumer with whom the business does not have a direct relationship, to register with the Secretary of State, to protect a consumer's personal information through various security requirements and to allow a consumer to opt out of allowing the sale or lease of or access to the consumer's personal information. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 1662 (HP 1233) | An Act Regarding Maine's Sales Prohibition On Upholstered Furniture Treated With Flame-retardant Chemicals | This bill amends the law restricting the sale of residential upholstered furniture treated with flame-retardant chemicals to align Maine's requirements with standards enacted in California. The bill also specifies that the Department of Environmental Protection is authorized, rather than required, to adopt rules to implement the section of law governing residential upholstered furniture. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 221 (6/15) | ||
| LD 1668 (HP 1239) | Resolve, To Develop A Plan To Close The Long Creek Youth Development Center And Redirect Funding To Community Integration Services For Adjudicated Youth | This resolve directs the Department of Corrections to create a plan to close the Long Creek Youth Development Center by June 30, 2023. Current youth incarceration funds must be used for community-based integration services for youth that are not administered by the department. These services include, but are not limited to, supportive housing, jobs programs, educational programs and health care, including mental health and substance use disorder treatment. The plan created by the department must include individual transition plans for remaining youth committed to the Long Creek Youth Development Center; a workforce development plan for Long Creek Youth Development Center staff developed in coordination with the Department of Labor; a process for establishing a community reinvestment fund; and options for moving juvenile services out of the Department of Corrections and to another agency serving youth. The resolve requires the current facility at the Long Creek Youth Development Center to be repurposed for use as a community center with supportive housing. No later than December 1, 2021, the Department of Corrections must submit a report that includes its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, which may report out legislation regarding the report to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. The Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety must study the selection of an entity to manage and distribute corrections funds currently designated for youth incarceration and may report out legislation regarding its selection of an entity to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. | This Resolve, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 2 of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the House proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Resolve become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" ROLL CALL NO. 397V 73 having voted in the affirmative and 72 in the negative, with 6 being absent, and accordingly it was the vote of the House that the Resolve not become a law and the veto was sustained. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (6/30) |
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| LD 1674 (HP 1245) | An Act To Improve Access To Medical Care For And Expand The Rights Of Adult Clients Of State Correctional Facilities | This bill establishes resident health care committees in all adult correctional facilities operated by the Department of Corrections. The bill describes the membership requirements for resident health care committees, the process for selecting members and the duties of the resident health care committees. The bill requires the department to adopt routine technical rules to implement those provisions. The bill requires the department to collaborate with resident health care committees to annually report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters on the adequacy of medical and mental health services in correctional facilities. The bill prohibits the department from charging a client a fee to access the client's medical records, from charging indigent clients fees for medical services and from charging fees for medical services when the client does not have sufficient funds. The bill provides a client with the right to be transported and accompanied to medical and mental health service providers by corrections officers of the client's gender or of an appropriate gender and to receive medical and mental health services without the presence of a corrections officer under certain circumstances. The bill also requires the department to adopt routine technical rules to delineate between searches of property and strip and body cavity searches and to establish processes for conducting searches in a trauma-informed and gender- responsive manner. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 359 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1683 (HP 1252) | Resolve, To Compensate Certain Department Of Corrections Employees And Department Of Health And Human Services Employees For Hazardous Work | This resolve requires the Department of Corrections to use federal funding to pay eligible employees a hazard duty stipend related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The stipend must be paid retroactively from when the previous hazard duty stipend ended until the state of civil emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic is terminated. | In possession of the Senate when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die and was placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (5/9) | ||
| LD 1686 (HP 1255) | An Act To Establish Public Defender Positions And Provide Support For Indigent Legal Services Providers | This bill creates a Kennebec County public defender office, beginning January 1, 2022. As a first step in providing indigent legal services through an office of a public defender, this bill provides funding to the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services for positions to establish the office. The bill also authorizes the commission's system for providing indigent legal services to employ attorneys. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 720 (5/3) | ||
| LD 1757 (HP 1308) | An Act To Make Technical Changes To Maine Tax Laws | Part A of this bill repeals a provision that authorizes the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Maine Revenue Services to divulge certain taxpayer information to the Treasurer of State for the purpose of administering the Maine unclaimed or abandoned property law. This information would often include federal tax information, which, under federal restrictions, may not be divulged. Part B of the bill makes changes to the property tax laws. Part B: 1. Reduces the mandatory number of assessor certification exams Maine Revenue Services is required to hold from 4 to 2 per year; 2. Clarifies the amount of tax that must be paid when a taxpayer appeals a denial of abatement; and 3. Makes technical changes, such as removing obsolete references to state property tax, gender-specific references and other obsolete language. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 531 (3/31) | ||
| LD 1772 (HP 1323) | An Act To Amend The Remote Meeting Law In Maine's Freedom Of Access Act | This bill amends the law governing remote participation in public meetings in the Freedom of Access Act to remove the requirement that a remote meeting policy adopted by a public body must include an expectation that members of the public body be physically present. It allows the public body to limit public attendance at a proceeding solely to remote methods if there is an emergency or urgent situation that requires the public body to meet only by remote methods. It also provides that the law governing remote participation in public meetings applies to a board or committee within the jurisdiction of a public body adopting a written remote meeting policy. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 666 (4/26) | ||
| LD 1774 (HP 1325) | An Act Clarifying The Rights To Legal Representation And To Communicate With Others For Individuals Subject To Guardianship | Under the probate code, an adult subject to guardianship is entitled to retain counsel or seek court-appointed counsel in a proceeding to terminate a guardianship. This bill specifies that an adult subject to guardianship is entitled to retain counsel and to communicate with other advocates and the court for any reason. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 500 (3/16) | ||
| LD 1780 (HP 1331) | An Act To Allow Unorganized Territory School Staff To Receive Annualized Pay | This bill would allow unorganized territory school staff to have the option to receive annualized pay. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 699 (5/2) | ||
| LD 1797 (HP 1338) | An Act To Amend The Laws Governing The Maine Length Of Service Award Program | This bill provides 2 additional members who are licensed emergency medical services persons to the Maine Length of Service Award Program Board of Trustees. The bill also provides statutory guidelines for calculating service credit within the program for firefighters and emergency medical services persons. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 556 (4/4) | ||
| LD 1803 (HP 1345) | An Act To Attract And Retain Firefighters And Emergency Medical Services Personnel Through The Maine Length Of Service Award Program | This bill provides funding to the Maine Length of Service Award Program to provide length of service awards to eligible volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 721 (5/3) | ||
| LD 1826 (HP 1359) | An Act To Require Reporting By The Interagency Task Force On Invasive Aquatic Plants And Nuisance Species Regarding Recommendations To Reduce The Threat Of Further Infestations | This bill directs the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to establish a subcommittee of members of the Interagency Task Force on Invasive Aquatic Plants and Nuisance Species and other persons with relevant experience or expertise in order to make findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, regarding the treatment and protection of lakes infested with invasive aquatic plants or lakes at risk of infestation. Beginning December 15, 2022, the task force is required to report biennially to the department and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environment and natural resources matters. The committee is authorized to report out legislation relating to the report to any legislative session. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 522 (3/29) | ||
| LD 1875 (HP 1385) | Resolve, To Address Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Pollution At State-owned Solid Waste Landfills | This bill provides that a solid waste disposal facility owned by the State may not be licensed or otherwise authorized to transfer leachate from the solid waste disposal facility to a wastewater treatment plant unless prior to the transfer the leachate is treated to reduce the concentration of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or the facility receiving the leachate employs technology to reduce the concentration of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. It requires the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules to implement the prohibition. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Resolve Chapter 172 (5/2) | ||
| LD 1886 (HP 1396) | An Act To Repeal The Law Regarding The County Jail Reimbursement Fee | This bill repeals the law authorizing a court to assess a county jail reimbursement fee. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 591 (4/13) | ||
| LD 1891 (HP 1401) | An Act To Continue Supporting Safe Drinking Water For Maine Families | This bill provides one-time funding for the treatment of contaminated private drinking water wells. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 726 (5/3) | ||
| LD 1911 (HP 1417) | An Act To Prevent The Further Contamination Of The Soils And Waters Of The State With So-called Forever Chemicals | This bill prohibits the land application or distribution of sludge or sludge-derived compost unless it is tested for all perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that may reasonably be quantified by a laboratory and the screening level for a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance that is in the sludge or sludge-derived compost and for which the Department of Environmental Protection has established a screening level for beneficial use in rule does not exceed the screening level for beneficial use established by the department. It requires the department to adopt rules to implement the requirements of the law including a requirement that sludge and sludge-derived compost intended for land application or distribution be tested at least annually. The bill also requires the department to amend Appendix A in Department of Environmental Protection rule Chapter 418: Maine Solid Waste Management Rules: Beneficial Use of Solid Wastes to update and establish screening levels for beneficial use for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 641 (4/20) | ||
| LD 1946 (HP 1451) | Resolve, Establishing The Committee To Ensure Constitutionally Adequate Contact With Counsel | This bill ensures constitutionally adequate contact with counsel for residents of Department of Corrections correctional and detention facilities, for persons who are incarcerated in county jails and other county correctional facilities and for clients and their counsel in court facilities. The bill addresses telephone, video and electronic forms of communication and person-to-person contact. The bill prohibits intercepting, recording, monitoring, disseminating or otherwise divulging any oral, written, telephone, video or electronic communication between clients and their counsel. The bill requires facilities to maintain logs of telephone calls and communications between clients and their counsel and requires periodic auditing of logs. The bill requires a facility to provide written notice to a client when the client's counsel contacts the facility and asks for the client to contact counsel. The bill requires a facility to provide an opportunity to review documents with counsel. The bill requires periodic audits and requires the adoption of policies that are published publicly and submitted to the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. For violations of the law, the bill establishes civil penalties, a private cause of action and post-conviction review in addition to review provided pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, chapter 305-A. The bill prohibits use of illegally obtained information in court and prohibits participation in court by a person who has accessed or received a document, recording or information in violation of the law. The bill creates a new Class C crime of unauthorized eavesdropping. The bill requires the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, the Department of Corrections and the county jails and other county correctional facilities to conduct a retrospective review of telephone calls and electronic communications between clients and their counsel, who are required to provide notice to their clients affected by prohibited recordings. | Became Law without Governor's Signature (Emergency Measure) Resolve Chapter 182 (5/8) | ||
| LD 1968 (HP 1463) | An Act To Ensure Appropriate Placement Of Defendants With Mental Illness And Intellectual Disabilities | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to create pathways to alleviate the crisis of individuals experiencing homelessness and individuals languishing in the county jail system who are suffering from acute mental health crises and substance use disorder by implementing the following measures to improve their access to psychiatric treatment, wraparound services, supportive housing and other services that are part of the continuum of care: 1. Examining and removing barriers to admission to crisis services, psychiatric facilities, detoxification services and recovery residences; 2. Immediately removing barriers to permanent supportive housing by creating pathways to develop rapid rehousing and affordable housing, including the creation of the following landlord and developer incentives: A. Incentive points for tax credits applicable to low-income housing to fund permanent supportive housing with adequate and ongoing support services; B. Project-based rental subsidies to the units dedicated to permanent supportive housing; and C. The use of available housing funds, including grant funds, to fund permanent supportive housing with adequate and ongoing support services; 3. Providing secure treatment centers for nonviolent individuals in the custody of jails when diversion is recommended by a prosecutor and approved by a judge, with appropriate provisions for individuals' consent and procedures if an individual lacks capacity to consent; 4. Funding the hiring and training of 20 additional intensive case managers within the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health in order to provide outreach and support from the time individuals are homeless or incarcerated through when they are successfully housed, including by interfacing with the community, jails, hospitals and law enforcement in order to provide continuity in providing wraparound services and housing; 5. Increasing the number of peer coaches to provide mental health services to individuals by establishing a 30-hour certificate program. The State must pay the cost of the certificate program upon an individual's completion of the program. The program must include 2 hours of ethics credits and training on topics related to veterans, diversity and mental health, including, but not limited to, substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression or other diagnosed conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity, domestic violence, sexual abuse, trauma, incarceration and individuals with disabilities, including learning disabilities. The program must include 10 hours of continuing education annually. The program must be created by a person with a minimum of 10 years' experience in teaching at an accredited counseling program at an accredited institution of higher learning. Upon completing the certificate program, the peer coach must be supervised by a licensed counselor, social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist. A peer coach may submit reimbursement to MaineCare or another government program that pays for counseling services. A peer coach may not be held liable for any damages related to providing peer coaching services. A peer coach must be 18 years of age or older and may not be a registered sex offender; 6. Requiring real-time reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services of available treatment beds in psychiatric facilities and community-based residential treatment facilities in order to highlight and address the challenges of serving individuals in need of treatment. At least once every 24 hours, each facility must submit information about its admissions, including the number of available beds, the number of occupied beds, the number of staffed beds and an explanation for any beds that are not in use. The department must make this information available on its publicly accessible website; and 7. Amending the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, section 101-D in order to: A. Include an assertive community treatment team in the assessment of a defendant for placement in an appropriate institution for the care and treatment of persons with mental illness; B. Provide that a defendant may not be placed in a jail or a Department of Corrections facility unless competency restoration services can be provided in that setting; and C. Ensure that upon an order of commitment from a court, the placement occurs within 30 days. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 757 (5/8) | ||
| LD 1970 (HP 1465) | An Act To Implement Agency Recommendations Relating To Sea Level Rise And Climate Resilience Provided Pursuant To Resolve 2021, Chapter 67 | This bill, which is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 67, section 1, implements agency recommendations resulting from a review by multiple agencies of their respective laws and rules to determine changes necessary to incorporate into those laws and rules sea level rise projections and measures designed to enhance community resilience to flooding and other climate impacts. Part A of the bill implements the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. It amends the requirements of the Maine Land Use Planning Commission permit exception for the repair and maintenance or replacement of existing road culverts to incorporate similar requirements for such activities imposed under the Natural Resources Protection Act. It amends the laws governing municipal planning and land use regulation to define "local climate action plan"; to incorporate such plans into a municipality's or multimunicipal region's growth management program through the preparation of a climate vulnerability assessment and by addressing in its program the climate risks identified in such assessments; and to require that the department's technical and financial assistance program for the implementation of growth management programs provide priority in the making of grants under the technical and financial assistance program to municipalities and multimunicipal regions that have adopted local climate action plans and prepared climate vulnerability assessments. Part B of the bill implements the recommendations of the Department of Environmental Protection. It amends the site location of development laws to authorize the department to consider the effects of sea level rise in determining whether a developer has made adequate provision for fitting a proposed development harmoniously into the existing natural environment. It amends solid waste facility siting laws to authorize the department to consider the effects of sea level rise in determining whether an applicant for a solid waste facility license has made adequate provision for fitting a proposed facility harmoniously into the existing natural environment. The committee has not taken a position on the substance of the bill and by reporting this bill out, the committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest that it agrees or disagrees with any aspect of this bill. The committee is reporting the bill out for the sole purpose of obtaining a printed bill that can be referred to the committee for a public hearing and subsequent committee action in the normal course. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 590 (4/12) | ||
| LD 1971 (HP 1466) | An Act To Implement The Recommendations Of The Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Remote Participation | This bill implements the recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee concerning remote participation by members of a public body subject to the Freedom of Access Act. Current law does not authorize members of a public body to participate in a public proceeding when not physically present unless the public body has properly adopted a remote participation policy that meets the requirement of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 403-B. This bill authorizes a public body to adopt the required remote participation policy through remote participation. The bill provides a 2-step process. 1. If the chair of the public body determines that an emergency or urgent issue exists that prevents the public body from meeting in person, the chair may call a meeting of the public body in which the members may participate by remote methods. Public notice of the meeting must be provided and must include information about how the public can participate in the meeting. Once the meeting is convened, the members must vote on whether to support the chair's determination that an emergency or urgent issue exists that prevents the public body from meeting in person. 2. If the members vote in support of the chair's determination, after an opportunity for hearing, the members may vote on adopting a policy authorizing remote participation. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 611 (4/14) | ||
| LD 8 (SP 15) | An Act To Support Collection And Proper Disposal Of Unwanted Drugs | This bill provides for the establishment of drug take-back stewardship programs. It requires certain drug manufacturers, as defined in the bill, to operate a drug take-back stewardship program to collect and dispose of certain drugs. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 94 (6/8) | ||
| LD 9 (SP 16) | An Act To Promote Renewable Energy By Authorizing A Power-to-fuel Pilot Program | This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish and oversee a power-to- fuel pilot program. The commission is required to approve up to 2 power-to-fuel projects between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2027, each up to 10 megawatts in production capacity, that convert renewable energy to hydrogen gas, methane gas or other fuel. Under the pilot program, sales of renewable energy to a power-to-fuel project are exempt from distribution charges, charges associated with the procurement of energy efficiency resources and renewable portfolio standards requirements for a period of 15 years from the date of operation of the power-to-fuel project. The bill requires the commission to submit a report on the pilot program by November 1, 2023 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy and utility matters. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/3) | ||
| LD 13 (SP 20) | An Act To Coordinate The Delivery Of Individuals Committed To The Department Of Corrections | This bill requires the Commissioner of Corrections or the commissioner's designee and the sheriff or the sheriff's designee to coordinate the date and time of delivery by the latter to the correctional facility designated by the former as the initial place of confinement of an individual committed to the Department of Corrections. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/28) | ||
| LD 20 (SP 27) | An Act To Provide For The 2021 And 2022 Allocations Of The State Ceiling On Private Activity Bonds | This bill establishes the allocations of the state ceiling on issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds for calendar years 2021 and 2022 among the state-level issuers of tax-exempt bonds. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Private and Special Law Chapter 1 (3/17) | ||
| LD 1 (SP 29) | An Act To Establish The Covid-19 Patient Bill Of Rights And To Amend The Governor's Emergency Powers | This bill establishes certain requirements for the protection of health care consumers with regard to testing, treatment and immunization for COVID-19. The bill also makes changes to improve access to prescription drugs and to health care services through telehealth. Part A of the bill requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for COVID-19 screening, testing and immunization services and prohibits a carrier from imposing any cost-sharing requirements on consumers for those services. Part B of the bill authorizes a pharmacist to administer COVID-19 vaccines licensed by the United States Food and Drug Administration that are recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for administration to a person 16 years of age or older. Part B also provides that registered nurses, providers of osteopathic medicine, providers of allopathic medicine, podiatrists and dentists may prescribe to a patient a prescription drug for an extended period of time, not to exceed a 180-day supply, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor. Part C of the bill authorizes the delivery of health care services through telehealth by audio-only telephone. | Became Law without Governor's Signature (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 28 (3/25) | ||
| LD 32 (SP 40) | An Act Regarding Remote Participation In Public Proceedings | This bill authorizes municipal, county and school boards to adopt a policy allowing members of the body to participate remotely in a public proceeding. It extends the same authority to the University of Maine System, Maine Maritime Academy, the Maine Community College System and other state and regional boards and commissions. Under the policy, a public body may allow the public to attend and observe via remote means. If the public may attend remotely, the notice of the public proceeding must inform the public how to attend remotely. Unless the only way for the public to attend is by remote means, the notice must also identify the location where the public can attend in person. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 290 (6/21) | ||
| LD 37 (SP 45) | An Act To Amend The Laws Concerning The Retired County And Municipal Law Enforcement Officers And Municipal Firefighters Health Insurance Program | This bill amends language contained in Public Law 2019, chapter 446 governing contributions under the open enrollment provisions of the Retired County and Municipal Law Enforcement Officers and Municipal Firefighters Health Insurance Program. Currently, the law requires a person hired on or after October 1, 2019 to enroll no later than 5 years after hire, conditioned on the enrollment and eligibility requirements of the applicable health plan; this bill removes that condition. The bill also changes the percentage of gross wages for contributions and the time period during which contributions of gross percentages must be made. The bill removes the requirement of 60 months of contributions by enrollees. The bill also changes the State's payment of certain premium subsidies from payment to the plan to payment directly to enrollees. The amendments to the open enrollment provisions are retroactive to September 19, 2019, and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources, office of employee health and benefits is required to ensure correct contribution amounts for those who enrolled between September 19, 2019 and the effective date of this legislation. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 19 (3/17) | ||
| LD 791 (SP 50) | An Act Regarding Telehealth Regulations | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to amend the laws governing telehealth. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 291 (6/21) | ||
| LD 121 (SP 51) | An Act To Require A Background Check For High-risk Health Care Providers Under The Mainecare Program | This bill requires MaineCare provider applicants who are high-risk providers or who are in high-risk provider categories to undergo criminal history background checks. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 400 (7/6) | ||
| LD 793 (SP 55) | An Act To Include As A Factor In Sentencing The Selection Of A Victim Based On The Victim's Employment As A Law Enforcement Officer | Current law on sentencing in criminal cases allows consideration of the selection of the victim based on bias against certain specific populations. This bill adds to the list of biases the employment of the victim as a law enforcement officer. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 124 (SP 56) | An Act To Clarify The Law Concerning The Priority Of Appointment Of Personal Representatives Under The Maine Uniform Probate Code | This bill provides that in the absence of a will, heirs of a decedent have priority over the surviving domestic partner of the decedent for the purpose of appointment of a personal representative under the Maine Uniform Probate Code. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/30) | ||
| LD 125 (SP 58) | An Act To Prohibit The Aerial Spraying Of Glyphosate And Other Synthetic Herbicides For The Purpose Of Silviculture | This bill prohibits the aerial application of glyphosate or other synthetic herbicides for the purpose of silviculture, including reforestation, regeneration or vegetation control after a timber harvest. | LD 125 In Senate, June 30, 2021, this Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the Senate proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" 18 and 16, accordingly it was the vote of the Senate that the Bill not become law and the VETO was SUSTAINED. Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/30) |
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| LD 129 (SP 64) | Resolve, To Protect Consumers Of Public Drinking Water By Establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels For Certain Substances And Contaminants | The purpose of this resolve is to adopt measures to protect consumers of public drinking water in Maine from potential health impacts associated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS. The resolve requires community water systems and schools and child care facilities regulated as nontransient, noncommunity water systems to conduct monitoring for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. If the monitoring results detect the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, perfluorononanoic acid or perfluoroheptanoic acid at a level in excess of an interim standard, the water system is required to conduct additional monitoring. The resolve also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to undertake rulemaking to establish an enforceable maximum contaminant level for the 5 PFAS by June 1, 2024, which can include adoption of a federal maximum contaminant level if one is available and at least as restrictive as the interim standard. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Resolve Chapter 82 (6/21) | ||
| LD 245 (SP 106) | An Act Regarding Consumer-owned Water Utilities | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill allows a trustee to be appointed on a temporary basis to fill a vacancy on the board of trustees of a water district if a vacancy occurs in the board. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 711 (5/3) | ||
| LD 801 (SP 109) | An Act Regarding Sentencing Options For A Person Convicted Of A Crime Committed While Serving A Term Of Imprisonment | This bill repeals the provision of law that provides that when an individual subject to an undischarged term of imprisonment is convicted of a crime committed while in execution of any term of imprisonment or of an attempt to commit a crime while in execution of any term of imprisonment, the sentence is not concurrent with any undischarged term of imprisonment and no portion of the nonconcurrent sentence may be suspended. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 260 (6/17) | ||
| LD 248 (SP 110) | An Act Regarding The Board Of Occupational Safety And Health | This bill allows the Board of Occupational Safety and Health the authority to adopt emergency rules. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 103 (6/8) | ||
| LD 288 (SP 124) | An Act To Conform The Maine Income Tax Law With Federal Law To Exempt Paycheck Protection Program Loans From Being Considered Taxable Income | This bill conforms Maine tax law to federal income tax treatment of loan forgiveness under Section 1106(i) of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Public Law 116-136, by providing an income tax exclusion for income attributable to paycheck protection program loan forgiveness that is excluded from federal gross income. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 483 (SP 189) | An Act To Clarify Funding For Civil Legal Services | This bill clarifies 3 aspects of the law pertaining to the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund and the collection of fees and surcharges by the Judicial Department. The bill clarifies that the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund surcharge on debt collection actions is payable at the commencement of debt collection actions, whether or not they are classified as small claims cases, and that the surcharge is imposed with respect to money judgment disclosure actions. The bill clarifies that the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund surcharge is not included as a recoverable cost under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 14, section 1502-B. The bill clarifies that the Judicial Department may refer cases to the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Service for mediation and collect fees as appropriate. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 329 (6/22) | ||
| LD 817 (SP 193) | Resolve, To Establish The Covid-19 Review Commission | This resolve establishes the COVID-19 Review Commission to study the State's response to COVID-19 and state laws, rules and policies governing that response in the State. The commission must submit a report that includes its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services no later than December 6, 2021. | The House INSISTED on ACCEPTANCE of the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/10) |
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| LD 492 (SP 200) | An Act To Create A Regional Grant Program To Help Rural Businesses Find Qualified Staff | This bill creates a grant program and related fund for the purpose of aiding entities in hiring a workforce recruiter. The purpose of the position is to advertise and promote jobs in rural Maine and to locate qualified staff to fill open positions. Funds for the program are provided by a one-time appropriation from the General Fund of $1,000,000. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 420 (7/8) | ||
| LD 821 (SP 208) | An Act To Improve The Investigation And Prosecution Of Cases That Involve Vulnerable Road Users | This bill requires a law enforcement officer who investigates a reportable accident involving a vulnerable user or an allegation of a criminal violation that endangered a vulnerable user or the property of a vulnerable user to inform a district attorney of relevant jurisdiction about the investigation and any evidence relevant to the potential prosecution of an alleged criminal violation resulting from the investigation within 60 days of the accident. Under the traffic laws, a vulnerable user is a person on a public way who is more vulnerable to injury than a person in a motor vehicle. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 379 (6/29) | ||
| LD 536 (SP 223) | An Act To Amend The Maine Criminal Code | This bill is submitted by the Criminal Law Advisory Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1354, subsection 2. Part A of the bill authorizes nonconcurrent sentencing when a crime is committed by a convicted person during a stay of execution of any term of imprisonment or after failure to report after a stay of execution of any term of imprisonment. It also authorizes nonconcurrent sentencing when the convicted person is convicted of the crime of failure to report as ordered after a stay of execution of any term of imprisonment. Part B amends Title 17-A, section 2016 to make it consistent with existing law in Title 17-A, section 2009 with respect to disposition of funds by correctional facilities when they hold funds for the purposes of restitution and the victim cannot be located. Current Title 17-A, section 2016 requires the facility to notify the court and the court to determine distribution of the funds. The bill requires the facility to forward the funds to the Treasurer of State to be handled as unclaimed property, consistent with current Title 17-A, section 2009. Part C separates 2 variants of kidnapping, restraining a person with intent to commit bodily injury and restraining a person with intent to commit a sexual assault, which are included in current law in the same provision. This Part amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2013 to clarify that, beginning January 1, 2022, kidnapping with intent to commit sexual assault, and not kidnapping with intent to commit bodily injury, qualifies as a Tier III offense under that Act. This Part also clarifies that, beginning January 1, 2022, kidnapping with intent to commit sexual assault, and not kidnapping with intent to commit bodily injury, renders a person ineligible for interment in the Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery System. Part D clarifies that immunity from revocation of probation is limited to the same conduct for which there is immunity from prosecution under the law protecting persons seeking medical assistance or administering naloxone hydrochloride or experiencing a drug-related overdose. Part E repeals a section of law in Title 17-A, chapter 11 on factors aiding in predicting high-risk sex offenders for sentencing purposes, leaving individual risk assessment at sentencing to the judgment of the court. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 299 (6/21) | ||
| LD 824 (SP 235) | An Act To Extend The Protections Provided To State Employees Upon The Expiration Of Labor Contracts To Other Public Sector Employees | This bill provides the same protections to municipal, judicial and public higher education employees that are provided to state employees upon the expiration of labor contracts by requiring that, during an interim between the expiration of a public employee collective bargaining agreement and before the effective date of any subsequent collective bargaining agreement, those employees covered by the expired collective bargaining agreement remain eligible for and must receive merit or step increases in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the expired collective bargaining agreement. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 282 (6/19) | ||
| LD 677 (SP 264) | An Act To Improve Public Sector Labor Relations By Amending The Laws Governing Arbitration Under Certain Public Employees Labor Relations Laws | Under current law, arbitrations under labor relations laws governing municipal public employees, University of Maine System employees, state employees and judicial employees require that each party select one arbitrator and those 2 arbitrators select a neutral 3rd arbitrator. This bill requires that the neutral 3rd arbitrator be selected from a panel of arbitrators appointed by the Governor from a list of nominations supplied by the Maine Labor Relations Board. Under the bill, appointees to the panel of arbitrators serve as impartial arbitrators of the interests of the public in the settlement of disputes between employers and employees or their representatives, and each appointee must reside in the State. In addition, this bill: 1. Amends the labor relations laws governing municipal public employees and University of Maine System employees to provide that determinations by arbitrators with respect to controversies over all subjects, including salaries, pensions and insurance, are final and binding on the parties; 2. Amends the labor relations laws governing state employees to provide that, with respect to controversies over salaries, an arbitrator's determinations are final and binding on the parties; 3. Amends the labor relations laws governing judicial employees to provide that an arbitrator's determinations with respect to controversies over all subjects, including salaries, pensions and insurance, are final and binding on the parties and that, with respect to controversies over salaries, determinations by mediator-arbitrators are final and binding on the parties; 4. Adds specific factors an arbitrator must consider when a controversy is not resolved between a public employer and bargaining agent under the municipal public employees labor relations law; 5. Provides that, if a public employer fails to enter into an agreement to carry out and effectuate binding determinations made by arbitrators, the public employees are authorized to strike; 6. Requires that cost items in a collective bargaining agreement arrived at through arbitration may not be included in the state or local operating budget, as relevant, for the current fiscal year, but must instead be submitted for inclusion in the operating budget for the following fiscal year; and 7. Provides an effective date for the changes made in the bill of July 1, 2022. | LD 677 In Senate, July 19, 2021, this Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the Senate proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" 19 and 14, accordingly it was the vote of the Senate that the Bill not become law and the VETO was SUSTAINED. Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (7/19) |
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| LD 679 (SP 266) | An Act To Establish A Statewide Electronic Warrant System | This bill directs the State Court Administrator to establish a secure system for the application, issuance and return of arrest warrants and search warrants that is electronic and that provides access to authorized users statewide. The bill amends the law on search warrants to require electronic application and issuance once the electronic system has been established. The bill directs the Supreme Judicial Court to adopt amendments to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure, Rule 4, Arrest Warrant or Summons, effective on the date of the establishment of the statewide electronic warrant system, to provide for the application, issuance and return of arrest warrants and search warrants through electronic means. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 684 (5/2) | ||
| LD 683 (SP 271) | An Act To Allow Maine Nonprofit Corporations To Hold Meetings Electronically | This bill allows the board of directors of a nonprofit corporation to adopt guidelines and procedures for remote meetings or to allow members to participate remotely. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 304 (6/21) | ||
| LD 686 (SP 274) | An Act To Increase Prescription Drug Pricing Transparency | This bill amends the law governing prescription drug pricing for purchasers. It changes a requirement that a manufacturer notify the Maine Health Data Organization when the manufacturer has taken certain actions regarding high prescription drug pricing to a requirement that the organization produce and post on its publicly accessible website a list of prescription drugs for which manufacturers have taken those actions. It requires the organization to produce and post on its publicly accessible website a list of drug product families for which it intends to request pricing component data from manufacturers, wholesale drug distributors and pharmacy benefits managers and to notify the manufacturers, wholesale drug distributors and pharmacy benefits managers before requesting pricing component data. It also amends related public reporting and confidentiality requirements. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 305 (6/21) | ||
| LD 731 (SP 283) | An Act To Establish A Program To Assist Regional Firefighter Training Programs, To Provide Tax Credits To Businesses That Employ Volunteer Firefighters And Emergency Medical Services Persons And To Provide Benefits To Volunteer Firefighters And Emergency Medical Services Persons | This bill establishes a program administered by the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission to provide grants to municipalities for regional fire service training. It also provides an income tax credit for employers who permit employees who are volunteer firefighters or volunteer municipal emergency medical services persons to be absent from work for firefighting or emergency response activities without a reduction in pay and allows a municipality to provide benefits to residents of the municipality who are volunteer firefighters or volunteer municipal emergency medical services persons. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 731 (5/5) | ||
| LD 883 (SP 298) | An Act To Protect Endangered Species Whose Life Cycles Include Maine Land Or Waters | This bill requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to recommend to be listed as endangered or threatened any species that is federally listed as endangered or threatened pursuant to the United States Endangered Species Act of 1973, Public Law 93-205, as amended, if that species uses land or waters in this State for any part of its life cycle. | Reports READ. On motion of Representative McCREIGHT of Harpswell, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED. In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/14) |
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| LD 953 (SP 305) | An Act To Improve Affordable Housing Options And Services To Address Homelessness | This bill permits tax increment financing to be used by a municipality to cover costs associated with the development of affordable housing in and outside development districts, for the use in supporting housing services for persons who are homeless, for the purpose of providing an incentive for development within the municipality. The bill also corrects a conflict in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 5225, subsection 1, paragraph C, which was amended by Public Law 2019, chapter 604 and chapter 625, by incorporating the changes made by both laws. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 261 (6/17) | ||
| LD 955 (SP 307) | An Act To Narrowly Tailor Emergency Powers Of The Governor And Other Public Officials | This bill requires the emergency powers exercised by the Governor, a person within the executive branch or a municipal official that bind, curtail or infringe the rights of private parties to be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling health or safety purpose and to be limited in duration, applicability and scope to reduce any infringement of individual liberty. Only the Governor may issue an order that infringes a right guaranteed under the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Maine, including, but not limited to, freedom of travel, assembly, work, speech, religion, contract and purchase and possession of arms and ammunition, and that order must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling health or safety purpose limited in duration, applicability and scope to reduce any infringement of a constitutional right. This bill also gives a state court jurisdiction to hear a case challenging the legality of the exercise of emergency powers and requires the court to expedite consideration of the case to the extent practicable. Inequality in the applicability of impact of emergency orders on analogous groups, situations and circumstances may constitute one ground among others for a court to invalidate or enjoin an emergency order, or some of its applications, on the basis that it is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling public health or safety purpose. | Reports READ. On motion of Representative MATLACK of St. George, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED. ROLL CALL NO. 115 (Yeas 82 - Nays 61 - Absent 8 - Excused 0) In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/3) |
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| LD 1027 (SP 322) | An Act To Amend The Laws Governing Local Bridges | This bill requires the Department of Transportation to notify a municipality when a bridge for which a municipality has maintenance responsibility requires a posting or closure and requires the municipality to carry out the posting or closure; current law provides a municipality sole responsibility to determine whether such a bridge must be posted or closed. The bill provides that in order for the department to accept certain responsibilities for an improved bridge or for a new bridge, the department must approve the design of the improvements or construction before the improvements are made or the bridge is constructed. The design of the improvements or construction must meet standards set by the department and be sealed by a professional engineer. The department must inspect the bridge after it is improved or constructed. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 201 (6/14) | ||
| LD 1092 (SP 353) | An Act To Expand The Board Of Trustees Of The Maine Criminal Justice Academy To Include 6 Members Of The Public Who Are Not Employed As Any Type Of Law Enforcement Personnel And To Require A Public Review Of The Training Syllabus | This bill adds 3 members to the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for a total of 6 members who are not and have never been sworn members of a law enforcement agency, 2 of whom are appointed by the Governor, 2 of whom are appointed by the President of the Senate and 2 of whom are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and all of whom are subject to confirmation by the Senate. This bill also requires that any change or adoption of an element of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy basic law enforcement training program be considered only after public comment, with the members of the board of trustees required to acknowledge receipt of the comments, and that a complete review of the basic law enforcement training program by this process be accomplished within 12 months of the enactment of this bill with the 3 new members present on the board. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1096 (SP 357) | An Act To Clarify The Rule-making Authority Of The Supreme Judicial Court Concerning Electronic Records And Filing | This bill clarifies the rule-making authority of the Supreme Judicial Court regarding rules concerning processes and procedures related to the filing of electronic records. The bill adds a provision that nullifies laws that conflict with duly adopted rules. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 343 (6/23) | ||
| LD 1103 (SP 364) | An Act To Allow A 5-year Open Enrollment In The Participating Local District Retirement Program For Certain Law Enforcement Officers, Firefighters And Other Municipal Employees | This bill allows employees in a participating local district to enroll in the Participating Local District Retirement Program up to and including that employee's 5th-year employment anniversary through an annual open enrollment. It also provides a one-time election for participating local district employees whose 5-year work anniversary has passed to join the Participating Local District Retirement Program. | Became Law without Governor's Signature Public Law Chapter 286 (6/20) | ||
| LD 1106 (SP 367) | An Act To Prohibit An Employer From Charging An Employee For Direct Deposit For Wages | This bill prohibits an employer from charging a fee for the payment of wages to an employee by means of direct deposit of funds. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 158 (6/10) | ||
| LD 1208 (SP 394) | An Act To Amend The State's Electronic Waste Recycling Law | This bill amends the State's electronic waste recycling law by requiring that, no later than January 1, 2023, manufacturers of certain electronic devices, individually or collectively through a manufacturer clearinghouse, must design and implement a statewide manufacturer electronic waste program to provide for the collection, transportation, consolidation and recycling of collected electronic devices in the State. The Department of Environmental Protection shall review and approve plans for the implementation of such a program and shall enforce program requirements. The bill also repeals or amends certain provisions of the existing electronic waste recycling law to align those provisions with the new program requirements. | Reports READ. On motion of Representative TUCKER of Brunswick, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED. In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/17) |
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| LD 1237 (SP 404) | An Act To Allow The Governor To Declare A Limited State Of Emergency For Federal Aid Purposes | This bill allows the Governor to declare a state of emergency for the sole purpose of requesting the President of the United States to declare a major disaster for part or all of Maine in order to make available federal aid. If the Governor declares this type of state of emergency, the Governor is prohibited, pursuant to that declaration, from using the same powers granted to the Governor under a state of emergency declared because of a disaster or civil emergency pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 37-B, section 742, subsection 1. | Reports READ. On motion of Representative MATLACK of St. George, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED. ROLL CALL NO. 69 (Yeas 79 - Nays 64 - Absent 8 - Excused 0) In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/2) |
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| LD 1351 (SP 436) | An Act To Amend Certain Provisions Of The Maine Criminal Code And The Maine Bail Code | This bill amends provisions of the Maine Criminal Code in Part A and provisions of the Maine Bail Code in Part B. In Part A this bill strengthens the laws on unlawful sexual contact with a prohibited person, unlawful sexual touching and prohibited contact with a minor. The bill decreases the class of certain subsequent convictions of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, theft by deception, insurance deception, theft of lost, mislaid or mistakenly delivered property, theft of services, theft by misapplication of property and receiving stolen property. The bill increases the penalty for nonsupport of dependents and repeat convictions for engaging in prostitution and repeals the provisions of law that limit sentences for engaging in prostitution to fines. With regard to certain crimes of theft, the bill raises the class of a Class E crime when at the time that the crime was committed the defendant has 2 or more prior convictions for that crime or a substantially similar crime or an attempt to commit that crime in Maine or another jurisdiction. With respect to Class E crimes, the bill repeals provisions of law that limit the place of imprisonment to a county jail and allows commitment to the Department of Corrections. Also, with respect to Class E crimes, the bill repeals the maximum term of imprisonment of 6 months, which is currently required to be imposed if the statute does not specify a term, and instead specifies that there may be no term of imprisonment imposed for a Class E crime unless a specific term is required by statute. The bill repeals the provision of law that prohibits sentences of probation for certain Class E crimes. In Part B this bill requires pretrial release for a person charged with a Class E offense. The bill increases from Class E to Class D the penalties for a person who fails to appear while on preconviction or postconviction bail and a juvenile who fails to report after stay of execution. The bill raises the level of crime from Class E to Class D for a defendant on preconviction or postconviction bail who violates a condition of release. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1578 (SP 451) | An Act To Permit Remote Access For Public Proceedings | This bill establishes in law the authorization for the Legislature and boards, commissions, agencies and authorities of municipalities to conduct public proceedings remotely. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1409 (SP 459) | An Act Regarding High-impact Electric Transmission Lines | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to require legislative approval for building high-impact electric transmission lines greater than 50 miles long that are not located in a statutory corridor. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (1/5) | ||
| LD 1411 (SP 461) | An Act To Establish The Maine Buy American And Build Maine Act | This bill establishes the Maine Buy American and Build Maine Act and requires that all contracts for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of a public building or public work made by a state agency, board, commission or institution, except for the Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority, contain a provision that any manufactured good valued over $500, including iron, cement and steel, and any article, material or supply acquired for public use used or supplied in the performance of the contract or any subcontract to the contract must be manufactured in the United States. This requirement does not apply to counties, municipalities or school administrative units. The bill requires, in the case of a manufactured good valued over $500, other than an iron, cement or steel product, all of the manufacturing processes to take place in the United States, the origin of the manufactured good's components to meet a minimum level of domestic content as established by rule or the manufactured good to be assembled in the United States. Under the Act, a public agency may apply to the Governor or the Governor's designee for a waiver of the requirement if the executive head of the public agency finds that the application of the requirement would be inconsistent with the public interest, that the necessary manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality, that inclusion of manufactured goods made in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project contract by an unreasonable amount or that the total cost of the contract is below a minimum project cost established by rule. The Department of Administrative and Financial Services is directed to adopt rules to implement the Act. The bill requires that, if the department has reason to believe that any person, business or other entity has intentionally made fraudulent representations about the domestic content of a manufactured good or has intentionally violated any provision of the Act, the department must, after a hearing, debar that person, business or other entity from contracts or subcontracts with the State for 2 years. The bill provides that the provisions of this legislation must be applied in a manner consistent with the State's obligations under any applicable international agreements pertaining to government procurement and do not apply to emergency life safety and property safety goods. The bill also requires that, in the award of a bid for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of a public building or public work, for services to be provided to or on behalf of the State or for the purchase of manufactured goods, if 2 or more bids are submitted that are substantially similar, preference must be given to the bid submitted by an in-state contractor, which includes a business at which at least 60% of the employees are residents of Maine. If the bid submitted by an in-state contractor is higher than the lowest bid submitted by a contractor that is not an in-state contractor, the in-state contractor must be given the opportunity to match the lowest bid submitted. The preference provisions do not apply to the extent they violate or are inconsistent with federal funding requirements. An in-state contractor may request that the Attorney General investigate the bidding and award process and act as a mediator between the in-state contractor and the public agency. | LD 1411 In Senate, July 19, 2021, this Bill, having been returned by the Governor, together with objections to the same pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Maine, after reconsideration, the Senate proceeded to vote on the question: "Shall this Bill become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?" 19 and 15, accordingly it was the vote of the Senate that the Bill not become law and the VETO was SUSTAINED. Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (7/19) |
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| LD 1418 (SP 468) | An Act To Allow A Local Option Sales Tax On Meals And Lodging | This bill allows a municipality to impose a local option sales tax of no more than 1%, which may be seasonal, on prepared food, not including marijuana or marijuana products, and short-term lodging if approved by referendum of the voters in that municipality. Revenue from the local option sales tax is distributed at the rate of 85% to the municipality and 15% to all other municipalities. Revenue received by a municipality may not be used to reduce or eliminate funding otherwise due the municipality under other provisions of law. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (6/2) | ||
| LD 1422 (SP 472) | An Act To Strengthen Laws Protecting Members Of Law Enforcement And Promote In-classroom Drug Use Avoidance Education | This bill extends the application of the hate crime sentencing laws to a defendant who selects the person against whom a crime is committed because of that person's status as a law enforcement officer or who selects property to damage because of such status of the owner or occupant of that property. It also provides $1,000,000 in annual funding for the Department of Education for programs that educate students to avoid using drugs. | Reports READ. On motion of Representative WARREN of Hallowell, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED. In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. Placed in the Legislative Files. (DEAD) (6/10) |
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| LD 1507 (SP 484) | An Act To Establish A Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program And Allocation | This bill establishes the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to receive and distribute to units of local government funds received pursuant to the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 45 (5/5) | ||
| LD 1519 (SP 493) | An Act To Increase Workplace Transparency With Regard To Arbitration Agreements, The Rights Of Employees And Legal Remedies | This bill enacts the Maine Workplace Transparency Act that ensures certain rights for employees subject to arbitration agreements as part of their employment. The bill provides a list of unconscionable terms in an arbitration agreement that may not be used against employees and a list of rights for employees in their conduct in and out of the workplace. The bill provides the right to bring an action to dispute an unconscionable term or to enforce a right, including the issuance of a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction. The limitation period is 6 years, the burden of proof is by a preponderance of evidence and an employee may request a jury trial. A violation of the provisions is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 enforceable by the Department of Labor, and a violation of a court order for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction is a Class D crime. The prevailing party in an action, except for the State, is entitled to receive attorney's fees and costs, and the State is liable for attorney's fees and costs in the same manner as a private party. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (5/19) | ||
| LD 1639 (SP 523) | An Act To Protect The Health And Welfare Of Maine Communities And Reduce Harmful Solid Waste | This bill amends the definition of "waste generated within the State" to limit the amount of the residue that may be disposed of by an incineration, recycling and processing facility at a solid waste landfill in the State to the weight of the solid waste initially generated in the State by that facility during its annual reporting period. The bill eliminates the provisions of the law regarding recycling and source reduction requirements for solid waste processing facilities that were in operation during calendar year 2018 and that accept exclusively construction and demolition debris. It adds environmental justice to the public benefit determination standards for solid waste disposal facilities. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 626 (4/18) | ||
| LD 1642 (SP 527) | An Act Regarding Local Option Elections | Current law requires a municipality through a local option election to affirmatively authorize the licensing of businesses to sell liquor in that municipality. In an unincorporated place, the county commissioners must decide whether to authorize or not authorize the licensing of businesses to sell liquor in that unincorporated place. Based on the type of sales authorized in that municipality or unincorporated place, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations issues licenses to the establishments or agency liquor stores in that municipality or unincorporated place. Since a municipality or unincorporated place may not be able to provide proof that the sale of liquor was authorized in that municipality or unincorporated place, Public Law 2019, chapter 672 was enacted to provide a window, until July 1, 2022, for a municipality or unincorporated place to either provide the bureau with proof of an affirmative vote or decision or to conduct a new local option election or affirmative decision by the county commissioners to authorize the sale of liquor. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, many municipalities were unable to conduct the new local option election required to affirm the authorization of the sale of liquor. This bill allows a municipality to authorize the sale of liquor by allowing the municipal officers to vote to affirm the results of a prior local option election held for that purpose and it allows the county commissioners of an unincorporated place to reaffirm a prior authorization. This bill specifies that such authorization constitutes proof for purposes of approving the sale of liquor by all types of establishments that may be licensed by the bureau in that municipality or unincorporated place. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 137 (6/10) | ||
| LD 1647 (SP 532) | An Act To Authorize A General Fund Bond Issue To Provide Funds For Infrastructure Projects Across The State And To Direct The Department Of Environmental Protection To Establish A State Infrastructure Adaptation Fund And Predevelopment Assistance Program | The funds provided by this bond issue, in the amount of $100,000,000, will be used to provide funding to establish a state infrastructure adaptation fund and predevelopment assistance program, designed to leverage federal recovery support in the short term and to address significant and ongoing infrastructure adaptation needs in the long term. The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Protection to establish a state infrastructure adaptation fund and predevelopment assistance program in 2022. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (4/25) | ||
| LD 1692 (SP 548) | An Act To Improve Judicial Branch Facilities In Hancock County | This bill authorizes the Maine Governmental Facilities Authority to use previously authorized securities to acquire and improve property relating to the judicial branch in Hancock County. | Signed by the Governor Public Law Chapter 451 (7/9) | ||
| LD 1753 (SP 613) | An Act Regarding The Retirement Of Law Enforcement Officers Under The Participating Local District Retirement Program | This bill changes special plans under the Participating Local District Retirement Program so that law enforcement officers may retire after 25 years of creditable service regardless of age, instead of after reaching 55 years of age as in current law. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (2/16) | ||
| LD 1806 (SP 632) | An Act To Clarify The Boundary Between Waldo County And Knox County In Penobscot Bay | This bill clarifies and describes a portion of the common boundary between Waldo County and Knox County in Penobscot Bay in order to include the entire archipelago of Islesboro in Waldo County. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/22) | ||
| LD 1814 (SP 641) | An Act To Transfer The St. Francis Water District To The Town Of St. Francis And To Repeal The St. Francis Water District Charter | This bill repeals Private and Special Law 1989, chapter 51, as amended, which created the St. Francis Water District, and directs the Town of St. Francis to assume, maintain and operate the property, benefits and liabilities of the district. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Private and Special Law Chapter 16 (3/29) | ||
| LD 1832 (SP 649) | An Act To Correct The Year Of The Expiration Of The Terms Of 2 County Commissioners In Sagadahoc County | This bill corrects the expiration year of the terms of the commissioners in Sagadahoc County Commissioner Districts 2 and 3. | Signed by the Governor (Emergency Measure) Public Law Chapter 506 (3/16) | ||
| LD 1860 (SP 652) | An Act To Address Maine's Suicide And Opioid Crises Through The Construction Of Affordable Recovery Facilities In Underserved Areas Of The State | This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to direct new federal money to construct affordable recovery facilities in underserved areas in order to better address the State's suicide and opioid crises. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/22) | ||
| LD 1973 (SP 705) | An Act To Support Frontline Health Care Workers By Waiving Professional Licensing Fees | This bill waives professional licensing fees for emergency medical services persons, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, respiratory care practitioners, midwives and persons associated with those practices for the period from March 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022. It requires that any professional licensing fees paid by such a person for that period be refunded to that person. | Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) (3/9) |