Maine lawmakers have considered hundreds of bills in this legislative session, which began more than six months ago. Here’s a look at how the Legislature acted on some of the high-profile issues:
REGULATORY REFORM
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A keystone measure for this session was L.D. 1, sponsored by House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, and Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry. The wide-ranging bill was the product of a Republican campaign promise to make Maine more business-friendly.
After some proposals by Gov. Paul LePage drew public opposition, a bipartisan group of lawmakers crafted a package of reforms that passed unanimously in the Senate and with just three dissenting votes in the House. The bill was signed into law by LePage on June 13.
Among other things, it will provide more support for small businesses that must negotiate state regulations, loosen environmental rules to allow beneficial reuse of hazardous materials, and offer incentives for companies to self-report environmental violations.
It also will create an advocate to assist small-business people who feel they have been treated inappropriately by any state agency.
TURNPIKE AUTHORITY OVERHAUL
Lawmakers approved measures to restructure the quasi-governmental Maine Turnpike Authority.
In January, the Legislature’s accountability office issued a report on the turnpike authority that uncovered lavish spending for travel and nearly $200,000 for gift cards that couldn’t be documented. The findings led to the resignation the turnpike authority’s longtime director, Paul Violette, in March.
The changes:
• Make the turnpike authority’s executive director subject to confirmation by the Senate.
• Allow members of the board of directors to be removed for gross misconduct. Board members’ terms were reduced from seven years to six.
• Require the authority to submit detailed budgets of all spending.
• Require the authority to transfer 5 percent of its annual operating revenue to the Maine Department of Transportation for projects of mutual benefit, such as interchanges and bridges near the turnpike.
• Require the authority to maintain a system for internal financial and compliance audits.
• Require that most contracts and services be awarded through competitive bidding.
GAMBLING BILLS BOUND FOR POLLS
It appears that voters will have the final word in November on two proposals to expand gambling in Maine.
Lawmakers considered two bills that were initiated by petition drives, one to allow a casino in Lewiston and the other to allow slot machines at harness racetracks in Biddeford and in Washington County.
Under the Constitution, the Legislature had to adopt the proposals as written or send them to voters. Lawmakers have already decided to put the Lewiston proposal on the ballot.
Although the House and Senate have given initial approval to the bill to allow racinos in Biddeford and Washington County, LePage has said he will veto it because he believes voters should decide the issue.
The Legislature is expected to take final action this week.
FUTURE OF LURC
A Republican-backed effort to abolish the state commission that regulates development in Maine’s unorganized territories lacked enough support to win passage, but the political battle will resume next year.
The Legislature established a group to study the Land Use Regulation Commission and report back to lawmakers in January.
Republicans say that LURC has become an obstacle to economic development, and that land use planning should be done at the county level to give residents more input.
Democrats say they want to reform LURC but they opposed the bill that established the study group, arguing that it is packed with people who are determined to abolish LURC.
INFORMED GROWTH ACT
Passed four years ago to protect Maine’s downtown business districts, the Informed Growth Act allows communities to examine the hidden costs of big-box retail development. The Legislature didn’t eliminate the law, but made it effective only in communities that vote to use it.
The act requires any developer of a project larger than 75,000 square feet to pay $40,000 for an independent study of 11 possible effects, including jobs, wages, municipal revenue and services.
The bill to change it spurred passionate debate about the character of Maine’s traditional downtowns and whether Walmart and other retail chains have hurt local businesses or helped them by attracting more people to communities.
VERNAL POOL PROTECTION
The Legislature defeated a bill that would have rolled back development restrictions around the state’s largest vernal pools. LePage pushed for legislation to shrink the vernal pool protection zone from 250 feet to 150 feet. The Legislature decided to retain the existing 250-foot zone while reforming the way state agencies implement the rules.
The reform prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from requiring any setback from vernal pools greater than 250 feet, which it has done occasionally when developers have sought state permits for large subdivisions.
BILLBOARDS
Two proposals that would have significantly weakened Maine’s 34-year-old ban on billboards were soundly rejected. Supporters said the changes would have helped promote small businesses and generated revenue to support Maine’s roads. Opponents said the changes would irreparably damage Maine’s pristine appeal to tourists.
ENERGY POLICY
The session was more notable for what lawmakers didn’t do than what they did do. The general approach, championed largely by Republican lawmakers and LePage, was to favor market-based solutions and reject action that might increase electricity rates.
Lawmakers declined to address complaints by opponents of commercial wind power, including noise, visual effects and lower property values. The Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee brushed aside 13 bills regarding wind power, approving only a study and a speeded-up review of wind development progress.
Lawmakers rejected a call to increase energy conservation funding for Efficiency Maine Trust, which supporters said would have saved consumers $840 million over three years. The added funding would have increased the surcharge that Mainers pay on electricity bills — a nonstarter with LePage.
Lawmakers did keep some longstanding policies on track. They turned away a late-session proposal by LePage to freeze the state’s commitment to renewable power generation. The governor said the freeze would help lower electricity rates, but opponents said it would send the wrong signal to project developers.
The Legislature also approved a bill extending the requirement for Maine to cut oil dependency for heating by 30 percent by 2030.
BUILDING AND ENERGY CODE
Lawmakers scaled back Maine’s new Uniform Building and Energy Code, which set minimum energy and construction standards. The standards, established in 2008, have been embraced by environmental groups and many builders, who say proper insulation saves homeowners money. But they came under attack by Republicans and officials in some rural towns.
The law was changed to allow towns with fewer than 4,000 residents to withdraw from the program — double the current exemption.
KIDS SAFE PRODUCT ACT
Two bills — one proposed by a Democrat and the other by a Republican — were merged to help clarify the state law that identifies and regulates harmful chemicals in children’s products. The legislation became law with LePage’s signature on June 13.
Lawmakers also voted in support of the first chemical suggested for regulation under the Kids Safe Product Act — bisphenol A — despite protests from the governor.
HEALTH INSURANCE OVERHAUL
One of the most contentious and significant bills was L.D. 1333, a Republican-backed overhaul of the health insurance market for about 40,000 people — those who buy independently or through employers whose companies have 50 or fewer workers.
The law gives insurance companies more leeway in how much they can charge policyholders based on occupation and age. It also allows insurance companies in four other New England states to sell insurance in Maine.
Many Democrats see the law as a threat to rural Maine because it removes a section of the state’s insurance code that requires insurers’ provider networks to have primary care physicians within a 30-minute drive of policyholders’ homes, and hospitals within an hour’s drive.
The law, which takes effect next year, will affect almost every policyholder in Maine by adding as much as $4 per person per month to premiums, to help cover people with high medical costs. Federal and state workers will not be subject to the fee.
Democrats and liberal groups are considering a people’s veto campaign to repeal the law.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Lawmakers decided to allow patients to use medical marijuana without registering with the state.
LePage administration officials helped negotiate the bill. Patients still will need qualifying medical conditions and doctors’ recommendations to use the drug, but they can choose whether to pay registration fees and get registration cards that prove they are legal users under state law.
Patient advocates and others argued that many patients who can benefit from medical marijuana have been reluctant to register, partly because marijuana use remains a federal crime.
The bill also streamlines the process for adding to the list of qualifying conditions, which now includes cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. Doctors and patients will be able to petition the Department of Health and Human Services, which will have the authority to add conditions to the list.
SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION
A new Republican-backed law prohibits absentee voting in the two business days before an election and bans voter registration on Election Day, an option Maine voters have had for 38 years.
The law does allow registered voters who have had changes of name or address within the municipality to update voter registration records on the day of an election.
A coalition of groups that opposed the bill has begun a petition drive to put a people’s veto proposal on the state ballot.
CLEAN ELECTIONS
Several proposals to end or alter Maine Clean Election Act funding were made this session. A proposal to eliminate the program was defeated. Another, to end it just for gubernatorial candidates, was carried over to the next legislative session.
Supporters of eliminating public funding for state candidates said it amounts to welfare for politicians, while opponents said it makes candidates without deep pockets or political connections more viable.
ABORTION BILLS
Lawmakers rejected proposals to require women who seek abortions to wait 24 hours, read state-issued information about the procedure and, if they are younger than 18, get notarized parental consent.
Supporters of the waiting period said one day of contemplation is not too much to ask before such an important decision. Opponents countered that women are capable of making their own decisions in their own time.
Some opponents of the proposal for state-issued information argued that Maine already requires doctors to provide certain information to patients before performing abortions.
Supporters of the consent measure said it is important for parents to be involved in such a decision. Opponents said Maine’s current “adult involvement” law is working.
Another proposal, to create a new crime for the death of “unborn children,” was also rejected.
GUNS AT THE WORKPLACE
Thanks to a GOP-backed bill, gun owners who have concealed-weapons permits will be allowed to keep their guns in their cars at work, as long as the guns are not visible and the cars are locked.
An approved amendment to the bill says that if a gun owner brings a gun to work and shoots someone, the employer will not be held liable in any civil action for damages, injury or death.
Supporters of the bill say that individuals’ right to bear arms outweighs the rights of business owners to set gun policies. Business groups including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill.
SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION
Effective July 1, 2012, the state will waive all financial penalties for districts that are out of compliance with Maine’s 2007 school consolidation law. The House and Senate passed the bill unanimously without roll call votes, and LePage signed it into law.
Supporters of the change said the 2007 law failed to achieve financial savings but contributed to a loss of local control and damaged communities. Others complained that removing the penalties would be unfair to school districts that have already merged.
TEACHERS’ JOB PROTECTIONS
A new law extends teachers’ probationary period from two years to three years.
That means a teacher won’t be eligible for a continuing contract in a school district until he or she passes a three-year probationary period.
In most school districts, teachers who pass their probationary period can be fired only if there is cause and they fail to show improvement.
TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
A new law creates a $100 fine for anyone who is caught by police text-messaging while driving. The law will take effect at the end of September.
Maine became the last state in New England to ban texting while driving, and the 31st state in the nation. Lawmakers said Maine’s two-year-old “distracted driving” law was too vague.
STUDENTS ON THE JOB
A new law allows students to work as many as 24 hours per week, rather than the 20 hours allowed under current law. It also increases, from four to six, the number of hours students can work on school days.
BOXING MAKES A COMEBACK
Professional boxing is once again allowed in Maine. A bill to legalize it passed in the House and Senate without roll call votes, and LePage signed it into law.
Rep. Matt Peterson, D-Rumford, sponsored the legislation, which drew more than a dozen boxers and trainers to its public hearing. The bill expands the mission of the Mixed Martial Arts Authority to include oversight of professional boxing.
WHOOPIE PIES, BLUEBERRY PIES
Early in the session, Rep. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, sponsored a bill to designate the whoopie pie as Maine’s official dessert.
While supporters said it was important for the state to claim the whoopie pie as its own — Pennsylvania says it originated there — others felt there were plenty of other desserts deserving the recognition. After debates in committee and by the full Legislature, the blueberry pie was designated the official state dessert while the whoopie pie was named the official state treat.
LePage let the bill become law without his signature.
— MaineToday Media State House Writers Tom Bell and Rebekah Metzler and Portland Press Herald Staff Writers Tux Turkel and John Richardson contributed to this report.
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