On April 11, the Maine House of Representatives by a one-vote margin approved a radical piece of legislation dealing with “regulatory takings” that would harm Maine’s environment, jeopardize Maine communities and cost millions of dollars to Maine taxpayers.

This was the most important environmental vote of the year, which is why we are deeply concerned that state representative Kim Olsen, RPhippsburg, voted the wrong way.

Had Rep. Olsen held firm against the special interests and real estate lobby — as five of her Republican House colleagues did — the bill would have been defeated. Instead, this dangerous and costly legislation remains alive, with further votes expected in mid- May.

The Minority Report for the “regulatory takings” bill (LD 1810) would create a scheme for property owners to get payments from Maine taxpayers, or waivers from the law, when a property owner believes that new land use laws reduce the value of their property.

Although the bill may sound reasonable on its surface, it is deeply flawed.

If enacted, the proposal would allow developers to get waivers from the law, giving them permission to build massive developments in locations that the state has tried to protect. These waivers (holes punched into Maine law) would harm the property value of neighbors, triggering lawsuits.

Such a law also would make it essentially impossible for the Legislature to pass future laws needed to protect our clean air, clean water and environment from risks that are certain to emerge in the future.

These types of impacts are well-documented in the few places where takings laws have been enacted, and they help explain why Maine lawmakers have overwhelmingly defeated such proposals in the past, as have legislatures across the country.

When a takings bill surfaced in 1995, Bath Iron Works President “Buzz” Fitzgerald was so concerned that he directed his top assistant, Kevin Gildart, to testify against the bill. BIW’s testimony rightly asserted that the bill was fiscally irresponsible, would undermine the ability of citizens to protect their communities and ignored the fact that with property rights come responsibilities of ownership.

These words are as true today as they were then, as is Kevin Gildart’s concluding statement, “I urge you to vote for the Majority Report and against the Minority Report.”

The choice that Rep. Olsen faced in mid-April was whether to support the Majority Report or the Minority Report on LD 1810. Rep. Charlie

Priest, D-Brunswick, and Rep. Brad Moulton, R-York, developed the bipartisan Majority Report, which completely replaces the original bill and focuses instead on strengthening Maine’s existing land use mediation program and creating a new legislative committee to identify and fix problems that may arise with the implementation of new land use laws.

The Portland Press Herald, Lewiston Sun-Journal, and Bangor Daily News all editorialized in support of the Majority Report. It also is supported by the Maine Clammers Association, Maine Municipal Association, Maine’s leading environmental groups, and a number of influential Republicans, including former state lawmaker Peter Mills.

But Rep. Olsen refused to support the Majority Report, aligning instead with aversion of the bill pushed by Rep. Andre Cushing, R-Hamden, who introduced the bill and is one of Maine’s leading legislators affiliated with the ultra-right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). One of ALEC’s top priorities is passage of takings laws like Rep. Cushing’s Minority Report.

On the evening of April 11, Rep. Cushing, who also serves as assistant majority leader (known as the “whip”), was able to secure a one-vote margin in support of his bill only by keeping the vote open for several minutes after all representatives had voted, and by pressuring one of his colleagues, Rep. Gary Knight, RLivermore Falls, to switch his vote. But this bullying would have failed if Rep. Olsen had voted against the Minority Report.

The bill then went to the Senate, where a group of four Republican senators, thankfully, joined with the entire Democratic caucus in opposing the Minority Report. But Senate Republican leadership was not willing to accept a defeat on the measure, so Senate President Kevin Raye, RPerry, at 2:30 a.m. on April 14 moved to adjourn until May 15 — when presumably a vote will be taken in the Senate, and then sent back to the House for a final vote.

It is often said that one vote can make a big difference. In this case, Rep. Olsen’s vote could have defeated a budget busting, environmentally damaging, and irresponsible proposal. But because she voted the wrong way, we will have to look to other legislators to save us from this major environmental rollback.

Everett "Brownie" Carson is former executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and lives in Harpswell. Evelyn Dunphy is an artist, served as the first Resident Artist of Baxter State Park, and lives in West Bath. Rebecca Halbrook is a board member of the Phippsburg Land Trust and lives in Phippsburg.

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