BRUNSWICK

New state Rep. Matthea “Mattie” Daughtry submitted three bills she hopes will overturn corporate campaign spending, increase scrutiny of would-be charter schools and make it easier for small poultry farmers to sell their products.

Daughtry’s bills recently received titles and legislative resolution numbers from the Office of the Legislative Revisor.

One of them, LR 879, is a joint resolution to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 decision to remove limitations on corporate campaign spending.

“Money isn’t speech and corporations shouldn’t be able to make unlimited campaign contributions,” Daughtry said.

Other bills include LR 877, An Act to Protect Charter Schools; and LR 878, An Act to Allow Mobile Slaughterhouses for Poultry.

“I’m very concerned about companies coming into the state to start for-profit charter schools, which is not what our state needs, and it’s not what our students need,” Daughtry said.

She said she wants more thorough background checks done on groups who want to start alternative educational programs and more oversight once applications are approved.

Daughtry cited two companies that have established charter schools elsewhere in the country and submitted applications to do so here: Virginia-based K12 Inc. and Connections Learning, of Baltimore, Md.

Each was denied approval by the Maine Charter School Commission in December. Both have charter schools operating in other states, particularly Florida and Tennessee.

“We need to be really careful that we’re not doing a onesize fits-all process, because our needs are different than Tennessee’s needs,” she said. “We have an opportunity for 10 charter schools, and we can’t just charge ahead willynilly. We need to make sure that we do it right.”

In what she refers to as her “nerdy country bill,” Daughtry also calls for small farmers to have access to mobile poultry slaughterhouses as part of a “buy local” movement.

Maine has only one licensed and state-inspected plant: Weston’s Meat Cutting in West Gardiner, which handles all poultry processing for retail market.

Current state law strictly regulates poultry processing if the yield is intended for sale.

“I can get an exemption to slaughter on my own farm, but not on somebody else’s,” she said. “I can slaughter for my own consumption, and I can even give it to a neighbor, but I can’t sell it to somebody else.

“I’ve spoken with lot of local restaurant owners who say that Brunswick is slowly, steadily becoming a culinary destination,” Daughtry said. “Fresher poultry and produce means more diners and more revenue for farmers.”

Daughtry represents part of Brunswick in District 66 of the Maine House.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com

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