Model Legislation in Action
Last week, The Maine Heritage Policy Center released the final draft of the new model legislation that, if enacted, would create a tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) for Maine. On Monday, a group of Maine citizens submitted the model legislation to the Secretary of State and began the citizen’s initiative process.
The final product reflects changes to the original working draft of the bill that incorporate suggestions and feedback provided at the two public listening sessions that were held earlier this week in Portland and Bangor. The two public listening sessions held on the draft model legislation produced a number of suggested policy changes that strengthen the TEL legislation.
It’s encouraging to see the public involvement in producing this model bill and the continued support for reasonable tax and spending limitations for Maine state and local government. An engaged citizenry is key to the development of public policy that reflects the people’s desires. The citizen’s initiative process provides the public with a powerful tool with which influence public policy development.