The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Bill Requests Submitted by Lawmakers This Session
Last week, the Revisor of Statutes, a legislative office which drafts and works with legislators on proposed bill language, released a list of legislative requests (LRs) submitted by members of the 131st Maine Legislature. This list contained only preliminary working bill titles, by sponsor and by subject area, of the bills submitted by the deadline at the end of December. While some are difficult to discern their meaning, the intent of several bills is obvious from their titles. Of those, the following are “the good, the bad, and the ugly” based on Maine Policy Institute’s principles and legislative priorities.
THE GOOD
- An Act to Support School Choice by Establishing Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (Sen. Libby)
- An Act to Allow Municipalities to Privatize Education for Kindergarten to 8th Grade Students (Rep. Campbell)
- An Act to Promote Educational Opportunity through the Educational Choice Tax Credit Program (Rep. Bagshaw)
- An Act to Provide Transparency in Public School Curricula (Sen. Keim)
- An Act to Allow Education Funding to Follow the Student (Rep. Campbell)
- An Act to Hold School Employees Civilly Liable for Medical Decisions Made for Children Under 18 Without Parental Consent (Rep. Hymes)
- An Act to Codify That Freedom of Information Act Requests Are Not Hate Crimes (Rep. Andrews)
- This bill is necessary given Vickie Wallack’s recent comments.
- An Act to Limit States of Emergency Proclaimed by the Governor to 60 Days (Sen. Hickman)
- An Act to Enhance Legislative Participation in the Use of Emergency Powers (Rep. Lee)
- An Act to Restore Balanced Emergency Powers (Rep. James White, Sen. Brakey)
- An Act to Reduce Child Care Facility Regulation (Sen. Moore)
- An Act to Allow Maine Families to Deduct Vehicle Excise Taxes on State Income Tax Returns (Rep. Andrews)
- An Act to Exempt Gold Star Parents from Income Tax (Rep. Haggan)
- An Act to Exempt Permanently Disabled Veterans from Property Taxes (Sen. Jackson); An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to 100 Percent Disabled Veterans (Rep. Hymes)
- An Act to Exempt Overtime Pay from Individual Income Tax (Rep. Lanigan)
- An Act to Make Health Care Accessible Through Health Savings Accounts That Are Exempt from State Taxes (Rep. Libby)
- An Act to Require Accountability and Encourage Citizens to Thrive by Abolishing the Income Tax and Establishing a Zero-based Budget (Rep. Libby)
- An Act to Create Fairness in Maine’s Excise Tax by Basing the Tax on the Sale Price (Sen. Guerin)
- An Act to Return the Sales Tax Rate to 5 Percent (Rep. Arata)
- This would amount to about a 9% cut in sales & use tax revenue
- An Act to Request a Federal Waiver for Presumptive Work Eligibility for Asylum Seekers (Sen. Brakey)
- An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding Zoning and Land Use Restrictions to Limit Certain Requirements to Municipalities with a Population of More than 10,000 (Rep. Campbell)
- An Act to Reduce the Cost of Electricity by Removing the 100-megawatt Limit on Renewable Resources of Energy (Sen. Timberlake)
- An Act to Impose a 4-year Moratorium on Solar Subsidies and to Study the Environmental and Economic Impact of Industrial Solar Projects (Rep. Faulkingham)
- An Act to Remove the Cost-of-living Adjustment from the Minimum Wage Laws (Rep. Foster)
- An Act to Enable Occupational License Portability and Prohibit the Use of Good Character Qualifications in Occupational Licensing (Sen. Moore)
- An Act to Amend Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (Rep. Andrews)
- This bill would set stricter timelines for executive branch departments and agencies to comply with requests and limit the fees that can be charged to requestors.
- An Act Regarding Jury Instructions (Rep. Boyer)
- This bill would require jurors to be informed of their right to hand down a “not guilty” verdict on the basis of believing the law in question is unjust.
- An Act to Allow Third-party Delivery of Maine Craft Beer (Rep. Andrews)
- An Act to Make Permanent the Ability of Certain Retailers and Distilleries to Sell Liquor for Off-premises Consumption and Cocktails for On-premises Consumption (Sen. Farrin)
- An Act Regarding Work Requirements for Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents and No-good-cause Exemptions (Sen. Stewart)
- An Act to Prohibit the Use of Electronic Benefits Transfer System Cards for Cash Withdrawals (Sen. Brakey)
- An Act to Allow Health Care Workers to Return to Work by Reinstating Exemptions from Immunization Requirements (Rep. Boyer)
- An Act to Establish Focused Protection as the Guiding Public Health Principles for Pandemics of a Highly Infectious Respiratory Virus (Sen. Brakey)
- An Act to Prohibit Municipal Flavored Tobacco Product Bans on State-licensed Tobacco Retailers (Rep. Perry)
- An Act to Restore Accountability in Rulemaking by Providing for Legislative Oversight (Rep. Andrews)
- An Act to Eliminate Certain Motor Vehicle Inspections (Rep. Perkins)
- An Act to Promote Sustainable Lithium Mining (Rep. Soboleski)
- An Act Concerning Lithium Deposits (Sen. Keim)
THE BAD
- An Act to Ensure a Strategic Approach to Maine’s Energy System by Imposing a Moratorium on Lithium Mining (Rep. O’Neil)
- An Act to Create a Public Art Fund (Rep. Collings)
- An Act to Amend the Maine Exclusion Amount in the Estate Tax (Rep. Collings)
- This bill likely lowers the exclusion amount to $1M or $2M, as bills in previous sessions’ have proposed.
- An Act to Allow a Municipality to Impose a Fee on Short-term Rentals for the Benefit of That Municipality (Rep. Strout)
- An Act to Amend the Income Tax Law to Raise the Top Bracket Threshold, Increase the Lodging Tax and Increase the Short-term Motor Vehicle Rental Tax (Rep. Moonen)
- An Act to Allow a Municipality to Establish a Local Option Sales Tax (Rep. Gramlich)
- An Act to End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products (Sen. Duson)
- An Act to Provide Financial Incentives for Electric Vehicle Purchases (Rep. Warren)
- An Act to License Home Building and Improvement Contractors (Sen. Baldacci)
- This bill would raise costs to build a home and create another unnecessary occupational license. A similar bill went down in flames last session.
THE UGLY
- An Act to Establish a Maine Pass-through Entity Tax (Rep. Terry)
- As if Maine business owners aren’t taxed enough already, right?
- An Act to Require Manure Bags for Horse-drawn Vehicles (Sen. Stewart)
- There has to be a funny story behind this bill.
- An Act to Expand the Use of Traffic Cameras for School and Work Zones (Sen Daughtry)
- An Act to Create a Green Schools Coordinator at the Department of Education (Rep. Malon)
- An Act to Expand the Definition of “Offensive Name” and Extend the Reporting Deadline for the Identification of Places in the State with Offensive Names (Rep. Talbot-Ross)
- An Act to Allow Towns with School Choice to Opt Out of School Choice (Rep. Dill)
- An Act to Create the Maine Electricity Supply Authority (Sen. Vitelli)
- An Act to Fully Engage the Efficiency Maine Trust in Mitigating Climate Change by Creating Electrification Programs (Rep. Grohoski)
- An Act to Have the Commissioners of the Public Utilities Commission Popularly Elected (Sen. Bennett)
- We need fewer politicians directing energy policy, not more.
- An Act to Add to the Maine Tort Claims Act Immunity from Liability for Broadband Activities (Rep. Grohoski)
- This bill would protect mismanaged government-owned broadband development projects.
- An Act to Prohibit Leaving a Child Under 10 Years of Age Alone in a Motor Vehicle (Rep. Craven)
- An Act to Require MaineCare Coverage of Treatment of Gender Dysphoria (Rep. Ambureen)
- This bill would force taxpayers to fund procedures they may deem morally reprehensible.
- Resolve, to Establish the Committee to Study the Creation of a State Calendar (Rep. Osher)
- An Act to Protect Wildlife in the Design and Construction of Windows in Public Buildings (Rep. Warren)
- An Act to Increase the Penalties for Operation of a Motor Vehicle While Using a Handheld Electronic Device or Mobile Telephone (Rep. Zeigler)
- Leave it to the Democrats to give police more reason to interact with Mainers. This bill raises first offense from $50 to $500, second offense from $250 to $1000, adds license revocation for 3rd or subsequent offenses
- An Act to Prohibit Politicians from Standing Outside Voting Places (Rep. Warren)
- This bill could be a blatant violation of free speech.
- An Act to Implement the National Popular Vote for President of the United States (Rep. Zager)
- This bill would give away the state’s limited clout in presidential elections
- An Act to Make Top 4 Nonpartisan Ranked-choice Voting Available in Maine (Sen. Baldacci)