Most successful legislative session in years comes to close

First Regular Session of the 123rd legislature comes to close, major initiatives moved forward

AUGUSTA– On the first full day of summer the Maine House and Senate wrapped up the first regular session of the 123rd Legislature. The six-month session, which saw a record number of bills filed, ended just one day past the targeted adjournment date and came after a large body of accomplishments was recorded. The session was noted for its bipartisanship and progress on some of Maine’s most pressing issues.

“The voters of Maine should be proud that their representatives conducted themselves as true statesmen, with-out exception,” said Speaker of the House Glenn Cummings. “We set a tone early to not only work together, but to work well together and we accomplished great things by doing so. Every member of the Maine House and Senate deserves great credit for playing a role in this sucess.”

Over the first regular session of the 123rd Legislature, lawmakers tackled nearly 2000 bills and passed new laws to build Maine’s future economic and social prosperity, preserve Maine’s high quality of life, support education and opportunity for Maine people, spur innovation and growth and encourage efficiency in government. All of which were issues that Democratic Legislators identified as their priorities at a State House press conference in January.

Highlights of the session include additional funding for higher education to ensure access to Community Colleges and affordable tuition at Maine’s public Universities, the largest economic investment to support investments in Maine’s transportation infrastructure, preserve Maine’s natural resources and spur innovation. The Legislature also moved forward with nation-leading measures to crackdown on predatory lending, a measure to restrict green house gases and to curb global warming, and a bill to ban toxic flame retardants.

“This Legislature has made significant progress on some of the biggest issues facing our state and country today,” said House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven. “2007 will stand as a legacy year for the environment, as Democrats led in enrolling Maine in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, banned the hazardous flame retardant known as deca, expanded solar system rebates and supported the Land for Maine’s Future program. We ensured that domestic workers are paid at least the minimum wage, extended family medical leave rights, protected seniors from financial exploitation, and made took a proactive and aggressive stance in preventing domestic violence.”

For the first time since 2003, the Legislature enacted the biennial state budget with the support of more than two-thirds of the Legislature. The prospects for success were never certain as several controversial initiatives were contained within the budget document presented by Governor Baldacci, including a sweeping consolidation of school administrative units and a proposed increase on cigarettes of $1 per pack.

“The Governor presented us with a budget that gave both Democrats and Republicans some concerns,” said Jeremy Fischer, D- Presque Isle, House Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “But we found a way to address the worries about local schools, we were able to balance the budget without the Governor’s proposed tax increase and we reached broad bipartisan agreement on the budget. We have put the state on a path of financial stability.”

Voters have already approved one measure enacted by the Legislature to support Maine’s quality of life and infrastructure, by overwhelmingly passing two bond measures on the June ballot. The transportation and drinking water bonds approved last week were the first portion of a $295 million bond package, the remainder of which will go to voters in two more referendums. Voters will be given the opportunity to weigh in on bonds to replenish the Land for Maine’s Future Program, support higher education and economic development efforts in the coming November election, and there will be an environmental and another transportation bond question on the ballot in June 2008.

“The bond package we sent out to voters makes prudent investments in Maine’s economy and in preserving our quality of place,” said Rep. Richard Cleary, D- Houlton, a member of the Business Research and Economic Development Committee. “By making focused investments in new technologies and in spurring innovation we will grow Maine’s economy and build a more prosperous future.”

Democrats in the Legislature also led the charge to ensure that the door to higher education remained open and accessible to Maine students. The Legislature supported a bond question to invest in building and maintaining facilities at Maine’s University System and Community Colleges as well as increased funding over the Governor’s budget recommendation to reduce tuition increases and increase access to higher education.

“When Maine people seek to gain the skills and training they need to compete in a modern economy, we must ensure that we support them,” said Rep. Emily Cain, D- Orono. “By reducing the proposed tuition increases at the University System and increasing the capacity at the Community Colleges, more Maine people will have access to higher education in Maine.”

After considering 1,931 bills in 62 legislative days, the Maine State Legislature has adjourned until January 2, 2008 when it will reconvene for the Second Regular Session.

Accomplishments of the 123rd Legislature, first regular session
As of June 21, 2007
Prepared by the House Majority Office

QUALITY OF LIFE – Healthy Families, a Clean Environment, Safe Communities, Quality of Place

LD 1796 – Bond package (subject to voter approval)

• $136 million for transportation upgrades, drawing almost $260 million in matching funds to fix and upgrade roads and bridges
• $20 million for Land for Maine’s Future, drawing $11.5 million matching funds, all to preserve quality places including the working waterfront
• $25 million for natural resource based and environmental cleanup projects, drawing almost $53 million in matching funds

LD 499 - State Budet

• Increases property tax relief for veterans
• Additional funding for blind and visually impaired children
• Additional funding for Women, Work and Community

LD1658 - Phases out the use of the deca-BDE flame retardant in Maine households – the chemical has proven to have negative impacts on human brain development, animals and the environment
LD 1869 – Protects Maine homeowners from predatory lending practices that serve to strip home equity and lead consumers into foreclosure or loans they cannot afford
LD 375 – Amends the family medical leave laws to allow family medical leave for domestic partners
LD 555 – Requires landlords doing work on a tenant-occupied building that contains lead paint to provide sufficient notice to tenants before they do any work on the building that might disrupt the lead paint
LD 424 – Elevates crimes associated with drug trafficking and violence when they take place in the presence of where children reside
LD 807 – Guarantees that pharmacies keep co-pays on prescription drugs down and prevents overcharging
LD 224 – Closes a loophole that allowed managers of domestic workers to pay them below minimum wage. The new law ensures that domestic workers are paid at least minimum wage
LD 416 – Protects senior citizens from unfair health insurance sales practices
LD 1428 – Protects senior citizens from financial exploitation by allowing banks to disclose when they believe they’re witnessing financial abuse, neglect or exploitation of a senior customer
LD 841 – Lowers insurance costs overall by expanding access for healthy young people, allowing dependent children up to age 25 to stay on their parents’ insurance policy
LD 1849 – Creates more transparency in rising health care costs, and strengthens the state’s ability to study cost drivers and identify savings
LD 431 – Allows the Dirigo Health agency to self-administer Dirigo Choice, which would save the state millions of dollars and allow the program to expand access to affordable health care for more Maine people
LD 416 – Protects seniors from manipulative insurance sales practices, by forbidding insurers from pitching other insurance products during a meeting to discuss Medicare coverage
LD 1440 – Prohibits the sale of drug-prescribing software with embedded advertisements or messages urging physicians to prescribe certain medications over others
LD 755 – Establishes a commission to study and implement best practices for child care services

EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITY - Higher Education, Supporting Working Families, Public Education, Early Childhood Development

LD 1796 – Bond package (subject to voter approval) - $41.5 million for infrastructure upgrades to the University of Maine, Community Colleges, Maine Maritime Academy and K-12 schools
LD 1369 – Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to determine best practices for high quality after school services
LD 499 – STATE BUDGET

• Increased funding to higher education to reduce University tuition hikes and increase enrollment capacity at the Community Colleges
• Increased funding to local education to 55% as mandated by voters
• Enhanced important education services for blind and visually impaired children
  

INNOVATION AND GROWTH - R & D, Business and Entrepreneurs, Building Infrastructure, Energy and Renewables

LD 1796 – Bond package – (subject to voter approval) - will invest $55 million in research and development, drawing more than $50 million in matching funds for a total of more than $100 million invested in developing the economy of the future
LD 1851 – Enters Maine into the Northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in ten northeastern states by 10 percent in the next 12 years.
LD 499 – STATE BUDGET

• Provides Pine Tree Development Zone benefits to Maine manufacturing companies that wouldn’t otherwise qualify, but commit to expanding their business by hiring more people and making large capital investments
• Dedicates $4 million for Maine Technology Innovation Clusters
• Supports Realize!Maine initiative, to make Maine more attractive to young professionals through better career and social networking

LD 134 – Expands credits for consumers and businesses to install solar energy systems
LD 1810 – Protects small local businesses and traditional Maine communities by requiring “big box” retail stores to perform a community impact study before locating there

GOOD GOVERNMENT - Government Efficiency, Effective Investments, Reforming Taxes, Transparency and Ethics

LD 499 – STATE BUDGET

• Cuts spending in original budget proposal by $350 million
• Develops more sustainable long term funding in school and health care services
• Meets the citizen-voted mandate to increase state funding for public education to 55%

*LD 1058 – Requires lobbyists to disclose when they lobby officials in the executive branch, in addition to just legislators