Legislative Process

The Massachusetts Legacy

The State of Maine, following the earliest phase of its history as the Province of Maine, was governed under the laws of Massachusetts from 1677 to 1820 as a political subdivision known as the District of Maine. Upon separation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1820, Maine adopted a provision in its Constitution which continued these laws in force, with the exception of those which were inconsistent with the condition of the State or repugnant to the Constitution, until they should be altered or repealed by the Legislature. The legislative power of the new State was vested under the Constitution in "a House of Representatives, and in a Senate, each to have a negative on the other, and both to be styled the Legislature of Maine." The laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, continued in force by the Act of Separation and the Constitution of Maine, were substantially adopted by the Maine Legislature as the laws of 1821, following their revision by the Board of Jurisprudence appointed by the first Governor.

Statehood

The records of the legislative branch of State government as it has functioned since 1820 constitute an indigenous body of official documentation which evidences much about the political, economic, military and social life of the people of the State; and the critical events, conflicts and problems with which the State has been involved. The Legislature, in meeting its constitutional responsibilities for determining State policies and laws to meet these ever changing conditions has devised a system of internal operations and methods of procedure that enable it to effectively perform its trust. The legislative process, though necessarily concerned with law as the end product, by virtue of the records that it generates provides a valuable insight into the means by which such laws were brought into being and serves as an indispensable source of documentation concerning the workings of the Legislature and of its accountability in responding as an institution to the problems and needs of the State and its people. The proceedings of the Legislature since statehood have been conducted at annual sessions which were held at Portland through 1831, Augusta through 1880, with biennial sessions being held in the odd years from 1881 to 1975. Sessions of the Legislature since 1977 are held annually; and may be augmented as necessary by the traditional special session convened under the Constitution to deal with special problems.

The Modern Process

A basic knowledge of the law-making process of the State is essential to an understanding of Maine legislative records and materials available for research at the Maine State Archives. Brief summaries of the process may be found in the leaflets published by the League of Women Voters of Maine: This is Your Legislature and How a Bill Becomes a Law in Maine; and in An Overview of the Legislative Process published by the Director of Legislative Research in the Manual for Legislative Drafting (1980). The Joint Rules of the Legislature and rules of the House and Senate are found in the Senate and House Registers published biennially by the Clerk of the House for each Legislature.

The provisions of organic law governing the exercise of the legislative power of the State are set forth in the most recent codification of the Constitution of the State of Maine made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. The text of the most recent codification of the document published by the Secretary of State in pamphlet form for public distribution and includes slip copies of such amendments that may have been subsequently approved by the people at referendum and that have not yet been codified. The history and disposition of each codified amendment is displayed in the Placement Table published with the codification.

The unique personal role of legislators in the institutional process of law-making generally requires some familiarity on the part of the researcher with the legislative background of individual legislators in order to effectively utilize legislative records and materials that are available for research purposes. Such information may be found in the card index maintained by the State Law Library on the legislative service of individual members of the Legislature from 1820 to present or in the series of "biographical sketches" of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives privately published by the Kennebec Journal for each Legislature. Biographies of the presiding officers of the two houses of the Legislature are available in companion volumes compiled by James H. Mundy, Presidents of the Senate of Maine from 1820 and Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives from 1820, published by the State in 1979 and 1981, respectively.

Insight into the part played by the State House in the legislative history of the State of Maine is provided in the booklet The Maine State House, A Brief History and Guide by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. and Frank A. Beard, published by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Page updated December 8, 2005

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Legislative Process