Legislative Update

December 5, 2011

All eyes at the State House are focusing on the upcoming January session. The 125th Second Regular session in a two-year election cycle is referred to as the “short” session. Legislators try to wrap up their business in a four month timeframe, adjourning sometime in April. This allows them a few weeks to return to their legislative districts before the June Primary.

As you probably know from all the advertising and talk of the Presidential race, 2012 is a big election year. In addition to the Presidential primary, in Maine we will have a full slate of candidates vying for their party nomination on the June ballot. These include: U.S. Senate seat; both U.S. House of Representatives seats; and all 151 Maine House of Representatives and 35 Maine Senators. There may also be issues on the June ballot, such as citizen referendums or bonding requests for the voters to decide. To learn more about the upcoming primaries go to: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming.html

The Legislative Council, which is comprised of the ten majority and minority leaders from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, reviews all legislators’ requests for legislation to determine whether or not the bill should be introduced. Any new bill requests to be considered during the Second Session of the Maine Legislature are limited by the Constitution to budgetary matters, bills that are derived from legislative committee studies, bills in the governor’s call, and legislation of an emergency nature.

As reported last month, there were a total of 284 bills screened by the leadership. Of those, nine bills were tabled and 117 approved. A list of bills accepted for introduction into the January session may be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/action-on-bill-requests.

Legislators could appeal the initial decision by the Council. The appeals were heard by the Legislative Council on November 17th. A list of the appeal bills accepted by the Council into the January session may viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/appeal-bills-accepted.

In addition to the bills introduced by the members of the Legislature, the state agencies and the Governor’s office will submit legislation to be considered in the Second Regular Session. The agency bills are pre-filed and may be viewed at: http://www.maine.gov/legis/lio/125publications/125R2agencybillsbysubject.pdf.

To view the complete list of bills that were carried over from the First Session of the 125th Legislature, go to: http://tinyurl.com/final-carry-over-list.

The LePage Administration is busy on a number of policy fronts. His economic team has held meetings around the state with business leaders to identify the impediments to job creation. Governor LePage wants to assess the economic and regulatory climate in Maine and put forth any necessary changes in the way government addresses these issues, with the focus being on efficiency.

As one of his moves to create greater efficiency in state government, Governor LePage has formed a working group to address the role and functions of the State Planning Office. LePage wants to replace it with the Office of Policy and Management. The proposal is subject to legislative approval.

In more recent media reports, we understand that the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee has received some negative fiscal updates regarding the budget forecasts. Of primary concern is the Department of Health and Human Services, where they are predicting an estimated shortfall of more than $121 million. The Legislature will need to enact a Supplemental Budget to address this. We can expect a significant amount of attention on the budget as the session approaches and Maine tries to handle the state specific results of the depressed economy.

On a happier note, please enjoy the great weather and spend time with family and friends – Happy Holidays!

— Cheryl Timberlake
Executive Vice President

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