9 a.m.

Environment and Natural Resources Committee; public hearings; room 216; Cross Building

L.D. 1212, “An Act To Prohibit Coal Tar Pavement Products”: prohibits the sale and use of coal tar pavement products.

L.D. 1340, “An Act To Ensure Maine’s Preparedness for Hazardous Oil Spills”: requires a person transporting crude oil by rail or highway to pay an assessment of 3 cents per barrel of crude oil being transported and imposes a surcharge of up to 50 percent of the assessment if the balance in the fund is reduced to $2,000,000 or less.

L.D. 1362, “Resolve, To Establish a Moratorium on the Transportation of Tar Sands”: establishes a 2-year moratorium on the transportation of petroleum products derived from bituminous sands and directs the Department of Environmental Protection to study the effects of an oil spill.

L.D. 1427, “An Act To Establish a Resource and Development Coordinating Council”: establishes the Resource and Development Coordinating Council to promote interagency coordination regarding natural resource management, land use and development.

L.D. 1430, “An Act To Clarify the Permitted Use of Aquatic Pesticides”: requires all unintended and an incidental discharges of pesticides to waters to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

L.D. 1483, “An Act To Promote and Enhance State Policy To Preserve and Support Existing Methods of Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste”: directs the Department of Environmental Protection impose on licensed landfill a solid waste stabilization assessment on all solid waste; deposit solid waste stabilization assessment funds in a solid waste stabilization account; disburse the funds from the solid waste stabilization account to qualified municipalities and recycling and composting programs; and develop a process to maximize the use of existing incineration facilities.

Health and Human Services Committee; work sessions; room 209; Cross Building

L.D. 711, “An Act To Facilitate Patient Education”:

L.D. 753, “An Act To Prohibit the Sale of High-caffeine Energy Drinks to Persons under 18 Years of Age”:

L.D. 754, “An Act To Encourage Transparency in the Disclosing of the Ingredients in Vaccinations for Children”:

L.D. 881, “An Act To Improve the Unused Pharmaceutical Disposal Program”:

L.D. 882, “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Confidentiality of Health Care Information To Enhance Public Safety”:

State and Local Government Committee; public hearings; room 214; Cross Building

L.D. 1405, “An Act To Repeal the Laws Establishing the Cumberland County Recreation Center and Transfer Authority to Cumberland County”: transfers the rights and responsibilities of the Cumberland County Recreation Center to Cumberland County.

L.D. 1408, “An Act To Amend the Laws Relating to Secession by a Municipality from a County”: emergency bill, requires that the municipality looking to secede from a county receive the approval from the Legislature before the municipal officers hold a referendum to have the voters approve the secession.

9:15 a.m.

State and Local Government Committee; public hearings; room 214; Cross Building

L.D. 1084, “An Act To Amend the Androscoggin County Charter”: proposes to amend the Androscoggin County charter.

L.D. 1454, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Establish a Unicameral Legislature”: replaces the Senate and the House of Representatives with a unicameral Legislature made up of 151 members, referred to as Senators, who serve 4-year terms beginning in 2018.

L.D. 1459, “Resolve, Directing the Maine Library of Geographic Information Board To Convene a Stakeholder Group To Study the Feasibility of Using Maine’s GeoLibrary GeoPortal for a Pilot Project That Involves Geographic Information Systems Trail Mapping”: directs the Maine Library of Geographic Information Board to convene a stakeholder group to study the feasibility of using Maine’s GeoLibrary GeoPortal for a pilot project that involves geographic information systems trail mapping and report by Jan. 1, 2014.

10 a.m.

Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee; public hearings; room 436; State House

L.D. 1159, “An Act To Address Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution”: broadens the definition of “human trafficking offense” to include the Maine Criminal Code crimes of aggravated sex trafficking and sex trafficking if accompanied by the withholding of government-issued immigration or identification documents or committed as part of a scheme to compel participation in prostitution or labor using specific types of threats.

L.D. 1289, “An Act To Create an Animal Abuser Registry”: requires a person convicted of animal cruelty under Maine’s criminal law or convicted of a comparable offense in another state to register annually as an animal abuser with the county sheriff for a period of 15 years.

L.D. 1438, “An Act To Implement Certain Recommendations of the Criminal Law Advisory Commission Relative to the Maine Bail Code, Statutory Post-conviction Review, the Maine Criminal Code and a Related Statute”: implements the Criminal Law Advisory Commission recommendations regarding stays of execution meetings, post-conviction reviews or post-sentencing proceedings, amends the crime of visual sexual aggression against a child, provides community service work as an option when an offender defaults on a fine, and adds people who are researching at a school of pharmacology are authorized to have scheduled drugs.

L.D. 1439, “An Act To Repeal Certain Maine Criminal Code Provisions Addressing So-called Bath Salts Containing Synthetic Hallucinogenic Drugs and Instead To Define Them as Schedule W Drugs”: repeals provisions criminalizing synthetic hallucinogenic drugs and instead classifies these drugs as schedule W drugs.

Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee; work sessions; room 211; Cross Building

L.D. 1115, “Resolve, Directing the Public Utilities Commission To Convene a Stakeholder Group To Study Reimbursement for Installation of Utility Poles”:

L.D. 1293, “An Act To Create the Presque Isle Utilities District”:

L.D. 1342, “An Act To Ensure Just and Reasonable Sewer Utility Rates”:

L.D. 1348, “An Act To Encourage School Administrative Units To Increase Their Energy Savings”:

Taxation Committee; public hearings; room 127; State House

L.D. 816, “An Act To Reduce the Property Tax Burden and Improve the Circuitbreaker Program”: improves the Circuitbreaker Program by simplifying the determination of eligibility, transitioning the application period to the income tax filing period, permitting application to be made through the Department of Health and Human Services’ integrated eligibility system and ensuring an adequate source of funding.

L.D. 956, “An Act To Improve and Simplify the Application for Benefits under the Circuitbreaker Program”: simplifies the income calculation of the Circuitbreaker Program by excluding from household income the income of dependents; changes the time for filing an application; expands eligibility under the program by increasing maximum income thresholds to $80,000 for single-member households and $110,000 for households with two or more members.

L.D. 1326, “An Act To Prevent Youth Tobacco Use”: emergency bill, requires that all tobacco products be taxed at rates equivalent to the current tax on cigarettes.

L.D. 1406, “An Act To Reduce Youth Smoking and Improve Public Health by Increasing Revenue from the Cigarette Tax to the Fund for a Healthy Maine and To Pay Debts Owed to Health Care Providers”: emergency bill, increases the cigarette tax by $1.50 per package to $3.50, to help deter the initial use of cigarettes by youth.

Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee; public hearings; room 437; State House

L.D. 1271, “An Act To Increase Transparency in Reporting of Party Committees, Political Action Committees and Ballot Question Committees”: makes changes to campaign finance laws by authorizing a governor-elect to establish a committee for the purpose of financing inaugural activities; authorizes enhanced penalties for violations occuring shortly before election day; requires party committees, political action committees and ballot committees to report contributions aggregating $1,000 or more and expenditures of $1,000 or more.

L.D. 1299, “An Act To Amend Campaign Finance Laws”: prohibits nonregistered ballot question committees; broadens the exception for news media to cover cable television systems and for news media owned by relatives of a candidate except the candidate’s spouse or domestic partner; and imposes limits on the amounts of money or contributions of services received by candidates in a recount of an election; and clarifies other details.

L.D. 1309, “An Act To Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act”: doubles the current seed money cap for participating Senate and House candidates and removes the seed money requirement for gubernatorial candidates; replaces the Maine Clean Election Act matching funds system with a system of optional supplemental funding for participating Maine Clean Election Act candidates who collect additional qualifying contributions; and establishes new baseline initial distribution amounts.

L.D. 1422, “An Act To Establish a Nonpartisan Primary and a Presidential Primary Election System and Instant Run-off Voting for State and Federal Candidates”: amends the presidential nomination process in the state; creates an instant run-off voting method of determining winners in elections for president of the U.S., U.S. senator, representative to Congress, governor, state senator and state representative; and removes the requirement that a voter must file an application to change party enrollment prior to Jan. 1 to be eligible to file a petition as a candidate in that election year.

L.D. 1494, “An Act To Alter the Distribution of Maine Clean Election Act Funds”: decreases the number of qualifying contributions required for legislative and gubernatorial candidates to collect to become certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates.

1 p.m.

Educational and Cultural Affairs Committee; public hearings; room 202; Cross Building

L.D. 1184, “An Act Regarding Special Education Requirements for School Administrative Units That Do Not Operate Any Schools”: provides that the responsibility for compliance with special education requirements for children with disabilities resides with the school the student attends.

L.D. 1412, “An Act To Create an Educational Collaborative To Implement a Program That Enables Career and Technical Education Students To Earn College Credits while Attending High School”: emergency bill, establishes a collaborative of publicly supported educational institutions to implement a program that enables career and technical education students to earn college credits while attending high school.

L.D. 1431, “An Act To Support School Nutrition and Expand the Local Foods Economy”: emergecny bill, requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Education to administer programs to support the expansion and coordination of the use of fresh local foods in public school food service programs.

L.D. 1441, “An Act To Align the Formation of Governing Boards of Career and Technical Education Regions with That of Other Public Schools”: requires the members of the cooperative boards of career and technical education regions to be elected and requires the state Board of Education to establish by rule election procedures and standards that the school boards of the units within each region must then choose among and adopt.

Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee; public hearings; room 211; Cross Building

L.D. 797, “An Act To Strengthen Basic Telephone Service”: proposes to strengthen basic telephone service in order to ensure that all consumers have access to a certain minimum level of telecommunications service.

L.D. 965, “An Act To Improve Maine’s Underground Facility Damage Prevention Program”: establishes the Dig Safe Advisory Board for the purpose of improving the protection of underground facilities.

L.D. 1456, “An Act To Promote Local or Community-based Generation Projects”: requires that all meters installed by an electric transmission and distribution utility be electromechanical; creates a new class of electricity generators; and directs the Public Utilities Commission to develop a set of recommendations to encourage the development of decentralized microgrids or community-based or neighborhood-based clean energy generation facilities.

L.D. 1457, “An Act To Amend the Charter of the South Berwick Sewer District”: amends the charter of the South Berwick Sewer District by changing the annual meeting to the first Monday in March and increasing the compensation for trustees to $350 per year and the compensation for the chair to $500 per year.

L.D. 1468, “An Act To Establish the High-efficiency Biomass Pellet Boiler Rebate Program and the Home Heating Conversion Fund”: establishes the High-efficiency Biomass Pellet Boiler Rebate Program to give rebates to owners or occupants of buildings who install high-efficiency wood pellet boilers or heating systems in the buildings.

Health and Human Services Committee; work sessions; room 209; Cross Building

L.D. 755, “An Act To Require Estimates of Patient Costs Prior to Treatment”:

L.D. 846, “An Act To Improve and Modernize the Authority of Local Health Officers”:

L.D. 990, “An Act To Require Public Disclosure of Health Care Prices”:

L.D. 1032, “Resolve, To Direct the Department of Health and Human Services To Convene a Task Force To Study the Incidence of Cancer in the State”:

L.D. 1065, “An Act Regarding Patient-directed Care at the End of Life”:

L.D. 1155, “An Act To Ensure the Integrity of Neuropsychological Testing Materials”:

State and Local Government Committee; work sessions; room 214; Cross Building

L.D. 1158, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Increase the Length of Terms of Senators to 4 Years”: increases the length of the terms of state senators to four years, beginning with the senators elected in 2014.

L.D. 1279, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Provide for the Popular Election of the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer of State”: provides for direct popular election beginning in 2014 of the secretary of State and the treasurer of State biennially and the attorney general every four years.

L.D. 1312, “An Act To Create a Succession and Knowledge Transfer Plan for State Government”: directs the Director of the Bureau of Human Resources to establish a plan to develop a pool of qualified internal candidates to fill vacancies at the managerial and senior staff levels within state agencies.

L.D. 1338, “An Act To Prohibit State and Local Governments from Contracting with Corporations That Engage in Business in Known Terrorist States”: excludes any business entity or individual from doing business with the State, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Maritime Academy or a municipality if that business entity or individual does business with any company, or any subsidiary, affiliate or parent of any company, that does business with a country designated by federal law as a state sponsor of terrorism.

L.D. 1357, “An Act To Support Maine Businesses through State Purchasing”: requires that the state award the contract or purchase to an in-state bidder offering commodities produced or manufactured or construction and public works contracts in the state as long as the bid is within 2.5 percent of the otherwise best-value bidder.

L.D. 1369, “An Act To Change the Way Legislators Are Paid”: changes the pay to senators and representatives in the first year of the legislative session to $20,000 and the pay in the second year of the legislative session to $20,000 and removes the cost-of-living adjustment beginning Nov. 30, 2014 and removes the provision of health insurance to legislators and allows them to purchase health insurance for themselves and for their dependents at the rate at which the state purchases health insurance.

Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee; public hearings; room 437; State House

L.D. 1415, “Resolve, To Allow Licensed Clubs To Allow Their Members To Purchase Tickets to a Scheduled Function at the Time of the Function”: allows a member of an organization renting a club licensed for on-premises consumption of alcohol with catering privileges for a prearranged function to purchase tickets at the door of the club.

L.D. 1447, “An Act To Grow the Maine Economy by Promoting Maine’s Small Breweries and Wineries”: sets the number of special taste-testing festival licenses statewide at five per year, and requires four of the five licenses to be issued to a trade association that represents breweries or wineries.
 

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