1 p.m.

Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee; work sessions; room 436; State House

L.D. 1429, “An Act To Allow School Administrative Units To Establish Rules, Procedures and Guidelines for Properly Trained Staff To Carry a Concealed Handgun on School Property while Acting in Their Official Capacities”: enables school administrative units to establish rules, procedures and guidelines to allow a properly trained school employee to carry a concealed handgun on school property.

L.D. 1491, “An Act To Strengthen the Laws Regarding Certain Crimes Committed by a Person in a Position of Authority”: provides that a civil action based upon a sexual act that is committed or engaged in by an actor who has certain authority over the other person may be commenced at any time.

L.D. 1493, “An Act To Revise the Laws Concerning Criminal History Record Information and Intelligence and Investigative Information”: implements the recommendations of the Criminal Law Advisory Commission to revise the criminal history record information laws.

L.D. 1513, “Resolve, Directing the Department of Corrections, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor To Support the Statewide Coordinated Services District System”: requires the Department of Corrections, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor to fund, support the administration of and provide staffing for the statewide coordinated services district system to coordinate and implement service delivery initiatives to increase high school graduation rates, reduce the number of youth in the juvenile justice system, reduce child abuse and neglect, and increase employment opportunities for youth.

Advertisement

L.D. 1515, “An Act To Increase the Availability of Mental Health Services”: governor’s bill, authorizes the Commissioner of Corrections to transfer an adult jail inmate to a correctional facility for the purpose of providing the inmate with mental health services, accept placement in a mental health unit of a correctional facility for observation of an adult defendant who has been committed to the custody of the commissioner of Health and Human Services, accept placement in a mental health unit of a correctional facility for hospital-level care and treatment of an adult defendant who has been found incompetent to stand trial and medicate a person with mental illness residing in a correctional or detention facility without that person’s consent.

Education and Cultural Affairs Committee; work sessions; room 202; Cross Building

L.D. 1057, “An Act Related to Public Funding of Charter Schools”: requires that the commissioner of education recommend an annual amount of state funding for students enrolled in public charter schools, provides that The amount of state funding provided by the Department of Education for a student enrolled in a public charter school may not exceed the combined level of federal, state and local per-pupil funding that would have been provided for the student if they remained in their old school, outlaws discrimination based on this money, provides that virtual public charter schools may not receive state or local funding, except that state and local resources allocated through the General Purpose Aid for Local Schools program and provides that school administrative units are not responsible for the transportation costs for a student who resides within the school administrative unit but who enrolls in a public charter school.

L.D. 1128, “An Act To Provide for Greater Public Input and Local Control in the Chartering of Public Schools”: requires that any person, group or organization, prior to filing an application for a public charter school with the Maine Charter School Commission, must hold at least 3 public hearings in the region that would be affected by the operation of the public charter school; outlines the requirements for the meetings; provides that the Maine Charter School Commission may accept an application for a public charter school only if the organizers of the proposed public charter school meet each of the requirements and if the majority of the persons that attended the public hearings held by the organizers voted in favor of the proposed plan to operate a public charter school in the region; and requires the commissioner of Education to review the current funding laws and rules for public charter schools and to submit proposed legislation that provides options for funding public charter schools.

L.D. 1235, “An Act Regarding School Construction”: requires the State Board of Education to amend its rules regarding major capital school construction projects to allow a school administrative unit to begin the school construction planning process.

L.D. 1349, “An Act To Change the Process for Approval of Charter Schools”: designates the Legislature as the sole authorizer of public charter schools and virtual public charter schools in the state; amends the duties of the Maine Charter School Commission to advising the Legislature on approval or denial, and renewal or nonrenewal of public charter school applications, enter into contracts with authorized charter schools and monitor public charter schools.

Advertisement

L.D. 1481, “An Act To Ensure the Success of Maine Students”: emergency bill, establishes a moratorium on the authorization of new public charter schools until the state provides at least 55 percent of the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12.

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

L.D. 38, “Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 201: Provider of Last Resort Service Quality, a Major Substantive Rule of the Public Utilities Commission”: provides for legislative review of providers of last resort quality.

L.D. 646, “An Act To Remove the 100-megawatt Limit on Renewable Sources of Energy”: allows manufacturers and suppliers of alcoholic beverages and certain licensed sales representatives to purchase alcoholic beverages from a retail licensee’s existing stock for use exclusively in a consumer taste-testing event held at the retail licensee’s premises.

L.D. 964, “An Act To Encourage Community-based Renewable Energy”: removes the requirement that a participant in the Community-based Renewable Energy Act be located within the service territory of an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility with whom it contracts.

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.

Advertisement

L.D. 1013, “An Act To Create the Children’s Wireless Protection Act”: provides that a retailer may not sell at a cellphone unless the phone and its packaging bear a warning label relating to the potential health effects associated with nonthermal effects of cellular telephone radiation.

L.D. 1278, “An Act To Ensure Equitable Support for Long-term Energy Contracts”: provides that eligible costs and benefits related to transmission and distribution utilities in the state are determined annually based on a forecast and reconciled the following year.

L.D. 1442, “An Act To Establish a Pilot Natural Gas Utility District in Maine”: emergency bill, establishes the Kennebec Valley Gas District and requires the Public Utilities Commission to study and make recommendations regarding the need for further enactment of legislation to facilitate or promote the purposes of the establishment of municipal natural gas utility districts in the state.

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.

L.D. 1479, “An Act To Clarify Telecommunications Regulation Reform”: limits the amount of funds a provider of last resort service can receive from the state universal service fund and provides that the Public Utilities Commission may not reassign the provider of last resort service obligation without the consent of the current service provider.

Environment and Natural Resources Committee; work sessions; room 216; Cross Building

Advertisement

L.D. 331, “Resolve, To Expand Economic Development in the Town of Orrington by Releasing Certain Riverfront Land from State-imposed Environmental Restrictions”: directs the Department of Environmental Protection to release all department-imposed development restrictions on certain portions of the former HoltraChem Manufacturing Company site that are not targeted for cleanup.

L.D. 1147, “An Act To Protect Maine’s Scenic Character”: increases to 15 miles the jurisdictional distance for requiring visual impact assessments; creates a rebuttable presumption that proposed grid-scale wind energy development projects within 15 miles of Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, the Appalachian Trail, a federally designated wilderness area or the Allagash Wilderness Waterway will have an unreasonable adverse effect on a scenic resource; requires the Department of Environmental Protection to consider the cumulative impacts of development when permitting grid-scale wind energy development projects; and requires the Department of Environmental Protection to undertake rulemaking with respect to required decommissioning plans and directs updates of the great ponds studies done in 1987 and 1989.

L.D. 1302, “An Act To Amend the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act To Protect Water Quality”: prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing a permit for surface or open pit mining in a sulfide ore body; requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature recommending whether or not the prohibition should be repealed; requires that discharges of pollutants from the mining operation will not violate applicable water quality standards; prohibits the issuance of a permit if the mining operation will result in the contamination of groundwater or surface water; and requires financial assurance to be fulfilled through creation of a trust fund.

L.D. 1323, “An Act Regarding Wind Power Siting in the Unorganized Territory”: provides that before the Department of Environmental Protection may approve a proposal for a grid-scale wind energy development the Maine Land Use Planning Commission must certify that the area where the development will be located has been zoned for planned development.

Insurance and Financial Services Committee; public hearing; room 220; Cross Building

L.D. 1525, “An Act To Streamline Billing for Mental Health Services”: provides that insurers, health maintenance organizations and other administrators of health insurance claims may not require persons submitting those claims before Jan. 1, 2014 to use revised billing codes

Advertisement

Judiciary Committee; work sessions; room 438; State House

L.D. 19, “An Act To Facilitate Access to Information by Legislators”: requires an agency or official having custody of a public record to waive inspection, copying and mailing fees if the requester is a member of the Legislature who serves on the legislative committee having subject matter jurisdiction over the agency or official.

L.D. 104, “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Public Records”: eliminates the cap on the hourly rate a government entity may charge for a public records request and adds two exceptions to the Freedom of Access Act: email addresses obtained by the state for noninteractive communications and documents submitted to a municipal board of appeals concerning mental or physical disability of a person who is seeking a variance from land use regulations to accommodate the disability.

L.D. 217, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Public Access to Records Relating to Public-private Partnerships”: requires the Department of Transportation to publish public notice on the department’s publicly accessible website or in newspapers when it has determined that a public-private proposal and agreement meets the standard and to wait at least 30 days after the public notice has been published to submit the bill.

L.D. 258, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Meetings of Public Bodies”: authorizes the use of remote-access technology to conduct public proceedings; requires the body to adopt a policy that authorizes participation and establishes the circumstances under which a member may participate when not physically present and notice of any proceeding must be provided.

L.D. 420, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Public Records Exceptions”: clarifies that all the information provided upon request to the director of the Bureau of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services about toxic or hazardous substances in use or present at a specific location is public; requires that a report of the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in a labor dispute must be released 15 days after its receipt by the governor and the executive director of the Maine Labor Relations Board if the conciliation process is not successful; and repeals language authorizing the secretary of State to adopt rules relating to maintenance and use of data processing files concerning motor vehicles.

Advertisement

L.D. 619, “An Act To Prohibit the Sharing of Personal Information by State Agencies”: requires all public entities to treat an individual’s personal information as confidential if requested by the individual.

L.D. 684, “An Act To Make Bylaws and Minutes of Board Meetings of Publicly Funded Hospitals Subject to the Freedom of Access Act”: makes bylaws and minutes of board meetings of hospitals that receive public funds public records for purposes of the Freedom of Access Act.

L.D. 1091, “An Act To Require Nonprofit Corporations To Disclose the Salaries of Their Employees”: provides that salary information must be provided on a nonprofit corporation’s publicly accessible website, or through other comparable means, and must be provided to any member of the public upon request.

L.D. 1118, “An Act To Amend Public Access Laws To Improve Accountability for Public Funds by Making Public the Board Meetings of Hospitals Receiving Significant State Funding”: requires that meetings of a general hospital’s board of directors be public if that hospital receives more than 50 percent of its gross operating revenues in the form of payments and reimbursements from the state and federal government in its prior fiscal year.

L.D. 1216, “An Act To Amend the Freedom of Access Act”: requires agencies and officials to respond within five calendar days to any communication about public records; provides that failure to provide a written denial or refusal is considered a failure to allow inspection or copying and is subject to an appeal to Superior Court; and gives the court discretion to award reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses to the substantially prevailing plaintiff without making a finding of bad faith.

Marine Resources Committee; work sessions; room 206; Cross Building

Advertisement

L.D. 486, “An Act To Provide for the Effective Marketing and Promotion of Maine Lobster”: increases the surcharged on harvester and dealer licenses, changes the criteria for membership on the Lobster Promotion Council and requires the council to report annually to the joint standing committee, the Lobster Advisory Council and the lobster industry.

L.D. 939, “An Act To Restore Maine’s Groundfishing Industry”: adds $7 million for the purchase of federal groundfishing permits.

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

L.D. 1516, “An Act To Allow Certain Military Personnel To Administer Oaths and Perform the Duties of a Notary Public”: provides that commissioned and warrant officers of the state military forces may administer oaths for the purpose of the administration of military justice; provides that judge advocates and paralegals serving in the state military forces have the powers of a notary public in the performance of all notarial acts.

Transportation Committee; work sessions; room 126; State House

L.D. 429, “An Act To Authorize a GARVEE Bond for the Repair of Deficient Arterial State Highways and Bridges”: authorizes the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to issue $80 million in federally authorized grant anticipation revenue vehicle debt financing instruments, GARVEE bonds, to be repaid with federal highway funds.

Advertisement

L.D. 566, “Resolve, To Enhance and Encourage Economic Development of the Lower Penobscot River Basin by Improving Rail Transportation”: directs the Department of Transportation to conduct a study to determine the feasibility and cost of improving the railroad line from the City of Brewer to the Town of Bucksport and report by Feb. 1, 2014.

L.D. 1208, “Resolve, To Establish the Commuter and Passenger Rail Advisory Task Force”: emergency bill, directs the Department of Transportation to establish and convene the Commuter and Passenger Rail Advisory Task Force to evaluate and prioritize investments in commuter and passenger rail service and report by Feb. 28, 2014.

L.D. 1268, “An Act To Update Driver Education Requirements”: clarifies that an instruction permit may be issued only by the secretary of State; requires that the accompanying driver be at least 25 years of age; and provides that a person under 21 years of age may not apply for a license unless the person has completed 70 hours of driving, including 10 hours of night driving, while accompanied by a parent, guardian or licensed driver at least 25 years of age.

L.D. 1327, “An Act To Provide Greater Options for Transportation of Public School Students for Cocurricular Activities”: provides that a motor vehicle with a carrying capacity of 10 to 15 passengers operated by a driver with an appropriate license may be used for school activities other than conveying children to and from school.

L.D. 1392, “An Act To Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws”: removes the provision of law that allows the Secretary of State to issue vanity plates for radio plates as these plates now qualify as vanity plates; changes the headnote for the provision governing antique vehicle plates to “hobbyist registration plates”; and increases the fee for the Purple Heart motorcycle vanity plate to $25. It also clarifies that the Secretary of State is allowed to receive law enforcement intelligence and investigative information; adopts federal definitions from the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 pertaining to commercial motor vehicle operation; and adds foster relationships to the definition of an immediate family member.

L.D. 1460, “An Act To Update and Clarify the Laws Governing the Operation of Bicycles on Public Roadways”: amends and clarifies the laws regarding bicycles by clarifing current laws and definitions.

Advertisement

L.D. 1464, “An Act To Streamline the Laws Related to Transportation”: affords the Department of Transportation more flexibility to grant exceptions to the prohibition against allowing access to controlled access highways; amends transit-related provisions related to public transportation administration; and directs the Department of Transportation to work with the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis and the Revisor of Statutes to develop recommendations regarding reorganizing or updating.

L.D. 1465, “An Act To Increase Accountability and Efficiency of Independent Entities Involved in Separate Aspects of the State’s Transportation Systems”: proposes to consolidate under one agency those independent agencies and quasi-governmental agencies that are established under state law and that are involved in or manage, control or oversee separate aspects of the state’s transportation systems.

L.D. 1467, “Resolve, To Establish a Demonstration Project To Promote Economic Development in the Forest Products Industry”: requires the commissioner of Transportation to establish a demonstration project in the Town of Ashland for the purpose of demonstrating cost-effective ways of promoting economic development in the forest products industry.

Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee; work sessions; room 437; State House

L.D. 53, “An Act To Increase Voting Access”: provides that a person may vote by absentee ballot in the presence of a municipal clerk until the close of business on the day before election day.

L.D. 227, “An Act Concerning High-stakes Beano”: eliminates restrictions on high stakes beano and allows high stakes electronic beano for Penobscot nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Aroostook Band of Micmacs and the Passamaquoddy tribe.

Advertisement

L.D. 511, “An Act To Implement the National Popular Vote for President”: under this bill, all of the state’s electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and would take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes, that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President, which is 270 of 538.

L.D. 573, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Restrict the Voting Privileges of Persons Incarcerated for Murder or Class A Crimes”: removes the right to vote for people convicted of crimes punishable by more than 10 years.

L.D. 1042, “An Act To Increase the Opportunities for Taste-testing Events for On-premises Liquor Licensees”: allows on-premises liquor licensees to conduct up to three taste-testing events per month.

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

L.D. 1518, “An Act Concerning Liquor Licensing Laws for Holders of 2 Licenses”: removes the prohibition of a premise to be licensed as an off-premise retail licensee and the remaining portion of the same premise to be licensed as a Class A restaurant.

1:30 p.m.

Advertisement

Health and Human Services Committee; public hearing; room 209; Cross Building

L.D. 1232, “An Act To Maintain the Integrity of the Fund for a Healthy Maine”: removes the provision that allows the Legislature to approve transfers from the Fund for a Healthy Maine to the General Fund.

Insurance and Financial Affairs Committee; work sessions; room 220; Cross Building

L.D. 1367, “An Act To Require Health Insurance Carriers and the MaineCare Program To Cover the Cost of Transition Services To Bridge the Gap between High School and Independence”: requires the Department of Health and Human Services to require providers of behavioral and mental health services for children to establish or participate in so-called bridge teams for the purpose of ensuring continuity of care for students receiving behavioral and mental health services who are likely to be in need of such services following graduation.

L.D. 1413, “An Act To Clarify Limitations on Homeowner’s Insurance Policies Regarding Claims on Vacant Properties”: requires an insurer, upon receiving information that a property used as a residence and insured by the insurer is vacant, to send a statement to the insured explaining the policy regarding vacant property and defining “vacant.”

L.D. 1466, “An Act To Amend the Law Governing Provider Contracts with Insurance Companies”: places certain requirements on contracts for preferred provider arrangements, which are contracts between a health insurance carrier and a health care provider in which the provider agrees to provide services to a health plan enrollee whose plan benefits include incentives for the enrollee to use the services of that provider.

Advertisement

L.D. 1525, “An Act To Streamline Billing for Mental Health Services”: provides that insurers, health maintenance organizations and other administrators of health insurance claims may not require persons submitting those claims before Jan. 1, 2014 to use revised billing codes.

Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee; work session; room 437; State House

L.D. 1504, “Resolve, Directing the Adjutant General of the State To Ensure the Maine Code of Military Justice Addresses Sexual Trauma in the Military”: directs the adjutant general of the State to conduct an assessment of the Maine Code of Military Justice to ensure that these laws are comparable to federal laws in addressing the adequate investigation, prosecution and adjudication of sexual assault by members of the Maine National Guard and the appropriate treatment of victims of sexual assault.

2 p.m.

Judiciary Committee; work session; room 438; State House

L.D. 1511, “An Act Regarding Coordinated Access to Public Records of State Agencies”: directs the Department of the Attorney General to review the feasibility of developing a centralized system that includes a single website address and a single e-mail address for the public to use to make requests for public records of all state agencies and report by Jan. 5, 2014.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.