The Maine Municipal Association and the Maine Press Association forged a legislative compromise Tuesday that will help preserve government accountability and a significant financial resource for newspapers across the state.

LD 2042 would have eliminated the requirement that cities and towns publish public notices in newspapers — as long as the notices were posted on their publicly accessible municipal websites and they contained all of the information required in newspaper notices.

The Legislature’s state and local government committee unanimously approved an amended version Tuesday — negotiated and drafted by the two associations — that leaves in place the requirement to publish notices in a printed newspaper.

However, it gives municipalities the option to first post notices on a newspaper’s website or on mainenotices.com.

Established by statute in 2014, the Maine Public Notices website contains all legal notices published in Maine newspapers and is maintained by the MPA at its own expense. Under Maine law, municipalities and other state, county and some quasi-government agencies must publish legal notices a week or more in advance of board meetings, public hearings, requests for proposals and other events.

Proponents of the amended bill said it addresses a primary concern of town officials in Farmington, where it has become challenging to schedule the timely publication of public notices in The Franklin Journal, which is now published biweekly on Fridays.

“The main problem was timing,” said Mark Stodder, a member of the Maine Press Association who also chairs the Community Advisory Board of the Maine Trust for Local News.

Committee members praised the associations for reaching a compromise, but some legislators noted that the amended bill doesn’t address cost concerns raised by some proponents of the original legislation.

“I’m going to support this,” said Rep. Randall Greenwood, R-Wales, adding that he expects the cost issue to resurface in future legislation.

The committee discussed whether the bill should be amended further to include other government sectors, but members decided to limit the legislation to municipal offices as proposed and see how it works before expanding the leeway.

“I think this is probably the best way to go,” said Rep. Will Tuell, R-East Machias.

The bill will return to committee in the coming weeks for technical language review before being referred for votes to the Senate and House.

A FINANCIAL RESOURCE

Public notices are a “substantial” financial resource for newspapers, Stodder said.

Municipal legal notices published in the newspapers of the Maine Trust for Local News generate about $400,000 annually, said Stefanie Manning, president and publisher. The trust publishes four dailies — Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, Portland Press Herald and Sun Journal —and more than a dozen weekly or biweekly newspapers.

Cost was a factor for some supporters of the original bill, including the Maine Municipal Association, according to written testimony submitted on behalf of its 70-member legislative policy committee in January.

“While transparency and public notice are essential to local government, (the committee) believes the time has come to modernize practices that reflect how residents access information,” wrote Rebecca Lambert, the association’s municipal issues specialist. “The newspaper notice requirement places an unnecessary financial burden on local governments at a time when the stress on local budgets is mounting.”

The Maine Mayors Coalition, representing Auburn, Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland, Rockland, Saco, Sanford, South Portland, Waterville and Westbrook, also submitted written testimony supporting the original bill.

The coalition noted various changes in newspaper publishing practices and said “giving municipalities the option of posting on our own websites would be an efficient and cost-effective way to disseminate public notices.”

Winthrop Town Manager Anthony Wilson, who identified himself as a former newspaper journalist, offered more pointed testimony.

“While the press lobby will oppose this bill, the question before you should be whether municipalities should continue to be required (to) use taxpayer dollars to subsidize a private industry as the primary means of public notice when more effective, no-cost options are available,” Wilson wrote.

PROTECT AGAINST CORRUPTION

Dan MacLeod, executive editor of the Bangor Daily News, urged the committee to vote against the original bill to preserve government transparency and protection from corruption. He’s also president of the press association.

“Public notices have been protecting towns and taxpayers for hundreds of years,” MacLeod wrote. “These notices include requests for proposals by towns throughout Maine to solicit bids on crucial work that taxpayers fund — such as repairing roads, or bridges or schools. They’ve been published through independent media (for literally centuries) to protect the public by limiting opportunities for cronyism and corruption.”

Rebecca and Peter Irving, residents of Northfield, also opposed the original bill.

“We live in a very rural area,” they wrote. “Older folks and others often have great difficulty accessing the internet; however everyone generally obtains and reads our local, weekly paper cover to cover — including local public notices. Our town meetings require participation. Notice through the paper ensures everyone has that opportunity.”