The Appropriations Committee may be reporting out the two-year state budget within the week. As the Bulletin went to press, Committee members were conducting partisan caucuses and discussions between caucuses in an effort to reach a unanimous report.

After nearly two months of public hearings and work sessions, the Appropriations Committee’s recommended $3.8 billion biennial state budget was within $30 million of balance. It is that $30 million of additional cuts which is the subject of the end-of-the-week negotiations.

Up to this last round of negotiations, with one outstanding exception, the Committee has been very mindful of the impact of legislative actions on the property tax.

General Purpose Aid to Education (GPA). The Governor’s proposed budget provided a 1% increase to GPA for FY 98 and a 2% increase for FY 99. The Committee’s proposal increases each year’s allocation by a percentage point and adds another pot of money to "cushion" those school units that would lose GPA support even at the 2% (FY 98) and 3% (FY 99) level of increase. Compared to the Governor’s proposal, the Committee’s approach would cost $23 million more in state revenues over the biennium.

Teacher Retirement. The Governor’s proposed budget would have required local school budgets to pay for a part of the Teachers’ Retirement premium beginning in FY 99. That proposal would have "saved" the state (and cost the communities) $4.8 million that fiscal year. The Committee has rejected that proposal.

Tree Growth. The Committee’s draft budget now proposes to fully fund the Tree Growth reimbursement program. This change costs the state an additional $7.3 million over the biennium, compared to flat funding the reimbursement program as originally proposed.

Community Corrections. The Governor’s proposed budget would have flat funded the Community Corrections account. The Committee’s draft budget adds $780,000 to Community Corrections, which is the account that reimburses the counties for housing state prisoners. According to the Committee’s staff analysts, the $780,000 is not enough to fully fund the reimbursement program, but at the same time the Committee has voted to repeal the sentence in state law that permits the state to provide less than full reimbursement to the counties. With that sentence repealed, the state would be obliged to provide full reimbursement regardless of the level of appropriation.

Other Positive Changes. In several other areas, the Committee’s recommendations have been positive from a property tax perspective. The Committee rejected the Governor’s proposal to stop indexing the income threshold for Circuit Breaker eligibility for the elderly, a program that provides property tax relief. If the income threshold is not indexed, minor cost-of-living increases to a household’s income could result in that household no longer being eligible for property tax relief. The Committee restored $143,000 to the Maine Rural Water Association, which provides training and other support services to small water districts. Also restored was $500,000 for the Temporary Housing Assistance Program, which provides emergency housing relief through the CAP agencies, and is an additional resource for municipal General Assistance recipients.

The Remaining Problem. There remains one glaring problem in the proposed budget. The Governor’s proposal, which the Committee has not yet corrected, would freeze meals and lodging tax revenues out of  the pool from which Revenue Sharing is provided. By simply calling the meals and lodging tax a "gross receipts" tax rather than a "sales" tax, the state "saves" and the municipalities lose $5.2 million over the next biennium, and presumably incrementally larger amounts during all the biennia to follow. This sleight-of-hand is an example of the many structural changes the Legislature has enacted in recent years that have collectively resulted in a significant over-reliance on the property tax. Although the state’s budget committee, as is apparent from its work thus far, appears genuinely interested in rooting out and eliminating those gimmicks that shift costs to the property tax, this proposal remains on the table.

Representative Murphy, a sponsor of LD 242, An Act Requiring Reimbursement to Municipalities for Fire and Rescue on the Maine Turnpike, asked the Transportation Committee to table the bill to allow time for municipal officials and the Turnpike Authority to meet and examine the actual cost municipalities incur providing emergency service on the turnpike.

Over the next several weeks MMA will be collecting the necessary data on costs in preparation for talks with representatives of the Turnpike Authority.

MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on

Thursday, March 13, 1997

MMA Conference Room

12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. - Special Strategy Session

1:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Regular Meeting

The special strategy session has been scheduled for LPC members to discuss the development of a grass-roots educational effort to promote MMA’s property tax relief proposal. LPC members who plan to attend should contact Tina Means (1-800-452-8786 or 623-8428) by Tuesday, March 11th.

The regular LPC meeting will run from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

LD 870, An Act to Protect Pension Benefits of Participating Local District Members, would prohibit a Maine State Retirement System participating local district member from ever making its employer contribution lower than that in effect on October 1, 1997.

The bill also proposes to establish a contractual right of the employee to receive the minimum amount of benefits available on their date of hire instead of when they are vested in the retirement system.

The bill, besides imposing significant extra costs on municipalities, does not take into account the method used to determine the employer’s contribution towards retirement. The employer’s contribution is determined annually based on an actuarial analysis that examines each fund’s retirement liabilities, its experience, and current economic conditions. Using these factors, the contribution rate is determined so that an adequate fund balance will be available for current and future retirement liabilities.

For some municipal participating local districts the employer contribution has fluctuated from 19% to 25% annual contribution depending on the actuary’s determination of the amount of funds needed to ensure adequate resources are available when the employee retires.

If 1997 was determined to be a year requiring a high employer contribution, employers would be locked into that rate even in the years the actuaries have determined the contribution may be lower. Municipalities could find themselves paying more than needed into the retirement pool.

Supporters of the bill claimed this minimum contribution is needed to ensure the retirement benefits of employees if a participating local district were to elect to leave the Maine retirement system and join another plan; in effect preventing a participating local district from joining a plan that would offer a lower employer contribution rate.

MMA opposed the bill pointing out the complexity of determining the annual contribution rate and the effect on future payments into the retirement system. The establishment of a minimum rate base at an arbitrary point in time fails to consider the actuarial science of determining the contribution needed today to ensure a payout 25 to 30 years down the road.

The Tree Growth bills heard by the Taxation Committee were discussed in a work session on Tuesday and reported out of Committee as follows:

LDs 645 and 796, both of which would have restored full funding to Tree Growth reimbursement, received unanimous "Ought Not to Pass" reports. The Committee’s action was in response to the fact that full funding for Tree Growth reimbursement has been recommended by the Governor in the biennial budget and the proposal has been unanimously endorsed by the Appropriations Committee. Since the issue is being addressed in the budget bill, separate bills achieving the same purpose would serve no function.

LD 631 would phase out the Tree Growth program over a five-year period. The Committee voted unanimously "Ought Not to Pass" on the proposal.

LD 972 would structurally change the Tree Growth reimbursement system whereby the municipalities would assess Tree Growth land at the undeveloped acreage rate and the landowners would receive payments effectively representing the reimbursement currently issued, at underfunded levels to the municipalities. The State Tax Assessor reportedly provided information to the Committee that the fiscal note on the bill would include the costs of issuing payments to approximately 20,000 Tree Growth landowners, rather than just 500 municipalities. The Committee voted out LD 972 "Ought Not to Pass" by a lopsided majority. Several Committee members indicated some degree of support for linking up the Legislature and the landowner beneficiaries of the program more directly, most notably Representative Ken Gagnon (Waterville), who did not join the majority on the "ought not to pass" report.

LD 357. Municipalities that lose all their Tree Growth reimbursement because they file their Municipal Valuation Returns after deadline would find relief in LD 357, which would provide a 30-day grace period and a one-year period of merely reduced penalty. By a lopsided majority, LD 357 was reported out "Ought Not to Pass." At least one member of the Committee is working on an amendment of the bill that would provide a very limited period of extension under certain circumstances or at a certain level of penalty.

The Taxation Committee conducted public hearings Wednesday afternoon on a dozen bills, almost half of which have a direct bearing on municipal government.

The first focus of the afternoon was the Real Estate Transfer Tax. The Transfer Tax is collected at the County Registry of Deeds and is currently assessed at the rate of $4.40 per $1,000 of the value of a real estate transaction. The tax has been in existence as a state tax since 1967. Until 1983, county government retained 15% of the collected tax, and the remainder went to the state’s General Fund. In the early 1980’s, the county share was dropped to 10%, with 90% accruing to the state’s General Fund. 50% of the General Fund revenues (45% of the total tax collected) was diverted to housing opportunity programs for low-income people under the management of the Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA). The amount of the General Fund revenues distributed to the housing programs has been manipulated by the Legislature in various ways over the last five years. In FY 96, the total annual revenues generated by the tax was approximately $10.5 million, with 10% going to counties, 67.5% going to the General Fund, and 22.5% going to the Housing Authority.

Three bills addressed the transfer tax with the goal of increasing the share of the tax remaining with the county and decreasing the share running to the General Fund.

Although none of the sponsors intended their proposal to reduce the revenues accruing to the housing programs, two of the bills, LDs 43 and 324, did not expressly protect the Housing Authority revenues. Sensing a threat to this funding source, over a dozen people testified in support of the housing programs, including the Maine State Housing Authority, homeowner recipients, general contractors, real estate developers, and the Maine Real Estate and Development Association.

LD 271, sponsored by Senator Jill Goldthwait, did not attract the opposition testimony because LD 271 would shift transfer tax revenues to improved county support (from 10% of all Transfer Tax revenues to 25%, phased in over a period of 5 years) and restore the Housing Authority’s funding at its historical level. Several county commissioners and representatives of the county associations testified in favor of LD 271 as a property tax relief bill. MMA testified in favor of the bill as a method to structurally relieve the property tax - one small antidote to many years of legislative actions that have had the cumulative effect of structurally burdening the property taxpayer.

LD 770. Representative Christine Savage (Union) presented a bill that would include mobile homes under the Real Estate Transfer Tax law. Currently, mobile homes fall under the law when they are sold along with a piece of real estate. When a mobile home is sold unattached to real estate, no transfer tax obligation is triggered.

Representative Savage indicated that her principal goal was not to increase transfer tax revenues, but merely to provide a system whereby the buying and selling of mobile homes is better accounted for. Despite the law that requires all property taxes on a mobile home to be paid before it is moved, municipal assessors and tax collectors are often unable to keep up with mobile home transactions, and some property taxes are lost as a result. Several municipal assessors and assessing agents testified in support of the proposal.

A representative of the Maine Association of Realtors testified in opposition to the proposal on the grounds that people purchasing used mobile homes should not be subject to an additional tax.

LD 306. Representative Bob Spear (Nobleboro), a selectman in his community as well as a State Representative, presented a bill that would require the payment of the property tax at the time of closing at real estate transactions. As Representative Spear explained the problem, at the time of closing, a proration typically occurs where both the buyer and seller of the property agree to pay their prorated share of the current year’s property tax, and an escrow account is established so that the money will be there when the tax bill is sent out.

At that point, according to supporters of LD 306, communication systems can break down. When the tax bill is issued, it is sent to the seller of the property as the assessed owner of record as of the April 1 date of assessment. The seller of the property, who no longer owns it, might ignore the bill and the purchaser of the property, with a document stating that the taxes have been "prorated," is sometimes of the mistaken belief that the taxes have been paid. The result is that no one pays the tax, and in the course of time a lien is filed on the property. In the resulting confusion, friction can develop between buyer, seller, and municipality.

Paul Labrecque, Tax Collector for the City of Lewiston and a member of the Board of the Maine Tax Collectors and Treasurers Association, spoke in favor of the bill, as did Mary Ellen Benner, the Tax Collector in Nobleboro, and Darryl McKenney of Palermo’s Board of Assessors.

Ms. Gifford testified that the problems described to the Committee, although very real, occur in only a small percentage of all real estate transactions and do not warrant the enactment of a law that would effectively require cash-strapped home buyers to advance their property taxes before the due date. When asked what difference there is between placing the tax money in escrow or actually paying the tax, she said that although an escrow account is established at the closing for the purpose of paying the tax, the buyer does not have to up-front the entire prorated tax obligation. The escrow obligation can be met on a payment schedule.

The following are brief updates on the status of some legislative proposals that MMA is tracking, but not as closely as other LDs that are considered to be higher priority. Each update describes the status of the bill as it has been reported out of committee. These bills have yet to be considered by the full Legislature.

Health and Human Services

LD 158 - AN ACT to Preserve Public Springs - "Ought to Pass as Amended." The amendment replaces the original bill. It provides a definition of "public spring" and provides that a roadside public spring is not a "public water supply" for state drinking water testing purposes if the owner neither charges for nor advertises the spring water.

LD 391 - AN ACT to Allow Volunteer Work in a State Licensed Day-care Facility to Fulfill Requirements of the ASPIRE-JOB Program and to Establish a Statewide Toll-free Telephone Line for Reporting Welfare Fraud - "Ought Not to Pass."

Legal and Veterans Affairs

LD 7 - AN ACT to Allow the town of Old Orchard Beach to Operate High-stakes Beano - Majority "Ought Not to Pass."

LD 280 - AN ACT Regarding Opening Hours of Voting Places - Majority "Ought Not to Pass."

Natural Resources

LD 218 - AN ACT to Amend the Site Law Concerning State and Local Review of Transmission Lines - Divided Report, Majority "Ought to Pass as Amended." The amendment merely makes the bill an emergency measure.

LD 592 - AN ACT to Amend the Laws Regulating the Installation and Inspection of Septic Systems - "Ought to Pass as Amended." The amendment replaces the original bill. The intent of the amendment is to allow the DEP, through rulemaking, to require additional inspections of septic systems by local plumbing inspectors during the installation period, providing the funds for those inspections through an increase in the permit fee from the current fee of $60 to a maximum fee of $100. Whether more inspections are necessary, and the setting of the appropriate fee, will be left up to rulemaking.

LD 599 - AN ACT to Eliminate Fees on the Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator Ash - Unanimous "Ought Not to Pass."

LD 211, a bill that would repeal a two-year-old preemption in Maine law that blocks municipalities form enacting ordinances regarding tobacco displays and sales, appears on its way to enactment.

On its first test in the Senate last week, LD 211 was approved by a wide majority. The bill was tested a second time in the Senate this week when Senator Richard Bennett (Oxford) submitted an amendment that would leave the preemption on regulatory authority in place, but give municipalities the right to ban tobacco sales altogether. Senator Bennett argued that the licensing of tobacco sales is a state function and therefore a uniform statewide policy on display and sales is needed. The public policy issue for home rule consideration, according to the amendment’s proponents, was whether tobacco sales should be allowed at all within municipal corporate limits.

Among other rebuttal arguments, opponents of the amendment indicated that a municipal ban on tobacco sales, even if authorized by state law, may not be enforceable and would be easily subject to legal challenge because of the preemptive aspects of federal regulation regarding the sale of tobacco products.

The Senate defeated the amendment by the same margin by which it approved LD 211 last week. The bill then went to the House, where is was approved without debate. After some more procedural actions by the Legislature, the bill should head off to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

The confidentiality of E-911 information was considered last week when the Judiciary Committee took up LD 325 - An Act to Improve Access to Enhanced 911 Emergency Records. The public hearing was covered in last week’s Legislative Bulletin (2/28/97).

On Monday, a unanimous Committee voted LD 325 "ought not to pass." The Committee’s House Chair, Representative Richard Thompson (Naples), reminded the Committee that the issue will be taken up again this session by the Utilities Committee in its consideration of LD 976 - An Act to Amend the Enhanced 911 laws.

Unlike the proposal rejected by the Judiciary Committee, LD 976 would retain the effective confidentiality of E-911 records containing information of a personally private nature.

To date, four bills are before the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee that place some type of limit on the process in which signatures for citizen petitions can be collected. Other bills on the same subject are still coming out of the Reviser’s Office. Legislative activity in this area may be a result of recent successful (and unsuccessful) petition drives to ban clear-cuttting, restrict pesticide application, cap property taxes, restrict the expansion of civil rights laws to additional categories of people; and ban same-sex marriages.

Committee debates and discussions have revolved around three major positions: 1) the collection of signatures for initiatives serves to inform and educate the public, and that the activity belongs at the polling place; 2) the petition collection process is a political activity that is too distracting in the polling place; and 3) that election wardens currently have the power to monitor the activities of groups collecting signatures. This conflict in ideologies is illustrated in the manner by which Committee members voted Tuesday on LDs 89 and 381.

On LD 89, An Act to Prohibit the Gathering of Signatures at a Polling Place, Committee members voted 8 to 5 that the bill "ought not to pass." This bill prohibits petitioners and survey takers from conducting their election day activities inside polling places, but explicitly states that activities associated with monitoring voters or conducting exit polls are not prohibited.

On a similar bill, LD 381, An Act to Restrict Circulators of Initiated Petitions from Being within 250 Feet of Voting Places, the Committee tied on the vote of "ought not to pass." The chairs of the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee have decided to reconsider this bill at a later date.

(The bill summaries are written by MMA staff and are not necessarily the proposed bill’s statement of fact or an excerpt of the statement of fact.)

Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

LD 1362 – AN ACT to Improve the Administration of Animal Welfare Law (Sponsored by Rep. Spear of Nobleboro; additional cosponsors)

This bill provides a comprehensive sweep of animal welfare laws. It includes: (1) doing away with an uncertified or "grandfathered" ACO status; (2) expanding the definition of domesticated livestock for the purpose of animal trespass problems to include fowl (ducks, geese, chickens), rabbits, deer, etc.; (3) transferring euthanasia authorization from veterinarians to ACO’s (upon a veterinarian’s written recommendation); (4) replacing a discretionary authority for ACO’s to annually inspect kennels with mandatory inspections; (5) reinforcing the mandate established in 1993 that the primary agency for response to rabies calls is the municipality, whether or not the ACO responds; (6) adjusting the fee system for license registration, and increasing by five times the financial penalty for municipal officials who refuse or intentionally fail to enforce animal welfare laws from between $10 - $50 to between $50 - $250; and (7) authorizing ACO’s to file vicious dog complaints in District or Superior Court and to further order restraints on such dogs. Other changes.

Criminal Justice

LD 1382 – AN ACT to Reimburse Law Enforcement Agencies for Their Costs Related to the Prosecution of Criminal and Traffic Violations (Sponsored by Sen. Cleveland of Androscoggin; additional cosponsor)

This bill reimburses law enforcement agencies for the cost of sending off-duty officers to testify in court. It also increases the compensation for the designated court officer from $10 to $20 a day.

Education and Cultural Affairs

LD 1308 – AN ACT to Authorize School Units to Consolidate Administrative Functions (Sponsored by Rep. Goodwin of Pembroke)

This bill authorizes school administrative units to enter into agreements for the cooperative employment of a school superintendent to perform administrative functions in those units.

LD 1337 – AN ACT to Amend the Laws Relating to Education (Sponsored by Sen. Small of Sagadahoc; additional cosponsors)

This bill revises the provisions of calculating elementary and secondary tuition rates to be consistent with each other. It also increases the percentage of voters in a municipality required to approve a withdrawal petition from a school administrative district. The bill clarifies how to calculate the cost to a town in a school administrative district if it votes to keep an elementary school open against the wishes of the school administrative district school board.

LD 1341 – AN ACT to Improve Maine’s School Construction Laws (Sponsored by Sen. Nutting of Androscoggin; additional cosponsors)

This bill makes a number of changes to the laws governing school construction projects. (1) It repeals the provision that permits the Bureau of General Services to assess school administrative units the reasonable cost of services provided by the Bureau; (2) it increases the maximum debt service limit for school construction projects in 1999 from $69 million to $81 million and in 2000 from $70 million to $81 million; (3) it directs the Bureau of General Services to adopt rules to ensure that state and local suppliers are used; (4) it directs the Department of Education to develop a proposal to require that all school construction projects, movable equipment, and technology be paid for by a combination of the state share percentage and the local share percentage for debt service costs.

LD 1363 – RESOLVE, that the Department of Education Establish a Grant Program to Promote Consolidation and Efficiency in Education (Sponsored by Rep. Brennan of Portland; additional cosponsors)

This resolve directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a grant program funded from the General Purpose Aid account, not to exceed $200,000 in any one year, for the purpose of promoting efficiency and consolidation in the local school districts.

Health and Human Services

LD 1302 – AN ACT to Amend the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (Sponsored by Sen. Rand of Cumberland; additional cosponsors)

This bill authorizes the Department of Human Services to continue Maine’s AFDC program, using money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funds that replace the federal AFDC program in the United States Social Security Act, Title IV-A. It further establishes that in Maine there will be no time limit on receipt of aid to families with dependent children and that victims of domestic violence who would have difficulty participating in ASPIRE-JOBS are exempt from such participation. This bill also places into state law the due process and fairness protections that are currently part of the AFDC program, but have been repealed from federal law.

LD 1381 – AN ACT to Provide Training in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to Emergency Response Personnel (Sponsored by Sen. Kilkelly of Lincoln; additional cosponsors)

This bill requires a training course in sudden infant death syndrome as part of the Maine Fire Training and Education Program administered by the President of the Maine Technical College System, as a basic training requirement for law enforcement officers to be administered by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and as part of the minimum licensing and re-licensing requirements for emergency medical services persons. The bill requires DHS to develop the course.

Judiciary

LD 1392 – AN ACT to Require the Release of the Results of an HIV Test to an Emergency Services Worker Who Was Possibly Exposed (Sponsored by Rep. Waterhouse of Bridgton; additional cosponsors)

This bill provides that an emergency services worker who is exposed to potentially infections blood or other bodily fluids of another person in the course of employment may require that person to submit to an HIV test and may require that the results of the test be disclosed to that emergency services worker.

Labor

LD 1370 – RESOLVE, to Create Pension Portability for State and Local Government (Sponsored by Rep. SAXL of Portland; additional cosponsors)

This resolve establishes a commission to study pension portability for public sector employees. The commission reports to the Second Regular Session of the 118th Legislature.

LD 1383 – AN ACT to Provide Part-time State and Participating Local District Employees with the Option of Joining the Maine State Retirement System (Sponsored by Sen. Ferguson of Oxford; additional cosponsor)

This bill makes membership in the MSRS optional for state employees and participating local district employees who normally work 20 or fewer hours a week.

Legal and Veterans

LD 1306 – AN ACT to Place Certain Restrictions on Persons Collecting Signatures on Election Day (Sponsored by Rep. Tripp of Topsham)

This bill authorizes town clerks to publish guidelines as to location, conduct and number of petitioners circulating petitions on election day.

LD 1342 – AN ACT to Improve Procedures for Citizen Referenda and Initiatives (Sponsored by Sen. Mills of Somerset)

This bill makes a number of changes in the law regarding the citizen initiative process. It requires that a copy of the full text of the proposed law be offered to each potential signer and requires that signatures in a number equal to at least one percent of the required number of signatures be collected from each county. It also requires that persons collecting signatures inside or within 250 feet of a voting place be located so that voters can exit the voting place without passing immediately by that location. The bill requires the summary prepared by the Revisor of Statutes to appear on the ballot after the initiative question and requires that a copy of the full text of the proposed law be available for inspection at the voting place on election day.

LD 1376 – AN ACT to Improve the State’s Democracy by Increasing Access to the Ballot and Other Election Processes (Sponsored by Sen. Daggett of Kennebec; additional cosponsors)

This bill increases access to the ballot and other election processes for new parties, unenrolled candidates, and unenrolled voters as follows: (1) it modifies the frequency of the 5% vote requirement from the current 2-year cycle to a 4-year cycle; (2) it allows any registered voter to sign a petition to form a new political party so long as the voter is not enrolled in a political party other than the one being formed; (3) it clarifies the petition filing procedures for new political parties by adding a separate and earlier deadline for petitions to be submitted to local election officials before they are submitted to the Secretary of State; (4) it allows registered voters who are not enrolled in a political party to serve as elections clerks on election day; (5) it improves access to municipal lists of registered voters; (6) it protects the use of the word "independent" so it may be used only by candidates who do not belong to any political party; and (7) it declares a proposed political party to be a legally qualified political party whenever it first meets the 5% threshold requirement of collecting signatures or winning votes.

Natural Resources

LD 1313 – AN ACT to Amend Certain Laws Administered by the Department of Environmental Protection (Sponsored by Rep. Shiah of Bowdoinham; additional cosponsors)

This bill clarifies the requirements in order for municipalities to receive delegated authority under the state’s natural resources protection laws. It further clarifies the types of activities or resources that delegated authority may be applied to. In addition, this bill limits the individual oversight authority of the DEP for those activities covered under chapter 305 of the department’s rules for which permits are issued by a delegated municipality under the natural resources protection laws. These changes are intended to provide an increased incentive for municipalities to seek delegation and reduce the regulatory burden for certain activities.

LD 1330 – AN ACT to Ensure Adequate Review of Maintenance Dredging (Sponsored by Sen. LaFountain of York; additional cosponsors)

This bill specifies that maintenance dredging may not be performed without an individual permit issued by the DEP when the activity is located in, on or over high quality waters of the state that constitute an outstanding national resource if the amount of material to be dredged exceeds 50,000 cubic yards. The bill also defines "high quality waters of the state that constitute an outstanding national resource" consistent with the classification system for surface waters in the state.

State and Local Government

LD 1325 – AN ACT to Make the State Board of Education Elected (Sponsored by Rep. Lemke of Westbrook; additional cosponsors)

This bill provides for the election of the State Board of Education. Sixteen members are elected to the board, one from each county. The elected board is to make all policy for the Department of Education and may recommend education policy to the Legislature. The Commissioner of Education is directed to study and report to the state board on the feasibility of restructuring the department.

LD 1358 – AN ACT to Amend the Procedures for Finalizing the Kennebec County Budget (Sponsored by Rep. Jones of Pittsfield; additional cosponsors)

This bill eliminates the requirement under current law that the Kennebec County Commissioners submit the annual county budget to the Legislature for approval. It also eliminates the advisory budget committee and places responsibility for the final budget approval on a budget committee composed of elected and appointed municipal officials equally representing the county commissioner districts.

LD 1359 – AN ACT to Amend the Androscoggin County Budget Process (Sponsored by Rep. Bouffard of Lewiston; additional cosponsors)

This bill amends the budget approval process for Androscoggin County by removing the requirement that the budget be submitted to the Legislature for final approval. Instead, the existing budget committee is empowered to adopt the budget which it must submit to the county commissioners. The county commissioners may alter the budget committee’s budget only by a unanimous vote; and, if the commissioners do so, the budget committee may reject the county commissioners’ change by a 2/3 vote.

LD 1379 – AN ACT to Place Conditions on the Investment of Municipal Funds in Mutual Funds (Sponsored by Sen. Amero of Cumberland; cosponsored by Rep. Marvin of Cape Elizabeth)

This bill places the following conditions on the investment of a trust fund that is governed by the U. S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3) and that is in the custody of the municipality: (1) an investment of this kind of trust in mutual funds must be approved by the municipal officers at a public meeting; (2) no more than 50% of the assets of a fund may be invested in mutual funds; and (3) no more than 5% of the assets of a fund may be invested in a single mutual fund.

Taxation

LD 1303 – AN ACT to Establish a Property Tax Cap for Elderly, Fixed-income Homeowners (Sponsored by Rep. Brooks of Winterport; additional cosponsors)

This bill creates a property tax exemption for a portion of certain homeowners’ property tax bill. The effect of the bill is to limit the amount of taxes elderly people will pay as the value of their homes increases.

LD 1321 – RESOLVE, to Clarify the Definition of Tax-exempt Property (Sponsored by Rep. Winn of Glenburn)

This resolve requires the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation to review all definitions and qualifications for tax-exempt organizations, except churches.

LD 1339 – AN ACT Relating to Municipal Excise Tax Reimbursement (Sponsored by Sen. O’Gara of Cumberland)

This bill corrects an oversight in PL 1995, c. 440, by establishing an escrow fund to reimburse municipalities for the difference between excise tax based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price and the actual purchase price for heavy trucks.

LD 1355 – AN ACT to Fully Fund Local Education with Income and Sales Tax Revenues (Sponsored by Rep. Goodwin of Pembroke)

This bill provides General Fund appropriations to the Department of Education to fully fund the cost of education for students in kindergarten through grade 12. Reductions in funding for all other departments and agencies are proposed to fund these additional education costs. The DOE and the State Budget Officer are directed to submit any proposed legislation required to implement the provisions of this bill by January 16, 1998.

Transportation

LD 1347 – AN ACT to Require a Vehicle to be Registered in the Town in Which the Owner Resides (Sponsored by Rep. True of Fryeburg)

This bill renders a registration from another state that lists only a post office box as an address invalid for the purpose of fulfilling the registration requirement in Title 29-A MRSA, section 351. It also amends Title 29-A, section 514 concerning evasion of registration fees and excise taxes to require that a vehicle that is principally garaged in this state be registered in this state.

Monday, March 10

Banking and Insurance

Room 427, State House, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-1314

LD 1052 – Resolve, Establishing a Task Force to Examine the Desirability of a Model Municipal Building Code (Sponsor: KONTOS) (EMERGENCY) (Department Bill)

Education and Cultural Affairs

Room 120, State Office Building, 1:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-3125

LD 1149 – An Act to Protect Local Education Agencies from Excess Costs Attributable to Special Education Students (Sponsor: CHARTRAND)

LD 1147 – An Act to Ensure Consistency Between State and Federal Special Education Requirements (Sponsor: CLUKEY)

State and Local Government

Room 334, State House, 10:00 a.m.

Tel. 287-1330

LD 943 – An Act to Amend the Law Governing Municipal Zoning with Respect to Community Living Arrangements (Sponsor: DAGGETT)

LD 516 – An Act to Impose a Statute of Limitations for Violations of Municipal Subdivision Ordinances (Sponsor: LAVERDIERE)

LD 1105 – An Act to Exempt Public Airports with Approved Airport Layout Plans from Subdivision Review (Sponsor: BENOIT) (Department Bill)

LD 946 – An Act to Protect the Confidentiality of Financial Records (Sponsor: JENKINS)

Transportation

Room 122, State Office Building, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-4148

LD 914 – An Act Regarding Penalties for Failure to Yield the Right-of-way to an Emergency Vehicle (Sponsor: FISHER)

Tuesday, March 11

Criminal Justice

Room 105, State Office Building, 1:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-1122

LD 725 – An Act Requiring State Reimbursement for Certain Services Provided by Counties (Sponsor: SKOGLUND)

Legal and Veterans Affairs

Room 425, State House, 1:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-1310

LD 817 – An Act Relating to the Use of Public Offices or Agency Facilities in Campaigns and Ballot Questions (Sponsor: DAGGETT)

LD 614 – Resolve, Directing the Secretary of State to Create a Pilot Project to Establish Voting by Mail (Sponsor: AHEARNE)

LD 278 – An Act to Allow Candidates’ Presence at Voting Places Solely for the Purpose of Voting (Sponsor: MARVIN)

LD 1047 – An Act to Prohibit Persons Registering to Vote from Voting Unless They Provide Adequate Identification (Sponsor: MERES)

LD 613 – An Act to Allow Primary Elections to be Held on Saturdays (Sponsor: AHEARNE)

LD 731 – An Act to Aid Municipalities by Eliminating Same Day Registration (Sponsor: LANE)

Marine Resources

Cushnoc Room, Augusta Civic Center, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-1337

LD 456 – An Act to Return Revenue from Lease Sites for Aquaculture to Municipalities (Sponsor: GOODWIN)

Transportation

Room 122, State Office Building, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-4148

LD 813 – An Act to Define the Projects That Public Works Departments May Undertake Without Procuring the Services of a Registered Professional Engineer (Sponsor: MILLS)

Wednesday, March 12

Education and Cultural Affairs

Room 120, State Office Building, 1:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-3125

LD 1080 – An Act to Establish Public Charter Schools (Sponsor: BARTH)

LD 623 – An Act to Provide Opportunities for Choice within the Public School System (Sponsor: AMERO)

Natural Resources

Room 437, State House, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-4149

LD 648 – Resolve, to Allow Donald Hebert to Retain a Certain Structure in Exchange for the Removal of Another Structure (Sponsor: AHEARNE)

LD 1074 – An Act to Establish Practical Difficulty Standards for a Variance from the Dimensional Standards of a Municipal Zoning Ordinance (Sponsor: DEXTER)

Taxation

Room 221, State House, 1:30 p.m.

Tel. 287-1552

LD 814 – An Act to Amend the Distribution of Revenue Sharing (Sponsor: MILLS)

LD 317 – An Act Relating to the State Valuation of the Town of Corinna (Sponsor: TOBIN) (EMERGENCY)

LD 656 – An Act to Allow Municipalities to Issue a Semiannual Property Tax Bill (Sponsor: GOOLEY) (EMERGENCY)

LD 792 – An Act Concerning Technical Changes to the Tax Laws (Sponsor: TRIPP) (EMERGENCY) (Department Bill)

LD 755 – An Act to Amend the Watercraft Registration Laws (Sponsor: PIEH) (EMERGENCY)

LD 511 – An Act to Decrease Property Tax (Sponsor: WINN)

Thursday, March 13

Business and Economic Development

Room 113, State Office Building, 1:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-1331

LD 481 – An Act to Regulate Body Piercing (Sponsor: KERR)

Friday, March 14

Education and Cultural Affairs

Room 120, State Office Building, 9:00 a.m.

Tel. 287-3125

LD 1085 – An Act to Give Authority to Set Acreage Necessary for Building or Reconstruction of Schools Solely to the Local Authorities (Sponsor: SKOGLUND)

LD 1099 – An Act to Modify School Construction Laws for Renovation Projects (Sponsor: KERR)

LD 929 – An Act to Amend the School Construction Laws to Allow School Construction Projects that Expand Existing School Facilities Beyond 8,000 Square Feet to be Eligible for State School Construction Subsidies (Sponsor: FOSTER)

LD 1124 – Resolve, Requiring the Department of Education to Replace the Building Code for Schools (Sponsor: PLOWMAN)

LD 1010 – An Act Regarding Nonresident School Tuition (Sponsor: GOLDTHWAIT)

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Room 109, State Office Building, 9:30 a.m.

Tel. 287-1338

LD 831 – An Act to Encourage Registrants of Snowmobiles to be Members of Snowmobile Clubs (Sponsor: GREEN, by request)

Monday, March 17

Health and Human Services

Room 113, State Office Building, 9:30 a.m.

Tel. 287-1317

LD 913 – An Act to Provide Funding for Mental Health Services of Homeless Shelters (Sponsor: MITCHELL, E.)

LD 888 – An Act to Provide for Notification to Local Officials upon the Release of Potentially Violent Patients from State Mental Health Institutions (Sponsor: BENOIT)

Natural Resources

Room 437, State House, 9:30 a.m.

Tel. 287-4149

LD 1330 – An Act to Ensure Adequate Review of Maintenance Dredging (Sponsor: LAFOUNTAIN)

LD 1293 – Resolve, to Evaluate Permit by Rule and Compliance with the Natural Resources Protection Laws (Sponsor: TREAT)

LD 1282 – An Act to Require the Department of Environmental Protection to Market Recycled Materials (Sponsor: BRUNO)

State and Local Government

Room 334, State House, 2:00 p.m.

Tel. 287-1330

LD 361 – An Act to Encourage Regionalism of Municipal Services (Sponsor: GAGNON)

LD 344 – An Act to Amend the Report Criteria for a Municipality’s Annual Postaudit (Sponsor: BRAGDON)

LD 680 – Resolve, Establishing the Maine Council on Competitiveness (Sponsor: KIEFFER)

LD 892 – An Act to Require Municipalities to Purchase Insurance by Competitive Budding (Sponsor: BENOIT)

LD 937 – An Act Relating to the State’s Deferred Compensation Plan (Sponsor: MAYO) (Department Bill)

Taxation

Room 221, State House, 9:30 a.m.

Tel. 287-1552

LD 780 – An Act to Ensure that Only Taxes That Are Paid and Not Otherwise Reimbursed Are Eligible for Reimbursement Under the State’s Business Property Tax Reimbursement Program (Sponsor: SAMSON)

LD 761 – An Act to Repeal the Reimbursement of Personal Property Taxes Paid on Business Machinery and Equipment (Sponsor: GOODWIN)

LD 749 – An Act to Eliminate Fraud in the Maine Residents Property Tax Program (Sponsor: MACK)

LD 1077 – An Act Rendering Land Trusts Ineligible for Property Tax Exemptions (Sponsor: GOODWIN)

LD 97 – An Act Concerning the Taxation of Manufactured Homes That Are Stock-in-trade (Sponsor: BARTH)

LD 1070 – An Act to Exempt Certain Landowners from Hiring a Licensed Forester (Sponsor: LANE)

LD 434 – An Act to Amend the Veteran’s Estate Tax Exemption (Sponsor: LAYTON)

LD 220 – An Act to Increase the Tax Relief in the Maine Residents Property Tax Program (Sponsor: LEMAIRE) (EMERGENCY)

LD 343 – An Act to Increase Eligibility for the Maine Residents Property Tax Program (Sponsor: BRENNAN)

LD 149 – An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding Property Tax Reimbursement for Certain Business Property (Sponsor: LEMAIRE)

LD 12 – An Act to Clarify Tax-exempt Status of Rental Inventory (Sponsor: CAREY)

LD 569 – An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Study Poverty Among Working Parents with Regard to the Property Tax Circuit Breaker Program (Sponsor: POVICH)

LD 1219 – An Act to Amend the Tax-exempt Status of Property Owned by Certain Nonprofit Organizations (Sponsor: RUHLIN)

LD 876 – An Act to Eliminate the Property Tax Rebate on Machinery and Equipment that has been in Service More Than 3 Years (Sponsor: MILLS)

LD 997 – RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Provide Tax Relief for Maine Senior Citizens (Sponsor: PLOWMAN)

LD 983 – An Act to Enhance the Property Tax Circuit Breaker (Sponsor: PEAVEY)

LD 1087 – An Act to Authorize Municipal Taxation of the Value of Nonreimbursed Tree Growth Taxes (Sponsor: BAKER, J.)

LD 1290 – An Act to Clarify Laws Relating to Situs Taxation of Bulk Solid Waste Containers (Sponsor: JENKINS)

LD 314 – An Act to Exempt Lobster Traps from the Personal Property Tax (Sponsor: PINKHAM, W. by request)

Utilities and Energy

Room 124, State Office Building, 9:30 a.m.

Tel. 287-4143

LD 1253 – An Act to Amend the Charter of the Winterport Sewer District (Sponsor: BROOKS)

LD 976 – An Act to Amend the Enhanced 9-1-1 Laws (Sponsor: KONTOS) (Department Bill)