Legislative Bulletin
January 8, 1999

NEARLY 3,000 BILLS SUBMITTED

On Wednesday this week the Legislative Information Office released the 170-page document that lists the 2,900 bills that Maine’s 186 legislators submitted to the Revisor’s office by the "cloture" deadline. Each legislative initiative is listed by the bill’s title according to its sponsor. The nearly 3,000 proposals do not yet include the hundreds of bills that will be submitted "after deadline" or the bills that the Governor can submit under his own authority.

Solely on the basis of the bill titles, MMA’s State and Federal Relations Department has identified 500 proposals that would have a direct impact on municipal government. We have organized those proposals according to 23 subject-area categories: Animal Control, Bond Issues, Charters, Concealed Weapons, County Government, Education, Elections, Environment, Labor, Land Use/Ordinances, Liability, Miscellaneous, Motor Vehicles, Public Safety, Revenue Sharing, Right to Know Law, Retirement, Roads, Secession, Social Services, Takings, Taxation, Water/Sewer, and Watercraft.

Anyone who would like a copy of this listing of legislative proposals of municipal interest that will be considered by the Legislature this upcoming session, should call Tina Means at (800) 452-8786. We’d be glad to mail you a copy.

A quick review of the 500 proposals yields the following observations.

• About two dozen proposals seek an aggregate of $600 million in bond issues for projects as diverse as affordable housing and the cranberry industry, school buses and port development. The large money proposals – individual proposals that seek to borrow $100 million or more — are in the areas of school construction and Land for Maine’s Future.

• Under the "County Government" category, there is an initiative to abolish Kennebec County as a legal entity. Another proposal would require that county treasurers be appointed rather than elected. There are a half dozen bills to amend a particular county’s budget process.

• Education proposals compete with Taxation proposals for the prize of most in number and greatest diversity. Dozens of bills would adjust the school funding formula. Dozens of bills would attempt to deal with the intensity and unpredictability of special education costs on the local level. There are bills that take away school mandates and bills that add school mandates. And there are MMA’s two bills regarding the school budgeting process (see article on MMA’s Legislative Agenda).

• There are over 40 bills on the elections process, both state and local, many of them dealing with the citizen initiative procedures.

• Under the "Labor" category, there are a couple of binding arbitration bills, and a slew of proposals on workers’ compensation.

• There are two bills dealing with the liability limits under the Tort Claims Act, at least one of which proposes to increase the liability limit for just municipalities and schools.

• Nearly two dozen bills have been submitted dealing with motor vehicle excise taxes, most of which propose to eliminate the recently-established "Monroney label" system and implement a system where the excise tax obligation would be based on the actual purchase price.

• The many bills dealing with roads and highways deal with transportation funding, the east-west highway, the paper streets law, and the abandonment/discontinuance process.

• There are at least a hundred bills dealing with the property tax – tax reform, property tax administration, the BETR program, municipal TIFs, the Homestead Exemption and Circuit Breaker programs, and about 20 bills dealing with tax-exempt property, including MMA’s proposal that attempts to address the underlying public policy behind totally forgiving large institutions of their local contributory obligations.

MMA AGENDA

After months of research, subcommittee work and debate, MMA’s 70-member Legislative Policy Committee came together in November, 1998 and adopted a legislative agenda that has three primary components.

1) The municipalities want to make some progress on the issue of tax exempt property.

2) The municipalities would like to see some changes made in the way school budgets are presented to the voters.

3) The municipalities have thrown their support behind a plan to protect our investment in the state’s roadway system by improving the Local Road Assistance Program. The plan involves improving the municipal-state partnership with respect to the maintenance and repair of "state aid" roads.

Taxation: For the municipal officers, the amount of real estate that is exempt from taxation presents a simple question of fairness. There is $10 billion worth of property in Maine that is exempt from taxation, which is over 12% of all the property in the state. One third of all exempt property belongs to non-governmental organizations and institutions. The presence in a community of the buildings and offices of these tax exempt corporations increases the level of services that the host community has to provide, but the burden of paying for those services falls only on the taxpayers within the community.

The unfairness of that system is felt at two levels. It is unfair to the taxpayers in that community who are paying for the services provided to the exempt institutions. Second, the large institutions that are exempt from taxation tend to be concentrated in certain communities throughout the state, creating disproportionate burdens among the municipalities within larger regions. It’s time for the Legislature to re-examine its rationale for granting such a sweeping exemption to so much real estate in Maine.

Education: Maine law currently favors the presentation of a school budget as a lump sum appropriation. For reasons of general accountability to the voter, municipal officials are much more comfortable with the line item format, especially with the large appropriations of municipal revenue that go to the schools. It is certainly the case that municipal budgets are presented and adopted in a line item format, but only 40% of the $1.2 billion generated each year by the property tax goes to the municipal side of the ledger. Over $700 million in property tax revenues is appropriated each year for the schools. MMA is therefore proposing the development of a reasonable and uniform line-item format to which all school budgets must conform unless an alternative school budget format is adopted by the voters of the school unit.

The municipalities also want to ensure that when the voters in a School Administrative District (SAD) have elected to adopt the school budget by referendum, the referendum method is adhered to. Under current law, the voters right to referendum voting is only guaranteed as long as the budget is approved by the voters. As soon as the SAD budget or part of that budget is rejected by the voters, state law allows the District Directors to overturn the referendum voting method specifically chosen by the voters. We are hard-pressed to find another example of where a representative body can overturn a method-of-voting specifically chosen by the electorate.

Roads and Bridges: Currently, the Department of Transportation estimates that with current Highway Fund revenues it will not be able to adequately maintain and repair almost 3,000 miles of state roads over the next 20 years. To the municipalities, that is not acceptable.

Throughout 1998, a Transportation Advisory Committee made up of 21 municipal officials from across Maine worked with the Department of Transportation Commissioner to develop a plan that would effectively modernize the Local Road Assistance Program so that it would work more positively to support the state’s road infrastructure.

Under the proposal endorsed by MMA, the formula that drives the road assistance program would be changed to provide substantially higher payments to the service center municipalities that have taken over the responsibility of maintaining the "compact" sections of State Aid roads. This additional road funding for the communities undertaking additional roadwork would not come at the expense of Maine’s more rural communities.

The proposal also addresses how state funds can be more rationally allocated to the repair and reconstruction of all the state’s "minor collector" State Aid roads. Specifically, a matching program would be created so that whenever municipalities choose to put the Local Road Assistance funds they receive from the Highway Fund into "minor collector" State Aid roads they will receive matching funds from the DOT for those projects.

This plan itself creates a system for the state and the municipalities to address a deteriorating road infrastructure and get the job done where it is most needed. For the plan to actually work, the people of Maine will need to agree to increase their investment in the state’s road system.

TRANSPORTATION MEETINGS

MMA's Transportation Advisory Committee and MDOT are hosting a number of outreach meetings to explain the transportation proposal to municipal and state officials. Seven outreach meetings have been scheduled; the first of which was held in Naples on January 7. All meetings are open to the public and are held between 6:30 – 8:30 PM.

SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET HEARINGS TO BEGIN

From the municipal perspective, the major elements of this bill are:

• The appropriation of $6.4 million to fully fund the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Program (BETR) for FY 99;

• The appropriation of $690,000 to fully reimburse county government during FY 99 for the costs of housing state prisoners in county jails;

• The appropriation of $1.5 million to reimburse the state’s FY 99 General Purpose Aid to Education account (GPA) for funds used in that account to make good on unpaid FY 98 claims from the school units for Special Education costs for State Ward-State Agency clients; and

• The expansion of the upper limit of the State’s Rainy Day Fund from 5% of the total General Fund revenues received during the previous fiscal year to 6% of those revenues. This change will boost the Rainy Day Fund’s capacity from about $100 million to $125 million.

In addition to expanding the limit of the Rainy Day Fund, this proposed supplemental budget also authorizes a transfer into the Rainy Day Fund of certain revenues that were previously diverted into a special account during FY 99 as a result of the law that automatically reduced the state’s general sales tax from 6% to 5.5%.

A component of that law required the State Controller to deposit the equivalent amount of revenue that was generated by ½ penny on the sales tax during the first three months of FY 99 (July, August, and September 1998) into the Rainy Day Fund before October 1, 1998, when the sales tax rate was actually reduced. One problem with that diversion was that the Rainy Day Fund became full, under its statutory cap, and no more revenue could be fit into it. Consequently, that revenue was parked in a special fund, and this bill would release it from the special account into the expanded Rainy Day Fund.

The other problem with that diversion is that the state took the position that the sales tax revenue had to be diverted into the Rainy Day Fund before it was recognized as "General Fund" revenue, thereby effectively reducing the pool of General Fund revenue from which municipal revenue sharing is obtained. The total amount of sales tax revenue diverted into the Rainy Day Fund under this law was $22.5 million.

MMA LEGISLATIVE POLICY COMMITTEE

JOINT STANDING COMMITTEES – 119^TH LEGISLATURE

Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

Senate: John M. Nutting, Chair (D-Androscoggin)
Marge L. Kilkelly (D-Lincoln)
R. Leo Kieffer (R-Aroostook)
House: Wendy Pieh, Chair (D-Bremen)
Paul Volenik (D-Brooklin)
Elizabeth Watson (D-Farmingdale)
Scott W. Cowger (D-Hallowell)
Rosita Gagne (D-Buckfield)
Ruel P. Cross (R-Dover-Foxcroft)
Walter R. Gooley (R-Farmington)
Clifton E. Foster (R-Gray)
Roderick W. Carr (R-Lincoln)
Barry G. Gillis (R-Danforth)

Appropriations and Financial Affairs

Senate: Michael H. Michaud, Chair (D-Penobscot)
Mary R. Cathcart (D-Penobscot)
Philip E. Harriman (R-Cumberland)
House: Elizabeth Townsend, Chair (D-Portland)
Kathleen A. Stevens (D-Orono)
Randall L. Berry (D-Livermore)
Richard H. Mailhot (D-Lewiston)
Judith A. Powers (D-Rockport)
Paul L. Tessier (D-Fairfield)
Richard Kneeland (R-Easton)
Tom J. Winsor (R-Norway)
Joseph Bruno (R-Raymond)
Richard A. Nass (R-Acton)

Banking and Insurance

Senate: Lloyd P. LaFountain, III, Chair (D-York)
Neria R. Douglass (D-Androscoggin)
I. Joel Abromson (R-Cumberland)
House: Jane W. Saxl, Chair (D-Bangor)
Christopher P. O’Neil (D-Saco)
Joseph C. Perry (D-Bangor)
Benjamin F. Dudley (D-Portland)
John G. Richardson, Jr. (D-Brunswick)
Nancy B. Sullivan (D-Biddeford)
Arthur F. Mayo, III (R-Bath)
Sumner A. Jones, Jr. (R-Pittsfield)
Kevin J. Glynn (R-South Portland)
Robert W. Nutting (R-Oakland)

Business and Economic Development

Senate: Carol A. Kontos, Chair (D-Cumberland)
Susan W. Longley (D-Waldo)
Bruce W. MacKinnon (R-York)
House: Gary L. O’Neal, Chair (D-Limestone)
Rosaire J. Sirois (D-Caribou)
Verdi L. Tripp (D-Topsham)
Ronald E. Usher (D-Westbrook)
Brian Bolduc (D-Auburn)
Jean Ginn Marvin (R-Cape Elizabeth)
David E. Bowles (R-Sanford)
Harold A. Clough (R-Scarborough)
Stavros J. Mendros (R-Lewiston)
Kevin L. Shorey (R-Calais)

Criminal Justice

Senate: Robert E. Murray, Jr., Chair (D-Penobscot)
William B. O’Gara (D-Cumberland)
Paul T. Davis (R- Piscataquis)
House: Edward J. Povich, Chair (D-Ellsworth)
Roger D. Frechette (D-Biddeford)
Christopher T. Muse (D-South Portland)
Nancy L. Chizmar (D-Lisbon)
Michael W. Quint (D-Portland)
Michael J. McAlevey (R-Waterboro)
Judith B. Peavey (R-Woolwich)
Julie Ann O’Brien (R-Augusta)
James H. Tobin, Jr. (R-Dexter)
Roger L. Sherman (R-Hodgdon)

Education and Cultural Affairs

Senate: Georgette B. Berube, Chair (D-Androscoggin)
Robert E. Murray, Jr. (D-Penobscot)
Mary E. Small (R-Sagadahoc)
House: Michael F. Brennan, Chair (D-Portland)
Shirley K. Richard (D-Madison)
Mabel J. Desmond (D-Mapleton)
James G. Skoglund (D-St. George)
Elizabeth Watson (D-Farmingdale)
Christina L. Baker (D-Bangor)
Vaughn A. Stedman (R-Hartland)
Irvin G. Belanger (R-Caribou)
Mary Black Andrews (R-Yok)
Carol Weston (R-Montville)

Health and Human Services

Senate: Judy Paradis, Chair (D-Aroostook)
Georgette B. Berube (D-Androscoggin)
Betty Lou Mitchell (R-Penobscot)
House: Thomas J. Kane, Chair (D-Saco)
Joseph E. Brooks (D-Winterport)
Elaine Fuller (D-Manchester)
Michael W. Quint (D-Portland)
Edward R. Dugay (D-Cherryfield)
Daniel B. Williams (D-Orono)
Glenys P. Lovett (R-Scarborough)
Tarren R. Bragdon (R-Bangor)
Lois A. Snowe-Mello (R-Poland)
Thomas F. Shields (R-Auburn)

Inland Fisheries and WildlifeSenate:

Marge L. Kilkelly, Chair (D-Lincoln)
Richard P. Ruhlin (D-Penobscot)
R. Leo Kieffer (R-Aroostook)
House: Matthew Dunlap, Chair (D-Old Town)
Richard H. C. Tracy (D-Rome)
Joseph E. Clark (D-Millinocket)
Bruce S. Bryant (D-Dixfield)
William R. Cote (D-Lewiston)
Royce W. Perkins (R-Penobscot)
Howard A. Chick (R-Lebanon)
Harry G. True (R-Fryeburg)
Ken Honey (R-Boothbay)
A. David Trahan (R-Waldoboro)

Judiciary

Senate: Susan W. Longley, Chair (D-Waldo)
Sharon Anglin Treat (D-Kennebec)
John W. Benoit (R-Franklin)
House: Richard H. Thompson, Chair (D-Naples)
Thomas Bull (D-Freeport)
Charles C. LaVerdiere (D-Wilton)
Patricia T. Jacobs (D-Turner)
Charles E. Mitchell (D-Vassalboro)
William S. Norbert (D-Portland)
Debra D. Plowman (R-Hampden)
David R. Madore (R-Augusta)
G. Paul Waterhouse (R-Bridgton)
William J. Schneider (R-Durham)
Donna M. Loring (Penobscot Nation)

Labor

Senate: Neria R. Douglass, Chair (D-Androscoggin)
Lloyd P. LaFountain, III (D-York)
S. Peter Mills (R-Somerset)
House: Pamela Henderson Hatch, Chair (D-Skowhegan)
Roland B. Samson (D-Jay)
Zachary E. Matthews (D-Winslow)
Roger D. Frechette (D-Biddeford)
Albion D. Goodwin (D-Pembroke)
Christopher T. Muse (D-South Portland)
Russell P. Treadwell (R-Carmel)
Jay MacDougall (R-North Berwick)
Adam Mack (R-Standish)
Gerald M. Davis (R-Falmouth)

Legal and Veterans Affairs

Senate: Beverly C. Daggett, Chair (D-Kennebec)
Richard J. Carey (D-Kennebec)
Norman K. Ferguson, Jr. (R-Oxford)
House: John L. Tuttle, Jr., Chair (D-Sanford)
Albert P. Gamache (D-Lewiston)
Nancy L. Chizmar (D-Lisbon)
Charles D. Fisher (D-Brewer)
Rosita Gagne (D-Buckfield)
Janice E. Labrecque (R-Gorham)
Arthur F. Mayo, III (R-Bath)
Royce W. Perkins (R-Penobscot)
Theodore H. Heidrich (R-Oxford)
Terrence P. McKenney (R-Cumberland)

Marine Resources

Senate: Jill M. Goldthwait, Chair (D-Hancock)
Peggy A. Pendleton (D-Cumberland)
Bruce W. McKinnon (R-York)
House: David M. Etnier, Chair (D-Harpswell)
Paul Volenik (D-Brooklin)
Martha A. Bagley (D-Machias)
Wendy Pieh (D-Bremen)
Ronald E. Usher (D-Westbrook)
William D. Pinkham (R-Lamoine)
Kenneth F. Lemont (R-Kittery)
Ken Honey (R-Boothbay)
Deborah Kaler McNeil (R-Rockland)
Robert E. Stanwood (R-Southwest Harbor)

Natural Resources

Senate: Sharon Anglin Treat, Chair (D-Kennebec)
John M. Nutting (D-Androscoggin)
James D. Libby (R-York)
House: John L. Martin, Chair (D-Eagle Lake)
Scott W. Cowger (D-Hallowell)
Linda Rogers McKee (D-Wayne)
David M. Etnier (D-Harpswell)
Joseph E. Clark (D-Millinocket)
Robert W. Duyplessie (D-Westbrook)
Henry L. Joy (R-Crystal)
Robert A. Cameron (R-Rumford)
Robert A. Daigle (R-Arundel)
David L. Tobin (R-Windham)

State and Local Government

Senate: Peggy A. Pendleton, Chair (D-Cumberland)
Jill M. Goldthwait (D-Hancock)
Paul T. Davis (R-Piscataquis)
House: Douglas J. Ahearne, Chair (D-Madawaska)
Martha A. Bagley (D-Machias)
Benjamin L. Rines, Jr. (D-Wiscasset)
John F. McDonough (D-Portland)
Joanne T. Twomey (D-Biddeford)
Randall L. Bumps (R-China)
Susan Kasprzak (R-Newport)
Arlan R. Jodrey (R-Bethel)
Earl E. Richardson (R-Greenville)
Belina A. Gerry (I-Auburn)
Donald G. Soctomah (Passamaquoddy Tribe)

Taxation

Senate: Richard P. Ruhlin, Chair (D-Penobscot)
Beverly C. Daggett (D-Kennebec)
S. Peter Mills (R-Somerset)
House: Kenneth T. Gagnon, Chair (D-Waterville)
Bonnie Green (D-Monmouth)
Thomas M. Davidson (D-Brunswick)
Patrick Colwell (D-Gardiner)
Stephen S. Stanley (D-Medway)
David G. Lemoine (D-Old Orchard Beach)
Kenneth F. Lemont (R-Kittery)
Eleanor M. Murphy (R-Berwick)
John T. Buck (R-Yarmouth)
Peter E. Cianchette (R-South Portland)

Transportation

Senate: William B. O’Gara, Chair (D-Cumberland)
Judy Paradis (D-Aroostook)
Vinton E. Cassidy (R-Washington)
House: Joseph M. Jabar, Sr., Chair (D-Waterville)
Gerald N. Bouffard (D-Lewiston)
Charles D. Fisher (D-Brewer)
Gary J. Wheeler (D-Eliot)
Laura J. Sanborn (D-Alton)
David A. Lindahl (R-Northport)
Christine R. Savage (R-Union)
Robert A. Cameron (R-Rumford)
Edgar Wheeler (R-Bridgewater)
Ronald F. Collins (R-Wells)

Utilities and Energy

Senate: Richard J. Carey, Chair (D-Kennebec)
Carol A. Kontos (D-Cumberland)
Betty Lou Mitchell (R-Penobscot)
House: Thomas M. Davidson, Chair (D-Brunswick)
Patrick Colwell (D-Gardiner)
Charles C. Laverdiere (D-Wilton)
Bruce S. Bryant (D-Dixfield)
Monica McGlocklin (D-Embden)
William R. Savage (D-Buxton)
Donald P. Berry, Sr. (R-Belmont)
Harry G. True (R-Fryeburg)
Richard H. Duncan (R-Presque Isle)
Richard W. Rosen (R-Bucksport)

Joint Select Committee on Research and Development

Senate: Carol A. Kontos, Chair (D-Cumberland)
Peggy A. Pendleton (D-Cumberland)
Richard A. Bennett (R-Oxford)
House: Scott W. Cowger, Chair (D-Hallowell)
Kathleen A. Stevens (D-Orono)
Paul L. Tessier (D-Fairfield)
Verdi L. Tripp (D-Topsham)
Elizabeth Watson (D-Farmingdale)
Albion D. Goodwin (D-Pembroke)
Irvin G. Belanger (R-Caribou)
Ken Honey (R-Boothbay)
Glenys P. Lovett (R-Scarborough)
James H. Tobin, Jr. (R-Dexter)

TRANSPORTATION OUTREACH MEETING

Twenty-five municipal officials from Cumberland and York Counties met Thursday evening in Naples to discuss the proposal to restructure the Local Road Assistance Program (LRAP). Although municipal officials were receptive to the plan, two concerns were raised.

One of the issues raised was the inability for the smaller, more rural municipalities to participate in the proposed Rural Minor Collector Program because they were not receiving enough LRAP revenue to effectively leverage DOT revenues. The Minor Collector Program would enable municipalities to match additional state revenue in order to repair minor collector roads in their municipality. Currently, the DOT is proposing a 50/50 state/municipal share, while the MMA Transportation Advisory Committee is proposing a 60/40 share. How the program has been designed to work is that DOT would estimate the cost of the minor collector project and give the municipality the state’s share. The municipality would then complete the project using either LRAP revenues or in-kind contributions, such as equipment and materials to complete the project. If the municipality completed the project under the estimated cost, then the savings would belong to the municipality. If the final cost of the project overruns the Department’s estimate then both the state and the municipality would be responsible for sharing the additional cost. However, many municipal officials felt that even the 60/40 share was still fiscally unattainable for the smaller municipalities.

The second issue raised was the need to monitor and insure that all fuel tax revenues are not only dedicated to the Highway Fund, but also dedicated to road repairs.

A schedule of future meetings is on the front page of this Bulletin.

IN THE HOPPER

Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

LD 9 – An Act to Amend the Animal Trespass Definition (Sponsored by Sen. Ferguson of Oxford; additional cosponsors).

This bill would add "wild animals that are kept and raised domestically" (including bison, buffalo, deer and rabbits) to the list of "livestock animals" under the state’s animal trespass laws. This definition would expand the list of animals that municipal Animal Control Officers would have to deal with upon complaint of animal trespass.

Appropriations and Financial Affairs

LD 35 – An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Create Affordable Housing (Sponsored by Rep. Brennan of Portland; additional cosponsors).

This bill proposes a $10 million bond issue to provide affordable and accessible housing for persons who are homeless, mentally retarded or mentally ill.

LD 50 – An Act to Make Additional Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1999 (EMERGENCY) (Sponsored by Rep. Townsend of Portland; additional cosponsors) (Governor’s bill)

(Please see article regarding the supplemental budget in this issue of the Bulletin.)

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

LD 26 – An Act to Clarify the Responsibility of a Municipality in Enforcing Personal Watercraft Regulations (Sponsored by Rep. Perkins of Penobscot).

This bill would amend the recently-enacted law authorizing municipalities to adopt "recommended" regulations governing the use, operation and type of watercraft on great ponds within municipal jurisdiction. The current law requires that the municipal recommendation include a description of the resources the municipality will use to enforce the regulations if they are ultimately enacted by the Legislature. This bill would require a description of the resources the municipality will use to "assist in the enforcement" of the regulations, thereby implying that enforcement is a responsibility that will be shared by both the municipality and the state.

Natural Resources

LD 21 – An Act to Eliminate the Use of MTBE in Maine (Sponsored by Rep. Tripp of Topsham; additional cosponsors).

This bill would prohibit the sale of gasoline or fuel products in Maine that contain methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

State and Local Government

LD 12 – An Act to Change the Selection Process of the Oxford County Budget Committee (Sponsored by Sen. Ferguson of Oxford; additional cosponsors).

This bill amends the process that creates the membership of the Oxford County Budget Advisory Committee. Under current law, the three County Commissioners each appoint one municipal officer from the Commissioner’s district. In addition, a caucus is held in each respective Commissioner’s district whereby the municipal officers of that district elect two additional municipal officers to represent the district on the Budget Committee. This bill would eliminate that caucus process so that the total Budget Committee would be made up of the three municipal officers appointed by the Commissioners.

LD 13 – An Act to Designate the First Saturday of Each October as Firefighter’s Recognition Day (Sponsored by Sen. Libby of York; additional cosponsors).

This bill would establish the first Saturday in October as Firefighter’s Recognition Day.

LD 17 – An Act to Require a Mortgagee to Notify Annually the Municipality in Which Mortgaged Property is Located (Sponsored by Rep. Perkins of Penobscot, by request).

This "by request" bill would require all mortgagees to provide annual notice to the municipalities where mortgaged property is located.

LD 67 – An Act to Require That Municipal Map and Lot Numbers be on Deeds Prior to Recording (Sponsored by Rep. Winsor of Norway; additional cosponsors)

This bill would require that the municipal map and lot number must be noted on any deed or lease prior to that instrument being recorded in the registry of deeds.

LD 68 – An Act to Require That a Certified Copy of Municipal Ordinances be Recorded in the County Registry of Deeds (Sponsored by Rep. Winsor of Norway; additional cosponsors)

This bill would require that a certified copy of every municipal ordinance must be filed in the Registry of Deeds or else that ordinance would not be enforceable. The Register of Deeds could not charge a fee for filing the various ordinances. Newly enacted ordinances would have to be filed in the Registry to become effective. All pre-existing ordinances would have to be filed within one year of the effective date of the enacted bill.

Transportation

LD 52 – An Act to Expand the Number of Lights Firefighters May Use on Their Motor Vehicles (Sponsored by Rep. Jones of Pittsfield; additional cosponsors)

This bill would remove the existing specifications regarding the signal light that volunteer fire fighters can attach to their vehicles with the permission of the municipal officers and the fire chief. Under current law, that signal light must be just a single light with a flashing red signal located near the vehicle’s registration plate. Those specifications would be removed by this proposal.

LD 53 – Resolve, Requiring the State to Reimburse Towns for the Construction of Salt and Sand Storage Facilities (Sponsored by Rep. Rines of Wiscasset; additional cosponsors)

This resolve would require the state to reimburse by December 31, 1999 all municipalities that constructed a sand-salt shed for the state’s share of the cost of construction even if the local construction occurred before the schedule of construction mandated by law, as is the case with some "priority #4 or #5" facilities.

LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS

Appropriations and Financial Affairs

Room 228, State House

Tel. 287-1635

The Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs and the various policy committees of the Legislature will be holding public hearings in Room 228 of the State House on a draft copy of "An Act to Make Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1999" (also referred to as the "Emergency FY 99 Budget Bill") at the following times:

Monday, January 11

9:30 a.m. State and Local Government Committee

11:00 a.m. Taxation Committee

1:00 p.m. Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee

2:30 p.m. Labor Committee

Tuesday, January 12, 1999

9:00 a.m. Health and Human Services Committee

1:00 p.m. Education and Cultural Affairs Committee

3:00 p.m. Judiciary Committee

4:00 p.m. Business and Economic Development Committee

Wednesday, January 13, 1999

9:00 a.m. Criminal Justice Committee

11:00 a.m. Transportation Committee

1:00 p.m. Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee

2:30 p.m. Fisheries and Wildlife Committee

3:30 p.m. Marine Resources Committee

4:00 p.m. Natural Resources Committee

INPUT ON FEDERAL ISSUES

Since the 1970’s, Maine Municipal Association has been publishing a document focusing on federal issues that would impact the state and municipalities for the Maine Congressional Delegation. The 1999 Federal Issues Paper will address the following issues: Special Education Costs; Internet Taxation; Overall or Specific Tax Policy; Transportation; Environmental Mandates; Year 2000 Liability; Takings; Immigration; and NAFTA and Trade Issues.

If you have other issues that you think are important, please call Linda Lockhart in MMA’s State and Federal Relations Department at 800-452-8786 to share your contributions to this years’ Paper.