Legislative Bulletin
January 21, 2000

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the Taxation Committee disposed of eight carryover bills in work session activity, and the culmination of that series of decisions will chart the course of the Taxation Committee’s recommendations for this second legislative session with respect to

• State policy governing tax exempt property

• Property tax relief in the year 2000

• The phenomenon of remarkably high property tax mill rates in some "service center" and property-poor communities

To hear the Committee members talk, there is almost unanimous support that action should be taken this legislative session on all three fronts. The members are so divided over what strategies to pursue, however, all the good intentions could come to nothing.

Local Option Taxation. On Wednesday, the Committee reviewed four local option taxation bills carried over from the 1999 session. One (LD 1921) would authorize a county-level local option tax which would add a surcharge to the real estate transfer tax to secure revenue for land conservation. One (LD 2023) would authorize a local option income tax. One (LD 2024) would authorize a local option meals and lodging tax. And one (LD 809) would authorize a local option sales tax of 1%, with half the revenue supporting county government and the other half relieving the local property tax. All the local option bills would require the affected electorate to approve the option at referendum. Another bill, LD 1122, would not authorize a local option tax but would have the same effect by redistributing 10% of the meals and lodging tax revenue collected by the state back to the municipalities where it was generated.

In 1999, MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee sifted through the various proposals and voted to support LD 809 as a simple, voluntary, local-control tool that would give municipalities with high property tax burden a chance to relieve the pressure.

During the deliberations, several Committee members spoke about how much the local electorate could be trusted to make the right decisions and how the municipal officers could be trusted to use the new-source revenues prudently. Then the Committee proceeded to vote "ought not to pass" on all five measures – unanimously on three bills and with divided but negative reports on LD 809 and LD 1122.

Personal Property. On Thursday, the Committee took up another carryover bill that would have repealed the personal property tax in Maine and reimbursed municipalities for the resulting tax revenue loss through a specially-designed municipal revenue sharing program.

After the Committee discussed how the repeal of the personal property tax would be much superior to the continuation of the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Program (BETR), the appropriations for which are now over $50 million a year, the Committee concluded that "the time is not right" for this type of tax reform and unanimously killed the bill.

Property Tax Exemptions. Prospects for making any improvements to the standardless law governing non-governmental property tax exemptions also took a downturn on Thursday. The Committee conducted straw polling on the several proposed changes the Committee has itself developed over the last three months, such as:

• a requirement that any property belonging to a charitable organization that is not being actually and regularly used for the charitable purpose be taxable; or

• the requirement that an exempt charitable institution report on the value of the uncompensated goods or services it provides to justify its exemption.

Even these modest steps toward statutory accountability received only one or two votes of support among the seven Committee members present, several of whom repeated their opinions of last month that current law governing tax exempt property should not be changed by one word.

Public Hearing. The result of the Committee’s efforts to review property tax exemptions is a report. That report will include the Committee’s finding with respect to the status of the law governing property tax exemptions in Maine and any recommended changes to that law. The Committee’s recommendations will include a number of standards to give some structure to the law governing the charitable exemption, but Thursday’s actions reveal that those recommendations will only have the support of a minority of the Committee. The report will also include the recommendation to implement a "Revenue Sharing II" system that would distribute state revenues to municipalities in a targeted way so that the state could help pay for some of the municipal costs of serving these exempt institutions. The Revenue Sharing II part of the Committee’s report is expected to have the support of a strong majority of the Committee, but to actually fund that additional revenue sharing program faces some enormous political obstacles.

The Tax Committee’s report is scheduled to be posted on the Internet at the following site. http://www.state.me.us/legis/ofpr/study.htm. The public hearing on the Taxation Committee’s report will be held on February 2 at 1:15 p.m. in the Taxation Committee’s temporary quarters in the City Council’s chambers in Augusta City Hall. (GH)

Next Week-at-a-Glance

There are two public hearings next week that municipal officials may find of particular importance.

On Monday, January 24th, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Columbus Hall at the St. Paul Center (Oblate House), the Appropriations Committee will open the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget to public hearing.

The first element of the supplemental budget for public hearing Monday morning is the budget for the Department of Education. The Governor’s budget includes bringing the FY 2001 GPA appropriation to $651 million, which is a 5% increase over the FY 2000 appropriation. MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee is seeking to lift the FY 2001 GPA appropriation to $658 million, a 6% increase over this current year. MMA is also seeking a $20 million appropriation for the continued capitalization of the School Renovation fund.

On Tuesday, January 25th, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Room 436 of the State House, the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee will be hosting a public hearing on LD 2349, An Act to Allow Video Lottery Terminals. This measure would open up video gaming in the state at horse racing tracks, with 40% of the net income going to the municipalities to add to municipal revenue sharing. On January 20th, MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee voted to take no position on the citizens’ initiative. Concerns were expressed about basing property tax relief on gambling revenues, but the LPC decided to let the citizens’ initiative rise or fall with Maine voters on its own merits.

An important public hearing on the Taxation Committee’s report on property tax exemptions is scheduled for Wednesday, February 2 at 1:15 p.m. in the Committee’s temporary quarters in Augusta City Hall. For more details, see the article on taxation matters in this issue of the Bulletin.

On Tuesday, January 18th, the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 10 to 0 that LD 1149, An Act to Require the Municipal Clerk to Attend at Least One Training Session that is Approved by the Secretary of State Every 2 Years Regarding the Conduct of Elections, "ought not to pass".

The bill was carried over from the first session with the understanding that the Secretary of State would work with MMA to develop regional pilot training programs to encourage municipal clerks to voluntarily attend training sessions. In the fall of 1999, eight free regional four-hour workshops were held across the state. A total of 106 clerks attended, many of whom had never before attended an elections workshop.

Although the Secretary of State’s Office agreed that the pilot program had been successful, the Office remained concerned with the fact that a significant percentage of the municipal clerks had never attended a training session. Therefore, in spite of the success of the regional program offerings, the Secretary came back to the work session with a request that the Committee mandate the training, as would be required under the printed bill.

The Committee, concerned with passing a mandate to municipalities, believed that the piloted program had been successful and voted to continue the voluntary training process. To the credit of the Secretary of State, the department will continue to offer ten to fifteen free regional, four-hour training workshops each year for the benefit of the municipal election clerks. (KD)

The Last Gimmick (revisited)

When Governor King held a press conference on January 10th to outline the elements of his budget proposal, he said that his supplemental budget proposal for the years FY 2000-2001 would finally eliminate all the state-level "gimmicks" enacted in the early 1990’s to balance the state budget.

Not quite.

One of those 1991 gimmicks slashed the reimbursement rate paid to municipalities and counties to cover the time local law enforcement personnel spends in state courthouses prosecuting state motor vehicle laws so that violators can pay state-imposed fines to the state.

Before this 1991 shift-and-shaft gimmick, municipalities were reimbursed at an honest hourly rate for the time local law enforcement officers spent in court. In 1991, the hourly rate was replaced with a $10 per day "witness fee", a fraction of the municipalities’ actual costs.

The property taxpayers, in other words, were called upon to directly subsidize the state’s revenue collection system.

Thanks to the efforts of Representative Ken Lemont (Kittery), the issue has been before the Legislature for the last eight years, waiting to be made right.

In 1998, when presented with evidence that the average direct municipal cost associated with sending a police officer to court was at least $65 per day, the Legislature agreed to bump the $10 per diem to $25. Representative Lemont came back in 1999 with LD 1251, An Act to Change the Reimbursement Rate for Law Enforcement Personnel Who Testify in Court, which would increase the per diem to $50. LD 1251 still doesn’t make municipalities whole, but it at least approximates the reimbursement rate that the Legislature previously slashed in the 1991 gimmick.

Representative Lemont’s LD 1251 was unanimously supported by the Judiciary Committee a year ago, but rejected by the Appropriations Committee last June and sent back to the Judiciary Committee for consideration this second legislative session.

On January 12th, the Judiciary Committee unanimously supported LD 1251 for the second time, sending it back into the same dynamic to join hundreds of other money bills "on the table" to compete for an ought-to-pass vote by the Appropriations Committee.

MMA has just conducted an updated survey which reveals that the average direct municipal cost for sending a law enforcement officer to District Court now is $75 per day, which means that current state reimbursement isn’t paying one third of the direct municipal costs.

The proposed supplemental budget bill does not finally fix all the gimmicks of the early 1990’s. The double irony is that the fiscal note on LD 1251 is paid for many times over by the fines that are secured by the work of the local police officers. Thus far, the Legislature would rather spend those revenues on programs other than police reimbursement.

That’s what gimmicks are all about.

On Wednesday, January 19th the Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on LD 2268, An Act to Provide Freedom of Access to All Reports Commissioned by the State.

The bill would require that anytime a state or local governing body commissions a study, a written report at the conclusion of that study would have to be given to the governing body.

The origin of the bill appears to be a controversy in the fall of 1999, when a consulting firm hired by the state to study Y2K preparedness indicated to a legislative task force that it had been directed not to reduce some findings to writing regarding public safety contingencies because of the potential sensitivity of that information.

MMA spoke in opposition to the bill. Depending how the terms "study" or "commissioned" are interpreted, the requirement could lead to a significant overburden of administrative paperwork. Every routine request for information by a local board – and dozens of such requests might be made at any selectmens’ meeting – could trigger the need for a written report in each case.

The sponsors of the bill testified that they had not intended for the language to be so broad-based that all municipal task assignments must generate written reports. The sponsors maintained they were only interested in ensuring that larger, more significant studies and reports would be available to the general public.

In addition to MMA, opponents of the bill included Kay Rand, representing the Governor’s office, and Gordon Scott, representing the Maine Newspaper Association, which opposed the bill only on technical grounds. The testimony from Kay Rand focused on the fact that the Y2K incident had been a misunderstanding, and that a written report had been available to the public on the state’s web site. Rand did admit that there had been an error in the decision to not make state agency contingency plans available to the general public, but said that the decision had been made in an effort to address public safety concerns. The contingency plans not published included information on where the state police would be stationing additional officers, and where the welfare and unemployment checks, which had been prepared in advance, would be stored.

The Maine Newspaper Association, although testifying in opposition to the bill, provided the Committee with a proposed amendment that supported the intentions of the bill. The amendment requires that a commissioned report or study be reduced to writing and that one or more copies of the report be delivered to and retained by the commissioning government. The newspapers’ lobbyist suggested that the term "commissioned study" could be defined as a report that is paid for but not completed by a municipal or state employee. With the proposed amendment, the newspapers wanted to address a circumstance they believe occurs at the local level, albeit rarely, when a report is shared with a local board but deliberately given to the custody of the person who wrote the report so the information will not be released to the general public.

Others representing private industry testified "neither for not against" the bill. These industry representatives were concerned with the confidentiality of the reports, such as income, salary and employment levels, that they are currently required to submit to the state. Under the definition of "commissioned study", they believed that the confidentiality of their reports could be jeopardized.

The work session on LD 2268 will be held on Wednesday, January 26th at 1:30 PM. (KD)

Most of the land use task forces being followed by MMA have completed or are near completion of their assigned tasks.

The Task Force to Protect Public Water Supplies finalized its report in a January 14 meeting. The report recommends enhancement of public drinking water supplies through adoption of a Water Supply Protection Act, moving the Drinking Water Program from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Environmental Protection, and an education campaign.

The Task Force reached consensus that the water protection functions of the DEP and the water regulation functions of the Drinking Water Program at DHS should be combined. The goal of the merger is the "integration of regulations within one agency to protect the resource and ensure public health while administering the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act in one agency." DEP would house the new organization. The Task Force recommended that a consultant be hired to assist DEP in integrating the DHS functions (Drinking Water, Plumbing Control, Radiation Control, and the Eating and Lodging Program) into their structure. While there is general agreement on moving the Drinking Water Program to DEP, Task Force members are currently split on the advisability of moving Plumbing Control and Radiation Control. In a memorandum that appeared to surprise Task Force members, the Director of the Division of Health Engineering at DHS related his agency’s position that the Drinking Water Program should remain with DHS. According to Clough Toppan’s memorandum and discussion with the Task Force, it appears that DHS will not be supportive of the transfer.

The Task Force made additional recommendations to:

1. Create and fund a new position under the Land and Water Resources Council to develop an education strategy aimed at municipalities and the general public.

2. Enact the "Public Water Supply Protection Act" to identify significant public water supplies, strive for a higher degree of protection for water supplies, and allow watershed or wellhead protection efforts.

3. Require municipalities to provide notice of proposed land use projects to water utilities for activities in their source water protection areas.

4. Convene a task force to evaluate requirements, agencies and regulations regarding above ground oil storage tanks.

A printed bill reflecting the recommendations of the Task Force should be available next month.

After what proved to be an extremely contentious task force composition and process, the Task Force Reviewing State Solid Waste Management Policy submitted its report to the Legislature on January 14. The report offers these conclusions and recommendations:

1. The timeline and establishment process for the development of a state-owned solid waste disposal facility. When SPO finds that 4 years of landfill capacity remain, or if there is only one remaining facility, it will recommend the development of the Carpenter Ridge facility.

2. Host community benefits. The host community benefits described in statute for state-owned facilities should be expanded to apply to commercial solid waste disposal facilities.

3. The development of commercial solid waste facilities and the economic competitiveness of commercial facilities. The prohibition on the development of new commercial Solid Waste Disposal Facilities should continue.

4. The appropriateness of developing regional disposal facilities to better serve municipalities and businesses. At such time as the State Planning Office, in consultation with regional associations, finds that disposal capacity is projected to be needed for bulky wastes, construction/demolition waste and/or land clearing debris, and that the regional associations are not able to pursue the siting, establishment and operation of such a facility, the Office may submit a report to the Natural Resources Committee recommending the construction and operation of a state-owned solid waste disposal facility that will fulfill the disposal need.

5. The continued development and expansion of beneficial reuse and recycling. The DEP should convene a stakeholder group that focuses on beneficial reuse; reaffirmation of the 50% recycling goal; and the SPO will include a review of municipal and commercial recycling efforts, address the issue of toxicity of MSW (in consultation with the DEP), and offer recommendations regarding what levels and types of assistance may be necessary to help achieve the 50% recycling goal in their planned report.

6. The proper role of municipal zoning and other local control in regard to siting, expansion and operation of solid waste disposal facilities. For a combination of reasons including the extreme divisiveness of the issue, insufficient time and the pending Hampden litigation, the Task Force is unable to make a substantive recommendation in this policy area. (LL)

The Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs and the various policy committees of the Legislature will be holding public hearings on the draft "Supplemental Budget Bill," An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government and to Change Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary for the Property Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2000 and June 30, 2001.

9:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs (287-3125)

Supplemental budget issues dealing with General Purpose Aid to Education, school technology grants, school renovation and revolving loan program, etc.

3:00 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation (287-1552)

Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Taxation Issues

Farm and Open Space Reimbursement; Homestead Property Tax Exemption; Personal Property Tax Reform; Maine Residents Property Tax Program

9:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs (287-3125)

University of Maine System and Maine Technical College System

11:00 .a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Labor (287-1333)

1:15 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Business and Economic Development (287-1331)

3:00 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources (287-4149)

LD 2401 – An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding the Change of a Cost-sharing Formula in a School Administrative District (Sponsor: TUTTLE)

LD 2346 – An Act to Extend the Time Period for Municipalities to Make Recommendations Concerning Great Pond Surface Use Restrictions (Sponsor: THOMPSON)

POSTPONED (to be rescheduled at a later time) LD 2390 – An Act to Target Public Assistance to Responsible Employers (Sponsor: DOUGLASS)

LD 2416 – An Act to Limit the Duration that Businesses May Hire Employees as Temporary Employees (Sponsor: HATCH)

WORK SESSION: LD 2162 – RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Allow Persons with Mental Illness to Vote (Sponsor: BRENNAN)

WORK SESSION: LD 2293 – An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Municipal Elections (Sponsor: ABROMSON)

LD 2298 – An Act to Clarify the Law Relating to the Renewal of Liquor Licenses (Sponsor: DAGGETT)

LD 2349 – An Act to Allow Video Lottery Terminals (INITIATED BILL)

WORK SESSION: LD 1883 – An Act to Ensure that Certain Land Transfers Accomplished through Stock Transfers are not Exempt from the Transfer Tax (Sponsor: MICHAUD)

LD 2265 – An Act to Allow a Person with a Disability to Ride in Vehicles Being Towed (Sponsor: CARR)

LD 2303 – An Act to Amend Truck Weights (Sponsor: LINDAHL) (Submitted by the Secretary of State)

LD 2312 – An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws (Sponsor: O’GARA) (Submitted by the Department of Public Safety)

LD 2338 – An Act to Clarify the Crosswalk Law (Sponsor: POWERS)

LD 2370 – An Act to Amend Certain Transportation Laws (Sponsor: PARADIS) (Submitted by the Department of Transportation)

LD 2381 – An Act to Ensure Fuel Deliveries by Allowing Fuel Delivery Vehicles to Travel on Posted Roads (Sponsor: HARRIMAN)

WORK SESSION: LD 2294 – An Act to Promote Competition in the Natural Gas Industry (Sponsor: CAREY)

WORK SESSION: LD 2317 – An Act Increasing the Authorized Indebtedness of the Veazie Sewer District (Sponsor: CAMPBELL, by request)

WORK SESSION: LD 2335 – An Act to Revise the Charter of the Madawaska Water District (Emergency) (Sponsor: AHEARNE)

LD 2306 – An Act to Amend the Animal Welfare Laws (Sponsor: COWGER) (Submitted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources)

9:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary (287-1327)

11:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services (287-1317)

1:00 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services (continued)

WORK SESSION: LD 2268 – An Act to Provide Freedom of Access to All Reports Commissioned by the State (Sponsor: CHICK)

LD 2437 – An Act to Revise the Funding of the Ground Water Oil Clean-up Fund (Sponsor: DAIGLE)

LD 2342 – An Act to Add Emergency Medical Services to the Municipal Fire Department Authority (sponsor: DUPLESSIE)

WORK SESSION: LD 2300 – An Act to Make Minor Changes to the Community Development Definitions to Maintain Compatability with Federal Regulations (Sponsor: DAGGETT) (Submitted by the Department of Economic and Community Development)

WORK SESSION: LD 2309 – Resolve, Authorizing the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services to Transfer or Acquire Property or Interests in Property at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Oak Grove Coburn School in Vassalboro and at Other State-owned Property (Sponsor: PENDLETON) (Submitted by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services)

WORK SESSION: LD 1849 – An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Public Easements and the Discontinuance of Town Ways (Sponsor: MCKEE)

9:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (287-1312)

1:00 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans’ Affairs (287-1310)

3:00 p.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (287-1338)

LD 2433 – An Act to Penalize a Company that Does Not Submit the Report Required by Law Regarding State Assistance (Sponsor: TWOMEY)

LD 2364 – An Act to Restore Early Retirement Options for Teachers (Sponsor: PINGREE)

1:30 p.m. WORK SESSION: LD 2075 – An Act to Amend the Maine Workers’ Compensation Act of 1992 as it Pertains to Occupational Health (Sponsor: COWGER)

POSTPONED (to be rescheduled at a later time) LD 2411 – An Act to Allow Certain Public Utilities to Extend Their Service into Areas Serviced by Other Public Utilities (Sponsor: MURPHY, T.)

LD 2427 – An Act Relating to Underground Facility Plants (Sponsor: DAVIDSON) (Submitted by the Public Utilities Commission)

9:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources (287-4149)

11:00 a.m. With the Joint Standing Committee on Banking and Insurance (287-1314)

LD 2325 – An Act to Address Financial Inequities in Special Waste Fees (Sponsor: DUNCAN)

LD 2442 – An Act Regarding the Requirement of Notice in the Acquisition of Solid Waste Hauling, Incineration Residue Disposal and Related Assets (Sponsor: POVICH)

LD 2350 – An Act to Clarify the Laws Governing Solid Waste Disposal Districts (Sponsor: MICHAUD)

Room 437, State House, 1:00 p.m.Error! Bookmark not defined.

LD 2377 – An Act to Prevent Contamination from Home Heating Oil Tanks (Sponsor: NUTTING, J.) (Submitted by the Department of Environmental Protection)

LD 2480 – An Act to Allow Police Assistance in Emergency Situations (Sponsor: MURPHY, E.)

LD 2504 – An Act to Enhance the Conservation of Atlantic Salmon (Sponsored by Rep. Dugay of Cherryfield; additional cosponsors)

This bill would appropriate $750,000 to the Atlantic Salmon Commission to support local watershed councils and the implementation of their salmon restoration plans, including money for project grants, land appraisals, GIS data base, pollution reduction, lab equipment, code enforcement, etc.

LD 2502 – An Act to Support the Maine Rural Development Council and its Community Capacity Building Work in Distressed Rural Areas in the State (Sponsored by Senator Lawrence of York County; additional cosponsors)

This bill would appropriate $125,000 to fund the Maine Rural Development Council to develop community capacity building projects and to provide advocacy for the social and economic needs in rural Maine.

LD 2494 – Resolve, to Create a Commission to Study the Regulation of Firearms in Maine (Sponsored by Rep. Muse of South Portland; additional cosponsors)

This resolve establishes a 7-member commission to study the need for changes in the regulations of firearms in Maine in order to reduce gun-related violence. The commission must file its report, including any recommendations for statutory changes, by December 31, 2000.

LD 2468 – An Act to Establish the Watercraft Enforcement Fund (Sponsored by Rep. McKee of Wayne; additional cosponsors)

This bill, in concept draft, would direct a portion of the money collected for watercraft registrations throughout the state into a Watercraft Enforcement Fund to be administered by Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and used to support boating laws enforcement through training of inland harbor masters, with a focus on education and safety.

LD 2364 – An Act to Restore Early Retirement Options for Teachers (Sponsored by Sen. Pingree of Knox County; additional cosponsors)

Under current law, public school teachers who retire before the age of 62 are penalized by a reduction in their benefit from the Maine State Retirement system. This bill replaces that penalty with no penalty for teachers who retire with at least 10 years of creditable service, and an actuarial-based penalty for teachers who retire with less than 10 years of creditable service. The bill also establishes a Task Force of 9 members, three of whom are picked by the Maine Education Association, which would be charged with studying early retirement options for school teachers.

LD 2377 – An Act to Prevent Contamination from Home Heating Oil Tanks (Sponsored by Sen. Nutting of Androscoggin County; additional cosponsors)

Under current law, $1,500,000 a year was provided under the Ground Water Oil Clean Up Fund to pay for replacement of substandard heating oil tanks in certain qualified households for FY 99 and FY 00. This bill would remove the sunset provision on that law, establishing the $1.5 million annual allotment for the years beyond FY 00.

LD 2537 – An Act to Revise the funding of the Ground Water Oil Clean-up Fund (Sponsored by Rep. Daigle of Arundel; additional cosponsors)

This bill would make a number of changes to the Ground Water Oil Clean Up Fund, which is funded by fees assessed against each barrel of gasoline, and refined petroleum products stored in the state. Among other changes, the bill would limit the allocation from the Fund to the State Fire Marshal’s Office to $225,000, but authorize those funds to be spent on training local fire departments on petroleum storage, assessment and response. The bill would also authorize disbursements of up to $180,000 from the fund for state inspection of home heating oil tanks and to train local fire departments about above-ground oil storage facilities.

LD 2300 – An Act to Make Minor Changes to the Community Development Definitions to Maintain Compatibility with Federal Regulations (Sponsored by Sen. Daggett of Kennebec County; additional cosponsors)

This bill would make minor wording changes to the definitions governing the state’s community development program to bring that law into conformance with the parallel language in federal regulations.

LD 2446 – An Act to Encourage Energy Efficiency in Governmental Facilities (Sponsored by Rep. Davidson of Brunswick)

This bill would establish an energy use reduction goal of 25% to be realized by 2010, which pertains to all buildings of "governmental units." To meet the energy use reduction goal, the governmental units would be authorized to enter into performance-based contracts with state-approved energy service companies. The "governmental units" to which this law applies includes state agencies, state authorities, state-supported institutions, state institutions of higher learning, and "joint action agencies comprised of political subdivisions."

LD 2501 – An Act to Strengthen Maine’s Corporate Accountability Law (Sponsored by Sen. Pingree of Knox County; additional cosponsors)

This bill would add more detail to the law governing the reports that have to be written by several state agencies regarding the economic development incentives and tax breaks that are provided to businesses. This bill would also require the State Tax Assessor to prepare a report every year that identifies the cost effect each year to the state on revenue sharing and the school funding formula as a result of municipal tax increment financing districts. This bill would also cut off continuing business incentives to any employer who fails to meet all employer reporting requirements established by the economic development incentive accountability law.

LD 2389 – An Act to Facilitate the Implementation of the E-9-1-1 System (EMERGENCY) (Sponsored by Sen. Kontos of Cumberland County; additional cosponsors)

This bill would retroactively reactivate a recently repealed surcharge on telephone bills which is used to fund the implementation of the E-9-1-1 program. This bill would also require that upon the activation of E-9-1-1 service in any area, telephone directories would have to clearly establish 9-1-1 as the sole telephone number to use in the case of a public safety emergency.

LD 2488 – An Act to Support E-9-1-1 Database Development and Maintenance and to Lower Fees Charged to Users for Equipment Replacement Costs (Sponsored by Sen. Carey of Kennebec County)

This bill, as a "concept draft", would provide funds to local exchange carrier telephone companies for their assistance in maintaining the customer information database in E-9-1-1 compatible formats. The concept draft bill would also lower the fee charged to users for replacement equipment costs in the E-9-1-1 system.

LD 2355 – An Act to Repeal Certain Archaic and Unenforced Laws Related to the Duties of the Secretary of State (Sponsored by Sen. Kontos of Cumberland County; additional cosponsors)

Among other changes, this bill would repeal a section of municipal law that establishes in the Corporation Division of the Secretary of State’s Office a repository for all cable t.v. franchise agreements.