Legislative leaders spike most bill proposals for second session

Oct. 26--Legislative leaders on Thursday rejected a majority of new bills proposed for consideration in January, including a number that aimed to revive debates from previous sessions.

When the second year of the 128th Legislature continues in 2018, lawmakers won't debate new proposals related to Maine's bottle redemption system, metallic mineral mining rules, net energy metering, female genital mutilation, extension of Pine Tree Development Zones, limiting the governor's power to remove sheriffs or any of a number of proposals to alter the citizen-initiated referendum process. Proposals to renew debate on those matters failed during several dozen votes taken Thursday by the 10-member Legislative Council, which is composed of five Republican and five Democratic legislative leaders.

Thursday's votes were necessary because of rules that are supposed to prohibit the consideration of any bills in a Legislature's second, shorter session that aren't emergencies or to address budgetary issues.

Here is a list of the bills lawmakers let in from a list of 272 bills they considered.

-- An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Fund a Program of Student Debt Consolidation and Repayment.

-- An Act To Fund the Downeast Correctional Facility.

-- An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Offenses against the Person.

-- An Act To Establish the Crimes of Forced Labor and Aggravated Forced Labor in the Maine Criminal Code.

-- An Act To Increase the Penalty for Visual Sexual Aggression against a Child.

-- An Act Regarding the Prohibition on the Possession of a Firearm on School Property.

-- An Act To Protect Working and Service Animals.

-- An Act To Waive the Fee for Attendance at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for Former Military Police Officers.

-- An Act To Strengthen Crime Victims' Rights.

-- An Act To Enhance Safety for Victims of Sexual Assault and Stalking.

-- An Act To Shorten the Residency Requirements for In-state Tuition.

-- An Act To Allow Veterans Free Admission to the Maine State Museum.

-- Resolve, Directing the Department of Education To Adopt Protocols Designed To Prevent Youth Suicide.

-- An Act To Recognize the Accreditation of Certain Private Secondary Schools.

-- An Act To Repeal Certain Provisions Regarding the System Administration Allocation Affecting Maine School Districts in the 2018-2019 Biennial Budget.

-- An Act Forbidding Food Shaming, Food Denial and the Use of Food as Discipline Involving Any School-aged Child in Maine's Public Schools.

-- An Act To Ensure the Successful Implementation of Proficiency-based Diplomas by Extending the Timeline for Phasing in Their Implementation.

-- An Act To Restore Maine's School-based Health Centers.

-- An Act To Allow Hydropower Facilities To Sell Power Directly to Rural Manufacturing and Industrial Sites.

-- An Act To Revise the Renewable Portfolio Standard Laws To Require Certain Hydropower Facilities To Qualify as Class I Resources.

-- An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding Distributed Energy and To Eliminate Gross Metering.

-- Resolve, Establishing the Commission To Study the Economic, Environmental and Energy Benefits of Energy Storage to the Maine Electricity Industry.

-- An Act To Improve the Energy Efficiency of Group Homes in the Northern Part of the State.

-- An Act Regarding a Biomass-generated Energy Purchase and Sale Agreement and Payments to Contractors.

-- An Act To Facilitate Wireless Broadband Deployment in Maine.

-- An Act To Amend the Greater Augusta Utility District Charter.

-- An Act To Support Vulnerable Seniors by Funding Assisted Living Programs.

-- An Act To Allow the Maine Developmental Services Oversight and Advisory Board Access to Investigations and Mortality Reviews Performed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

-- Resolve, Regarding Medicaid Reimbursement for Rehabilitation Hospitals.

-- An Act To Clarify Authority Pertaining to the Collection of Debts of MaineCare Providers.

-- An Act To Allow Qualifying Medicaid Recipients To Hire Spouses and Legal Guardians.

-- An Act To Protect Consumers from Bank Overdraft Fees by Prohibiting Resequencing.

-- An Act Regarding Levies Placed on Accounts at Financial Institutions for Unpaid State Income Taxes.

-- An Act To Amend the Maine Guaranteed Access Reinsurance Association Act To Improve Market Stability for Maine Residents Purchasing Individual Health Insurance Coverage.

-- An Act To Impose a 3-year Moratorium on Allowing Anadromous Fish Species in Sheepscot Pond in Palermo and To Study the Consequences of Allowing Anadromous Fish Species To Enter Sheepscot Pond.

-- An Act To Rename the Coast of Maine Wildlife Management Area as the Alan E. Hutchinson Wildlife Management Area.

-- An Act To Amend the Laws Affecting the Judicial Branch Regarding Civil Railroad Trespass Violations.

-- An Act To Revise the Grandparents Visitation Act.

-- An Act To Make a Technical Correction Regarding the Information Required of Debt Buyers for Debt Collection.

-- An Act To Establish a Study Commission To Examine the Implied Warranty Laws and the Arbitration Process for Those Laws.

-- An Act To Empower Maine's Rural Economy and Workforce.

-- An Act To Promote Innovation and Growth in Maine's Traditional Industries.

-- An Act To Expand Job Opportunities for People Working in Maine.

-- An Act To Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in Maine's Marine Resources Laws.

-- An Act To Establish Legal Requirements for Training and Certification of Civil Deputies.

-- An Act To Authorize the Oxford County Commissioners To Close the Western District Registry of Deeds.

-- An Act Authorizing the Deorganization of Codyville Plantation.

-- An Act To Change Certain Gender-specific Terminology in the Laws Regarding Municipalities and Counties.

-- An Act To Restore Bond Funding for the Historic Preservation Revolving Fund Administered by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

-- An Act To Provide Funding for the Maine Bicentennial Commission.

-- An Act To Create an Access to Justice Income Tax Credit.

-- An Act To Encourage Major Investments in Shipbuilding Facilities and the Preservation of Jobs.

-- An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Excise Tax on Automobiles.

-- An Act To Exempt Certain Low-income Residents of the State from Certain Telecommunications Fees and Taxes.

-- An Act To Encourage Computer Data Center Development by Providing a Sales Tax Refund or Exemption.

-- An Act To Clarify the Interstate Commerce Sales Tax Exemption.

-- An Act To Allow the Operation of "Autocycles" on Roads in Maine.

-- An Act To Promote Passenger Ferry Service between Maine and Nova Scotia by Amending the Laws Governing Pilotage Requirements.

-- An Act To Require That Railroads Provide Easements to Owners of Land That Would Otherwise Be Inaccessible.

-- Resolve, Directing the Department of Transportation To Prioritize and Increase the Funding for Rural Roads.

-- An Act To Authorize Municipalities To Develop and Operate Pilot Programs for the Use of Autonomous Vehicles for Public Transportation.

-- An Act To Modify the Number of Retail Liquor Licenses Allowed in a Jurisdiction per Person.

-- An Act To Ensure Stability for Certain Holders of Liquor Licenses.

-- An Act To Amend the Definition of "Premises" for Purposes of the Alcoholic Beverage Laws To Include Real Estate That Is Not Contiguous.

Lawmakers have until Nov. 1 to appeal these decisions and the Legislative Council will reconvene Nov. 30. In addition to the bills allowed to move forward on Thurssday, lawmakers will consider nearly 320 bills that were carried over from earlier this year.

Now that the council has voted, the Legislature's revisor's office will begin the process of writing the text of the bills.

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