Good Morning from Augusta.
This was a short week for our elected friends across the street as they weren’t in town for more than a day (Tuesday) as a result of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday and a majority participated in the bi-annual Maine Development Foundation legislative tour.
With respect to further movement on bills, January 21st looks about the same as January 13, 2022. Similar to last week, only 200 of the expected 2,000 bills for this session have progressed on the path to legislation, transitioning from an LR# (Legislative Reference - bill request) to an LD# (Legislative Document - bill reviewed and approved by the Revisor's Office) and have been referred to committees of jurisdiction by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Two of the 200 bills are PLC priorities this session that we asked members to sponsor on our behalf.
That said, our first bill, LD 108, An Act to Establish a Logger Relations Advocate Within the Maine Forest Service, has been scheduled for a public hearing on Monday, January 30, 2023 in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. More on this bill, the public hearing and our other priorities are below in the, “PLC Tracking and Priorities for 2023”.
I have updated our bill tracking spreadsheet so you can see the bills and the related language.
Committee Action
Legislative Committees of jurisdiction did begin meeting on Tuesday, January 17th. Next week, January 23-28, will be quite similar as this past week as committees receive updates from Executive Branch Departments and lobbyists introduce themselves to committees. The PLC will introduce the organization and the industry to Committees that we generally appear before (Ag., Conservation and Forestry; Labor and Housing, Taxation and Transportation) during this timeframe.
PLC Bill Tracking, Priorities in 2023 and First Hearing Scheduled
The PLC is tracking the following bills this session: Bill tracking spreadsheet
The PLC has also asked legislative members to introduce the following bills:
1. LD 190, An Act to Allow a Person to File a Paper Copy of a Timber Harvest Notification – Mandate the Maine Forest Service to provide both a paper option and an electronic option for filing a Forest Operations Notification (FONS). In January of 2021, the paper FONS was eliminated in favor of electronic only. The PLC wants the paper form brought back as an option. Senator Russell Black (R-Wilton) has introduced this bill for the PLC.
2. Public Hearing, Monday, January 30, 2023, 9 am, Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Committee, LD 108, An Act to Establish a Logger Relations Advocate Within the Maine Forest Service – The PLC would like to see a new position created at the Maine Forest Service, whose primary responsibility is to work on behalf of loggers and the general public. This new position would not be staffed by a licensed forester and would act to help loggers with questions on training, regulation, markets, etc. The state of Vermont has created a similar position and Maine should also have one. Rep. Scott Landry (D-Farmington) has sponsored the bill on our behalf. We will send out talking points next week, a call for members to testify and instructions on how to testify in person or via zoom from the cab of your machine can be found here. Yes, this is correct, you can travel to Augusta and testify in person or you can sign up beforehand and testify via zoom on your smartphone, laptop or tablet. This will make testifying much simpler and easier for our members to chime in on legislation without having to sit in Augusta for hours on end.
PLC Legislative Breakfast 2023
The Board of Directors would like to extend an invitation for you to attend our 2023 Legislative Breakfast. This event will take place on Thursday, March 2 from 7:00 – 8:30 am at the Governor Hill Mansion in Augusta. This meet and greet opportunity is a great way to sit down and build a relationship with your state representative who could impact your business with the decisions that they make in Augusta. Please RSVP by called 688-8195 or email office@maineloggers.com
Contact Your Representative or Senator
Don’t know who your Representative or Senator is? A complete roster, sortable by town, is available here: House Members Senators
In your message, clearly state the bill(s) you support and why each one is important to Loggers in Maine.
Introduce yourself and/or company.
- Identify the town you live in or where your business is located. If you work in multiple towns, please identify those towns (we need to show that harvesting occurs across the state);
- # employees (gross pay roll figure would be good);
- # of subcontractors your business supports (e.g. how much you spend for repairs, fuel, how many logging crews you keep busy, etc.),
- Volume of wood you move annually;
Conclude your message by thanking the Representatives for their service to the state and asking them to support these bills.
Have a great weekend and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dana