Good Morning from Augusta.
Last Week
Our first major bill of the 131st Legislature, LD 108, An Act to Establish a Logger Relations Advocate Within the Maine Forest Service, had a public hearing in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. If you didn’t know it, you’d think that testifying Neither For Nor Against, is the new opposition, but more on that below.
In the good news department, we did have major support from Legislators on the bill. Democratic House member, Scott Landry from Farmington, sponsored the bill on our behalf and did a very commendable job in front of the Committee introducing the bill. We also had support from Senator Russell Black, R-Wilton, and Senator Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle who both testified in person. The PLC of course also testified in support and had some very positive feedback from the Committee on the need for the bill.
However, then there was the testimony from Patty Cormier, Director of the Maine Forest Service (MFS), and Tom Doak, Executive Director of the Maine Woodland Owners. Both testified Neither For Nor Against, but it was clear that they were opposed to any new voice at the Maine Forest Service that would represent the needs of loggers. Director Cormier did say that they needed four more forester positions and that is the priority. You can’t make this stuff up, but please watch the hearing here, where it begins at 10:48 am:
https://legislature.maine.gov/audio/#214?event=86962&startDate=2023-01-30T09:00:00-05:00
The work session for this bill is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at 11 am so this will be our second opportunity to continue to push for the bill.
The PLC also testified on LD 122, An Act to Authorize the Efficiency Maine Trust to Establish a Program to Support the Uptake of Medium-duty and Heavy-duty Zero-emission Vehicles by Maine Businesses and to Establish a Medium-duty and Heavy-duty Zero-emission Vehicle-to-grid Pilot in the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee on Thursday, February 2nd. Our testimony on this bill can be found here. The bill sponsor provided language for the bill at the hearing, which no one from the public had viewed before. Class 8 trucks were not included in the language and the PLC provided many reasons why this might be putting the cart before the horse.
Next Week
The second of the PLC priority bills this session, LD 180, An Act to Allow a Person to File a Paper Copy of a Timber Harvest Notification, has been scheduled for public hearing at 9 a.m. this Wednesday, February 8, 2023, also in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. This bill will mandate the MFS to provide both a paper option and an electronic option for filing a Forest Operations Notification (FONS).
We need you to testify in favor of this bill, and we also ask that you please invite 1 or 2 landowners who could testify in support of this, either in person or via Zoom.
As many of you know, in January of 2021, the paper FONS was eliminated in favor of electronic only. We have been told by MFS and our members that MFS has created their own unpublished rule that the only constituency that can ask for a paper FONS is the landowner. This is quite interesting since the statute related to FONS, Chapter 12, Subchapter 805, Section 8883-B, states specifically that unless an alternate form or method of reporting is provided in rule, notification must be on forms supplied by the bureau. Evidently, the Maine Forest Service chose to ignore this part of the law by mandating that FONS must be filled out electronically.
The PLC wants the paper form brought back as an option. Senator Russell Black (R-Wilton) has introduced this bill for the PLC.
In preparing your testimony, the PLC offers the following talking points to help with your testimony:
- Current Maine law was not followed when the MFS took away the paper option for all parties. No alternate form or method of reporting was established with rulemaking. MFS can’t arbitrarily eliminate one option in favor of another, or only make a paper form available for one group over another. All taxpayers should be able to be provided with equal access.
- The designated agent, which could be the contractor, had the ability to work with the landowner to obtain their signature in the past on a paper form. This ability has been taken away in the online environment, except of course if you are a licensed forester. See Chapter 12, Subchapter 805, Section 883-B2J. It is quite clear that the online environment has been created to help one group over another.
- Contractors are being discriminated against. MFS has told stakeholders that the only person that can obtain a paper form is the landowner and contractors cannot have access to paper forms any longer. A contractor can be a designated agent, but they have been removed from the process. Contractors do not have equal protection under the law, which can create a discriminatory impact.
- Paper forms are available for filing taxes, incorporating a business, filing a permit application and numerous other areas of state government, in addition to having an online option. MFS is the only agency that has eliminated a paper form and mandated the use of an electronic form. Can the MFS demonstrate any cost savings by moving to electronic only? Have any staff been eliminated as a result?
- Not all landowners have access to the internet, they cannot all use a computer nor do they have money to transport themselves to a location with public internet that they may or may not be able to operate. MFS should not be discouraging landowners from conducting harvests and should make the process easier and not harder to do so. If you can file other government forms in both paper and online, the FONS should be similar.
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.
This bill is one of the top priorities for the PLC this session. Please do not hesitate to contact PLC if you have any questions on this.
Other Activity
450 of the expected 2,000 bills 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.
I have updated our bill tracking spreadsheet so you can see the bills and the related language.
Legislative Activity February 6 – February 10, 2023
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Work Session, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 11 am, 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, who’s 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) sponsored the bill on our behalf and the PLC testified in support.
Public Hearing, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 9 am, LD 180, An Act to Allow a Person to File a Paper Copy of a Timber Harvest Notification. Discussion on the PLC’s perspective on this bill is above.
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 clicking here, call 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