Good Morning from Augusta.
Our second major bill of the 131st Legislature, LD 180, An Act to Allow a Person to File a Paper Copy of a Timber Harvest Notification, had a public hearing this past Wednesday, February 8, 2023, in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. This bill will mandate the MFS to provide both an electronic AND paper option for filing a Forest Operations Notification (FONS).
A special thank you goes out to PLC members – Will Cole, PLC President, President of Trees, Ltd. (Sidney), Sam Blatchford from Maine Custom Woodlands (Durham), Derek Madden, President, Madden Sustainable Forestry (Milford), and Tom Douglass, President, Thomas Logging and Forestry for testifying live or by Zoom in favor of this legislation. The logging community was well represented but faced similar obstacles as it had the week before, with essentially strong opposition from the Maine Forest Service, the Maine Forest Products Council and Maine Woodland Owners. As one member remarked, “they just don’t get it, we have been gut punched in the last three years and all they care about is keeping foresters in control of loggers”. That summed up the hearing about as well as anything.
In the good news department, we did have major support from Legislators on the bill. Republican Senator, Russel Black from Wilton, sponsored the bill on our behalf and did a very commendable job in front of the Committee introducing it. The PLC of course also testified in support and had some very positive feedback from the Committee on the need for the bill.
As I mentioned before, similar to the hearing on LD 108 the week before, 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 bringing back the paper form and of course there were no problems to see here. You can’t make this stuff up, but please watch the hearing here, where it begins at 10:05 am:
https://legislature.maine.gov/audio/#214?event=87197&startDate=2023-02-08T09:00:00-05:
The work session for this bill is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9 am so this will be our second opportunity to continue to push for the bill. The membership of the ACF Committee can be found here, just scroll to the bottom of the page. If you do have a member on the Committee, please reach out to them to tell them why this change is important (contact information is at the bottom of this report). The more contractors they hear from directly, the better our chances will be to get this passed out of Committee.
Other Activity
Next week, February 13-17, 2023, will be the last full week of legislative activity for the month of February. As of now, the Legislature is expected to be out of session for the full school vacation week, February 20-25th. The week they return, February 27th, is the week of our annual legislative breakfast (see below), so it will be important to pack the house that morning with loggers to show Legislators that they need to listen to your concerns. This will also provide a great message of strength to all of those folks you work for.
584 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 13 – February 17, 2023
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Work Session, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 9 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.
Work Session, 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.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Public Hearing, Labor and Housing Committee, 1 pm, LD 245, An Act to Require a Person Receiving Unemployment Benefits to Attend Scheduled Interviews to Fulfill the Work Search Requirement. This bill amends the Employment Security Law to provide that an individual who refuses to appear for an employment interview scheduled with an employer for a suitable job opportunity is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. The bill also requires the Department of Labor, Bureau of Unemployment Compensation to establish an online portal for employers to report individuals who refuse to appear for scheduled employment interviews. The PLC will testify in support of this bill, which is sponsored by Senator Guerin, R-Penobscot.
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, calling 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