Good Morning from Augusta,
On Friday afternoon, Governor Mills asked the PLC to meet with her and other representatives of the forest products economy to discuss remedies for logger capacity and the future of our pulp mills. Brian Souers, Treeline and PLC President, Will Cole, Trees Ltd. joined Executive Director, Dana Doran, for the meeting. Many ideas were put on the table, but the focus was placed on providing greater utilization and competition for pulpwood, especially pine and hemlock. The primary policy we focused our conversation on was for government to create more opportunities for combined heat and power plants and utilization of low grade for thermal heat. If anything comes out of the meeting, it will be policy around these measures.
In other thoughts, the pace of activity in Augusta has really started to pick up as legislative leadership has realized that they are more than 50% of the way towards adjournment in June and not quite 50% of the bills have received a public hearing yet.
To move things along, notice for public hearings has been reduced from 14 days to 7 days. As a result, the speed and frequency of hearings has picked up and will continue for the rest of the session. What hasn’t been heard by early May will likely be carried over to 2024.
1,722 of the expected 2,000 bills have now 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.
Last Week’s Legislative Activity April 10 – April 14, 2023
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Public Hearing, Taxation Committee, LD 1303, An Act to Exempt Boats and All-terrain Vehicles Purchased for Qualified Commercial Fishing or Commercial Farming from State Sales Tax This bill, sponsored by Rep. Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), exempts from sales tax sales of boats and all-terrain vehicles used directly and exclusively in commercial fishing or commercial agricultural production to a qualified purchaser. The bill defines "qualified purchaser" to mean a purchaser who, pursuant to the law governing the refund of sales tax on depreciable machinery and equipment purchases, has obtained a certificate from the State Tax Assessor stating that the purchaser is engaged in commercial fishing or commercial agricultural production. It also requires the seller to obtain from the purchaser an affidavit as prescribed by the assessor attesting to the qualification of the purchase for exemption. The PLC testified in support of this bill and the sponsor presented an amendment to allow timber harvesting companies to qualify.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Public Hearing, Energy and Utilities Committee, LD 1408, An Act to Reduce Maine's Dependence on Fossil Fuels and Carbon Footprint for Energy Production Using Waste Wood Fuel, This bill, sponsored by Rep. Theriault (R-Fort Kent), increases the limit on the net generating capacity of a combined heat and power program participant from 10 megawatts to 20 megawatts and increases the maximum total net generating capacity of all program participants from 20 megawatts to 40 megawatts. The PLC testified in support.
Next Week’s Legislative Activity April 17 – April 21, 2023
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Public Hearing, Energy Utilities and Technology Committee, 1 pm, LD 1489, Resolve, to Capitalize on Opportunities from Newly Revised Federal Renewable Fuels Standards by Studying the Environmental and Economic Benefits of Electric and Steam Generation Facilities Powered by Biomass This resolve, sponsored by Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) directs the Public Utilities Commission to undertake or contract with appropriate experts for a study of the environmental and economic benefits of electric and steam generation facilities powered by biomass. The study must examine the benefits resulting from 20 megawatts, 40 megawatts and 60 megawatts, respectively, of electric generation, capacity and thermal energy from such facilities. The commission is required to ensure that the study results are peer‑reviewed and to submit a final report of the results of the study to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology by February 1, 2024. The committee is authorized to report out a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 131st Legislature related to the subject matter of the report. The PLC will testify in support of this resolve.
Public Hearing, Innovation, Development, Economic Development and Business Committee, 1:15 pm, LD 1487, An Act to Ensure that Residents of the State Have the Right to Repair Their Own Electronic Devices, This bill, sponsored by Senator Tipping (D-Bangor), establishes a requirement that a manufacturer of digital electronic equipment sold or used in this State make available on fair and reasonable terms to the owner of the equipment or to any independent repair provider parts, tools and documentation necessary to repair that digital electronic equipment, including any updates to information or embedded software. If the equipment contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer must also provide any parts, tools and documentation needed to reset the lock or function when disabled in the course of diagnosis, maintenance or repair of the equipment. The bill does not apply to digital electronic equipment in motor vehicles. The PLC will monitor this bill and will not testify on it.
Public Hearing, Taxation Committee, 1 pm, LD 1135, An Act to Ensure that Carbon Credits Can Be Sold on Forest Land Enrolled in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law, This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill would allow a person that owns wooded property enrolled in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law to sell carbon credits for that property and stay enrolled in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law as long as timber harvesting was not prohibited under the carbon credit agreement. The PLC will testify in opposition to this legislation as this will only be used by landowners as a way to monetize their investment and not harvest wood.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Work Session, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 10 am, LD 993, An Act to Facilitate Stakeholder Input Regarding Forest Policy in Maine, This bill, sponsored by Rep. Maggie O’Neil (D-Saco) creates the Maine Forest Advisory Board to advise the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry on a variety of forestry issues and to provide input on the state forest action plan required under the federal Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The board is directed to submit annual reports to the Legislature, including a report outlining conditions and trends in the State's forests to be submitted by December 6, 2023 to the Second Regular Session of the 131st Legislature. LD 993, sponsored by Rep. Maggie O’Neil (D-Saco), is a repeat from 2021 when it was vetoed by the Governor. It is essentially a bill that Senator Troy Jackson is attempting to use to have the Legislature in control of forest policy in the state. The PLC testified in opposition to this bill. The Committee voted to table the bill and will work on it at a future work session. It sounds like they might be coalescing around the PLC’s idea to create a Gubernatorial appointed Advisory Board.
Work Session, Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, 10 am LD 43, An Act to Reduce the Cost of Electricity by Removing the 100-megawatt Limit on Renewable Resources of Energy and LD 622, An Act to Create Equal Opportunity Access to Clean Energy by Removing the 100-megawatt Limit on Clean Energy Sources; Both of these bills, sponsored by Rep. Donald Ardell and Senator Jeff Timberlake, remove the 100-megawatt maximum capacity limit for a source of electrical generation to qualify as a renewable resource for purposes of meeting the State's renewable resource portfolio requirement. These two bills are similar to numerous attempts over the last decade to provide opportunities for large hydro dams to be built in the state of Maine. These attempts will harm biomass energy and the PLC testified in opposition
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Public Hearing, Transportation Committee, 1 pm, LD 1455, An Act to Establish the Weighing Point Preclearance Program, This bill, sponsored by Senator Brad Farrin (D-Norridgewock) establishes the Weighing Point Preclearance Program, which is operated by the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police and which uses an electronic system that verifies a commercial motor vehicle's size, weight, registration and safety records as the commercial motor vehicle drives on a highway and allows compliant commercial motor vehicles to bypass weighing points. The bill also provides that if the Department of Transportation administers a separate program that uses a preclearance system, the department must determine which weighing points must participate in that program, and all preclearance system providers' devices and platforms must be treated equally and used concurrently at participating weighing points. The PLC will testify in support of this bill as it could provide immense cost savings and efficiency for our members.
Work Session, Labor and Housing Committee, 2 pm LD 1206, An Act to Create a Grant Program for Workplace Health and Safety Improvements, This bill requires the Department of Labor to administer a grant program and fund that provides up to $5,000 for employers to pay for health and safety improvements at workplaces with 15 or fewer full-time employees and to provide resources to obtain health-related and safety-related equipment and training. The PLC testified in support.
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