Good Morning from Augusta,
I hope all of you had a Happy New Year!
It is certainly a new year in Augusta as the 131st Legislature convened its 2nd session on Wednesday, January 3rd. The first day of the session this past Wednesday was an interesting day at the State House. To start, there was a large rally in support of anti-gun legislation, which brought in hundreds of people to pack the Capitol Building. The Republicans held a press conference regarding Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows’ decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from Maine’s Primary Ballot. The day ended with a bomb scare that closed down the State House at about 2:30. The Capitol Police and Governor’s security closed the building down and evacuated staff and visitors.
It has become apparent that much of this session is going to be consumed with major issues that won’t directly affect our industry. Anti-gun legislation, housing issues, supplemental budget, and recently added into the mix, the Secretary of State removing Donald Trump from the Primary Ballot. However, there are over 500 bills that need to receive their final disposition before the statutory adjournment date of April 17, 2024.
Next week, public hearings and work sessions start on several of the bills that we have been following since last year. The bills are highlighted below and you can always find more information from our bill tracking spreadsheet as well.
LD 2063, “An Act to Clarify the Laws Governing Disclosure of Wood Processing Data”
Public Hearing – Monday, January 8, 2024, 10 am in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee (Monitor)
Summary: This bill amends the confidentiality provisions of the laws governing wood processor reports to authorize limited sharing of the information submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry with the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, as long as the bureau enters into a confidentiality agreement with that entity. The bill adds penalties to ensure that the information is used only for purposes authorized by the director of the bureau. The PLC is monitoring this bill to ensure the intent doesn’t change.
LD 1815, “An Act to Protect Maine's Consumers by Establishing an Abuse of Dominance Right of Action and Requiring Notification of Mergers”
Public Hearing – Tuesday, January 9, 2024, 1pm in the Innovation, Development and Economic Advancement Committee (Oppose)
Summary: This bill establishes a right of action against a person with a dominant position in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce, in any labor market or in the furnishing of any service in this State that abuses that dominant position. The bill requires any person conducting certain types of business in this State that is required to file a notification and report form prior to a merger pursuant to federal law to provide the same notification and report to the Attorney General. It establishes a penalty for failing to file the required notice. The bill increases the cap on monetary penalties from $10,000 to $50,000 for violations of provisions of law relating to the acquisition of gasoline and heating oil assets and increases the notification requirement from 30 days to 90 days. The bill increases the cap on monetary penalties from $100,000 to $250,000 for violations of provisions of law relating to antimonopoly provisions. It also clarifies that the State may recover equitable monetary relief in proceedings related to antitrust violations.
LD 1455, “An Act to Establish the Weighing Point Preclearance Program”
Work Session – Thursday, January 11, 2024, 1pm in the Transportation Committee (NFNA)
Summary: The amendment
1. Changes the definition in the bill of "weighing point" to clarify that weighing points are state owned.
2. Adds language to clarify that the Weighing Point Preclearance Program must follow the current statutory procurement process for departments and agencies of State Government.
3. Removes the requirement that the preclearance program must align with other state preclearance programs. It adds a review process to be conducted every 5 years to evaluate any new preclearance system providers or technologies.
4. Adds that any infrastructure to be installed within the right-of-way on the Maine Turnpike as part of a preclearance system must be reviewed and approved by the Maine Turnpike Authority. The preclearance system provider must enter into a revocable license agreement with the authority prior to beginning any construction.
5. Adds that cost of modification, replacement or removal of a preclearance system must be covered by the preclearance system provider.
6. Adds 3 criteria to the criteria in the bill that the preclearance system must meet. The preclearance system must allow for the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police to select vehicles for manual inspection and visual verification. Preclearance system providers, except those on the Maine Turnpike, must provide a monthly report of the number of commercial vehicles that have bypassed each weighing point that uses the preclearance system. For preclearance system within the Maine Turnpike right-of-way that allows the weighing of vehicles in motion, the preclearance system must provide reports to the authority, in a format and as frequently as the authority directs, showing the number and classification of vehicles weighed by this method and the weights of each vehicle; each report must include all data recorded since the time of the most recent prior report.
7. Adds that all computer software and hardware must meet applicable standards set by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Office of Information Technology.
8. Adds that the Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of State Police must have access to any recorded data captured by the preclearance system for at least 30 days from the date of recording and that the Maine Turnpike Authority must have access to this data for any weighing points overseen by the authority.
9. Adds that the Bureau of State Police may remove from the program any preclearance system provider who fails to comply with the requirements of the program.
10. Adds that the Bureau of State Police is required to report on the program to the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation by January 3, 2024.
LD 1210, “An Act to Establish a Maine Highway Capital Fund to Provide Consistent Funding for the Construction and Repair of Maine's Roads and Bridges”
Work Session – Thursday, January 11, 2024, 1pm in the Transportation Committee (Monitor)
Summary:
This bill establishes the Capital Fund within the Department of Transportation. The fund receives all amounts appropriated to the department to fund the construction or repair of highways or bridges that at the end of any fiscal year would otherwise lapse to the General Fund and any amount in any dedicated account to fund the construction or repair of highways or bridges that at the end of any fiscal year would otherwise lapse to the General Fund, as well as 20% of the unappropriated General Fund surplus at the end of each fiscal year and any other funds available to the department that the department directs be deposited into the fund. The fund must be used to fund construction and repairs of highways and bridges as approved by the Legislature by a 2/3 vote of the members of each House.
LD 191, “An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding Certain Business Equipment Tax Benefits”
Work Session - Thursday, January 11, 2024, 1pm in the Taxation Committee
Summary:
This bill excludes from eligibility for the business equipment tax exemption and the business equipment tax reimbursement a person that, based on 3rd-party certifications, bans, boycotts or otherwise restricts or prevents the sale or distribution of any product that is legally produced, harvested or grown in the State.
LD 1606, “An Act to Finance Clean Energy and Infrastructure in Maine”
Work Session - Thursday, January 11, 2024, 2:30 PM in the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee (Support w/Amendment)
Summary:
This bill directs the Maine Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to establish a dedicated grant program to finance energy audits and feasibility studies for renewable energy or energy efficiency retrofit projects in public elementary and secondary schools. It also directs the Efficiency Maine Trust to establish a pilot project to provide bridge funding for up to 2 years, in the form of zero-interest loans, for public elementary and secondary schools to finance the upfront costs of distributed generation solar or energy efficiency retrofit projects.
Regulatory - The Board of Environmental Protection – Advanced Clean Cars II Program
In other news, The Board of Environmental Protection postponed their December 21st meeting on the Advanced Clean Cars II Program. The postponement delayed the board from voting to move forward. The whole process has been pushed back and the BEP has opened the public comment period for which comments can be submitted regarding the proposed rule changes. To submit further comments, please click here.
Maine PLC Legislative Breakfast – Click Here to RSVP Today!
Have a great weekend and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dana