Good morning from Augusta,
I hope you are all staying warm and have your power restored from this week’s snowstorm. In Augusta, it is crunch-time and due to the snow, the Legislature was closed on Thursday, leaving them with only 6 scheduled workdays remaining until statutory adjournment on April 17th. With all these factors in play, it does not give them much time to dispense with the more than 300 bills remaining. There will surely be some late nights over the next couple of weeks to ensure that they are finished on time.
On Monday of this week, the Taxation Committee held a work session on LD 2279, An Act to Promote Equity in the Forest Products Industry by Allowing Commercial Wood Haulers to Be Eligible for Certain Sales Tax Exemptions and Refunds. This bill, sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), aims to include commercial wood hauler’s tractors, trailers, and semi-trailers in the sales tax exemption list, similar to wood harvesting equipment. The PLC testified in qualified support of this bill last week when it had its public hearing.
During the work session, a majority (6 of the 8 members present) of the committee voted in favor of Senator Jackson’s updated amendment that simplified the definition of hauling, included a definition of semi-trailers, and most importantly removed the requirement for sole proprietors to pay into the unemployment tax system to receive the sales tax benefit. In addition, the majority report allows for a sales tax exemption or a sales tax refund to be filed with yearly taxes. We believe this will provide a huge benefit to contractors when purchasing hauling equipment if passed by the House and Senate.
On Wednesday, the PLC testified in support of LD 1985, An Act to Authorize Removal of Requirements of Forest Certification Systems from the State's Forest Management Plans.
You can watch the public hearing here, however it started late, and you will need to skip ahead to 3:05 on the video player to get to the beginning of the hearing.
This bill sponsored by Senator Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) would:
- Protect the due process, confidentiality, and privacy for small businesses like yours. The bill ensures records obtained by the Maine Forest Service during an investigation or work with your employees remain confidential, and that these records only become public upon conclusion of an investigation. The Maine Forest Service should not be sharing information with anyone outside of state government.
- It holds the Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry accountable by requiring entities to pay contractors within 30 days of the contractor fulfilling the contract and placing the wood roadside.
- It ends the relationship between the state of Maine and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
You can find more information on legislation from our bill tracking spreadsheet here.
Last Week’s Legislative Activity April 1– April 5, 2024
Monday, April 1, 2024
LD 2279, An Act to Promote Equity in the Forest Products Industry by Allowing Commercial Wood Haulers to Be Eligible for Certain Sales Tax Exemptions and Refunds, (Support) Work Session, 1 pm– Taxation Committee
More information on the bill can be found above.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
LD 1985, An Act to Authorize Removal of Requirements of Forest Certification Systems from the State's Forest Management Plans, (Support) Public Hearing, 1pm – Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Committee
More information on the bill can be found above.
Next Week’s Legislative Activity April 8 – April 12, 2024
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
LD 1985, An Act to Authorize Removal of Requirements of Forest Certification Systems from the State's Forest Management Plans, (Support) Work Session, 1pm – Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Committee
More information on the bill can be found above.
Bills the PLC is Following on the House and Senate Floor
LD 2212, An Act to Strengthen Maine's Agriculture, Food System and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment, LD 2212 is sponsored by Speaker of the House, Rachel Talbot-Ross (D-Portland) and is one of the initiatives that we are very supportive of this session. LD 2212 provides a $10 million appropriation to the Maine Agriculture, Food, and Forest Products Investment Fund and makes changes to who appoints members of the advisory board. The PLC recently testified in support of the bill as it could provide new opportunities for our members to get grants and low interest loans for their businesses for equipment and reinvestment. The bill was passed to be enacted and placed on the Special Appropriations Table where it will await funding.
LD 2261, An Act Designating New Motor Vehicle Emissions Rules as Major Substantive Rules, sponsored by Representative Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips). This bill will ensure rules adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection regarding new motor vehicle emission standards, including rules to establish zero-emission requirements, are major substantive rules. This is extremely important to require the rules to go before the full legislature for ratification before being implemented. If the rules remain routine technical, the Department of Environmental would be able to implement the rules unilaterally. The PLC testified in favor of this legislation. LD 2261 was passed to be engrossed in both the House and Senate last week and will be on the calendar for enactment next week.
LD 2191, An Act to Provide Relief to Small Businesses Affected by Severe Weather-related Events. The bill includes a one-time General Fund appropriation of $50 million in fiscal year 2023-24 to the program. The PLC testified in support of this bill during the public hearing. As amended, the bill includes assistance to loggers for income replacement and dedicated funding to establish a Wood Salvage and Reclamation Program in the Department of Economic and Community Development to provide grants to landowners and contractors effected by the recent severe weather events. LD 2191 has had its final language review and will now be sent to the House and Senate to be voted on.
The PLC testified Neither for Nor Against this bill in 2023 and is monitoring it. The membership feels strongly that information must be provided by the OEM’s, but it should not be provided for free. The committee passed a majority report along party lines concentrating on home appliances and personal devices such as cell phones, tablets, computers, etc. The Republican members of the committee wanted the bill more simplified and opted to vote for a different amendment to only incorporate personal hand-held devices. Both reports have exempted off-road and heavy equipment from the bill. The bill has been tabled in the Senate and placed on the unfinished business calendar.
Have a great weekend, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dana