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Good Morning from Augusta,
Legislative policy committees are wasting no time diving into important issues. This week, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee (AFA) began their review of the Governor’s Supplemental Budget. The PLC provided testimony on LD 209 (the Supplemental Budget) in front of the AFA and Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (ACF) committees on Tuesday afternoon. We were neither for nor against the legislation, however, our main concern was regarding Part U, which includes $2 million to help mitigate the Spruce Budworm infestation on the Maine and Canada border.
We want to ensure that this infestation does not take hold and do long-term harm to the forest, but we also want to ensure contractors are included in the conversation because of the impact that this infestation could have on contractors. Increased costs associated with increased fuel consumption, wear and tear on machinery, and reduced production are a concern when harvesting salvage or dead trees. We advocated for ensuring contractors have a seat at the table and are more involved with these discussions. Even though the Department of ACF has deemed this more a landowner issue, the loggers cannot be left in the dark on an issue that will have an impact on their businesses.
The ACF Committee held a work session on the Supplemental Budget on Thursday afternoon and the members of the committee were unanimous on all parts of the ACF portion except Part U. The two chairs, Senator Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Cumberland), Representative Bill Pluecker (I-Warren), and a new committee member, Representative Sharon Frost (I-Belgrade) were in opposition to the $2 million in funding, and wanted it reduced to $1 million. They thought that the large landowners needed to provide more resources to aid the prevention of Spruce Budworm. The Supplemental Budget will now go back to the AFA committee to be voted on before being sent to the House and Senate for passage.
Next week committees will be meeting regularly and taking up legislation that has been referenced. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with your questions or concerns. You can follow along this session with our most recent bill tracker that can be found here. If there are issues effecting your businesses, big or small, we want to hear about them.
Thank you for all that you do and stay safe out there.
Best Regards,
Dana
Next Week’s Legislative Activity – January 27th – January 31st
Tuesday, January 28th
LD 39, “An Act to Require Forest Landowners to Report the Registration or Sale of Their Forest Carbon Credits”, (Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren)) Public Hearing, 1pm – Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. (Monitor)
This bill requires a forest landowner or forest carbon project developer to report the registration or sale of a forest carbon credit to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry.
LD 88, “An Act Regarding Penalties for Violating the Laws Governing Agriculture and Animals and the Maine Weights and Measures Law”, (Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren)) Public Hearing, 1pm - Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. (Support)
This bill authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to assess administrative penalties for violations of the laws governing agriculture and animals and certain provisions of the Maine Weights and Measures Law. Under the bill, penalties may not exceed $5,000 for each occurrence and may not exceed $50,000 in total. The bill requires that a person be given notice of the penalties assessed and be given an opportunity to request a hearing before the penalty is imposed.
The bill establishes procedures for providing notice, holding hearings and remedies that the commissioner may use when a person fails to pay a penalty imposed. These remedies include allowing the commissioner to file a civil action to enforce penalties and, in cases when the Maine Weights and Measures Law has been violated, allowing the department to require a person to pay any unpaid penalties before renewing a license issued by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and allowing enforcement by the Superior Court in cases when the person does not have a license issued by the department.
LD 68, “An Act to Amend the State Tax Laws”, (Rep. Kristen Cloutier (D-Lewiston)) Public Hearing, 1:30pm – Taxation Committee (Monitor)
This bill removes the automatic extension for business equipment tax exemption applications and replaces it with an extension for good cause of up to 3 months, changes the filing deadline to May 1st and removes the requirement for Maine Revenue Services to provide paper copies of the application.
LD 209, “An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations from the General Fund and Other Funds for the Expenditures of State Government and to Change Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30,2025, (Rep. Drew Gattine (D-Westbrook)), Work Sessions – January 27th-29th 2-3pm – Appropriations Committee
More information about LD 209 (Supplemental Budget) is described above.