The supplemental budget was passed on Monday, and now we move to the remaining bills and the bond package. We are voting on bills every day that we are in session. I personally am working on ensuring that my bills get over their final hurdles.

Community Event
On Tuesday, I had the honor of welcoming to the Legislature Valerie DeVuyst and her students from Portland Adult Education.

These students are completing their year-long course in U.S. history and government, and are working towards becoming U.S. citizens. They were recognized by the Legislature, and it was exciting spending time showing these students around the Capital.

More Final Bills
Here are some more of the last bills coming out of committee and to the Senate:

Medical Marijuana
Last November, voters overwhelmingly passed a new medical marijuana law that modified the existing law and added legal dispensaries to the system. The Department of Health and Human Services needed to create a system to license these dispensaries, issue ID cards to patients, determine how and where the plants were grown and decide who can open a dispensary.

A bill that would allow up to eight medical marijuana dispensaries in the state has received unanimous support from the Health and Human Services Committee and now moves on to the full legislature.

Oxford County Casino
An organization seeking to build a casino in Oxford County has collected enough signatures to place the question on the ballot this November. A bill needs a majority vote in both houses and a signature by the Governor to become law. If the bill does not become law, however, it is placed on the ballot for the voters to decide.

In this case, there is a proposed amendment to the bill which would create a competing question on the ballot. Rep. Jim Martin would like the State to create a pilot project casino, which would allow the State to study the impact of casinos on Maine’s economy and society. This measure would also prevent new casinos from being built during the two-year pilot program.

The Bond Package
With the supplemental budget vote behind us, the Legislature is now moving its focus to the bond package. There are two proposals before the Legislature: LD 1816 and LD 1826.

LD 1816 is a proposal by the Senate Democrats, which I detailed a few weeks ago. This proposal includes $25 million for high-speed rail and $47 million for highway maintenance, reconstruction and preservation. It also will invest $6.6 million in wastewater treatment and $20 million for energy efficiency upgrades to our schools. The Senate bill is approximately $99 million.

The Governor’s bill, LD 1826, contains almost $80 million and includes $62 million for highway, port, and rail projects. Included in those funds are $8 million for a mega-berth pier at Ocean Gateway, something I strongly support. This bill also includes safe drinking water allocations and almost all of the environmental protection proposals as in LD 1816. There is a smaller amount appropriated for large energy efficiency projects, including a wind energy demonstration site fund. In this package, however, none of the energy efficiency funds are designated for schools.
There are also a couple of other bond requests. LD 1761 is to create an electronic medical record infrastructure. This bond would authorize grants and low-interest loans to medical providers to upgrade their systems to maintain electronic records, and would add $10 million to the bond proposal. LD 1798 is a bond to increase access to dental care and broaden dental education. The bond would appropriate $5 million for building a teaching clinic in Maine and $2 million would be used to upgrade community-based health care clinics to help them operate as teaching clinics.

Over the next several days, there will be many, many negotiations between Republican and Democratic leadership over what the total amount will be and what will be in the package. Do you think we should put out a bond package? What would you like to see in the final bond package and how big would you like to see the final package?

Closing
I look forward to hearing from you! Email is not only a way for me to share what is happening in Augusta, but also a way for you to share with me what’s happening in Portland and in your world. See you around town!

-Justin