Under the radar, the majority party has introduced several electoral bills that all seem to fit under the theme, “importing solutions to solve non-existent problems in Maine.” I will keep you informed around troubling bills requiring photo identification cards to vote and eliminating same-day voter registration. How are these bills helping the economy?

Community Event
Last Friday, February 25th, the city and state delegations met in Portland. We spoke about the opportunities and challenges for the City during the 125th Legislature. Not surprisingly, the challenges are plentiful. We spoke specifically about two major subjects that would hurt the City’s financial, services and support systems:

* Repealing Revenue Sharing: Governor’s LePage’s budget would repeal our state-municipal revenue sharing program. The Governor is advocating for a fixed amount for each community. This proposal reduces $92 million of revenue sharing to every community. For Portland, this means a projected loss of $600K over two years. Additionally, the Governor is proposing that the entire program be relocated to the Appropriations Committee. This change cannot be glossed over because now the account can be raided by the Appropriations Committee. Click here to read more.

* Cuts in General Assistance: Governor LePage’s budget proposes a reduction in reimbursement for general assistance from 90% to 75%. This change would shift $1,260,000 of costs to Portland’s local property tax payers for the next two years. In 2010, over 4,300 Portland residents were granted support through General Assistance. The General Assistance program spent $6,346,125 in 2010, with 92% of the assistance covering food and shelter. To read more about Portland’s General Assistance program, click here.

Inside Augusta
Education Commissioner
This Wednesday at 1 pm in the Education Committee we will meet to hold hearings on Governor LePage’s nominee for Education Commissioner, Stephen Bowen. Mr. Bowen previously worked at the Maine Heritage Policy Center as their head of their Center for Education Excellence. While Mr. Bowen is a smart person, I have repeatedly stated that he is not qualified for this job. His resume shows limited classroom experience, no management experience, no budget experience and no educational platform of success. What do you think? If you have any questions you’d like me to ask Mr. Bowen, please let me know.

Appropriations Budget Hearings
As you all might know, Maine’s state budget is created in two-year increments. The new biennium begins on July 1, 2011. This week, the Appropriations Committee begins their hearings on the 2012-2013 Biennial Budget. The Governor presented his budget to the legislature and now it’s our work to review, edit and revise his proposals.

Each standing policy committee jointly meets with Appropriations to hear from the public about the Governor’s proposed budget. Public hearings are an opportunity for you to be heard and speak in support, in opposition or neither for nor against. Coming up this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are hearings on State Employee and Teachers’ retirement and health care contributions, eligibility and cost of living increases.

Click here to see a detailed schedule of these hearings that began on Monday and end in late March.

Bills Submitted
Over the past few weeks, I have gone into detail about some of the bills I have introduced for the 125th Legislature. The following are all of the remaining bills. If you have any questions about these proposals, please don’t hesitate to ask.

LR 155 – Resolve, To Establish a Stakeholder Group To Review the Maine State Grant Program
LR 1372 – An Act To Prevent Unreasonable Practices by Dental Benefit Companies
LR 1400 – An Act Relating to the Authority of the Legislative Council
LR 1463 – An Act To Update Maine’s High School Graduation Requirements
LR 1630 – An Act To Create a Unified Early Childhood Education System in Maine
LR 1631 – An Act Concerning Immunity for School Administrative Units in the Discharge of Their Responsibilities
LR 1648 – An Act To Encourage Transparency in the Department of Education
LR 1824 – An Act To Ensure Accountability in Public Services
LR 1946 – An Act To Support and Encourage the Use of Online Textbooks

Closing
As always, I enjoy hearing from you, so please contact me with any questions or comments you may have.

-Justin