Community Forum Tomorrow – District 8 Legislative Update

This Saturday, February 23rd, Senator Anne Haskell, the Portland House delegation, and I will be hosting a legislative forum in Portland. We will be discussing the work we’re doing in Augusta and taking questions from constituents. All are welcome.

Portland Community Forum
Saturday, Feb 23rd, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Rines Auditorium
Portland Public Library
Hosted by Senate President Alfond, Senator Haskell, and the Portland House Delegation.

We will discuss in-depth the two-year budget and how the changes will affect you, as well as other important issues facing the state.

I hope to see you there!

On Tuesday, I visited Wright Ryan on Danforth Street to meet with and speak to members of the Associated General Contractors of Maine. We had a great discussion about Maine’s current economy, the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Workforce and Economic Future, and current and future bonds. We also discussed the challenges in the construction trades — for example, there are currently 8,000 members of the construction trade in Maine are unemployed, or about 25%. It was great to meet with a number of small business owners and those in the construction trade to discuss how we can rebuild Maine.

The Maine Development Foundation has opened up applications for its Next Step Scholarship, which is a great way for workers to continue their higher education.

One of the biggest issues facing the legislature this week was how to balance the public’s right to know with the privacy of personal information. On Tuesday, the legislature passed a bill that provides for a temporary moratorium on the release of personal information for Mainers with concealed carry weapons permits.
I voted in support of this bill, and I believe the action we took on Tuesday was the responsible action. It gives us a cooling-off period, and we now have until April 30th to review the concerns from all sides of the larger privacy issue, such as access to information, protection of personal privacy, and what information should be public/private. For example, how do we best serve victims of domestic violence that also have concealed carry permits.

Because this issue presented itself quickly, I would like to take this opportunity to provide some perspective on how we got here.

In December, the Journal News in New York published an article which contained a map of every concealed carry weapon permit holder in several counties. This information was obtained from a Freedom of Information request. This map contained the full name and address of every person, plotted for everyone to see. While this information was legally public, it still raised concerns about the balance between privacy and the public’s right to know.

Last Wednesday, the Bangor Daily News submitted a Freedom of Access Act request for the same information of all concealed carry weapon permit holders in the State of Maine. There was strong reaction to this request, fearing a similar map would be published in Maine, though the Bangor Daily News said this was not their intent.

After some expressed their concerns, the Bangor Daily News withdrew its request, and support increased for a bill introduced by Rep. Corey Wilson of Augusta that would permanently shield this information from the public. A second Freedom of Access request was then made from an unidentified group for the same information.

On Friday, the governor, working with Senator Troy Jackson and Representative Jeff McCabe, introduced a bill to provide a 60-day moratorium on the release of concealed carry permit information. On Tuesday, this bill was brought to the floor of the House and Senate for a full vote. The bill received a 33-0 vote in the Senate and a 129-11 vote in the House.

Over the next few weeks, the Judiciary Committee will deliberate on Rep. Wilson’s bill to resolve the broader privacy issue, and I look forward to hearing from you on how we can move forward with the best solution for Maine.

Every two years, legislators submit bills to make changes in current law. Over the next few weeks, I will be highlighting some of my bills this session.
This week, I want to tell you about LR 656, “An Act to Fully Fund Revenue Sharing”

Revenue Sharing is a mechanism the state uses to alleviate property tax increases by dedicating a portion of state sales and income tax revenue to towns. Cities and towns have come to rely on this revenue to provide the services we all rely on: good public schools, drivable roads, a well-maintained police and fire department. Over the past few budgets, however, the legislature has raided revenue sharing to make the state budget, “whole,” unfortunately, to the detriment of every town in Maine.

My bill will place the funds dedicated for revenue sharing into a protected fund, making it very difficult for the legislature to take that money away from towns.

Revenue sharing has been in the news recently, as the Governor has proposed suspending $282 million in revenue sharing to all Maine towns to help balance the budget. Needless to say, I strongly oppose this measure, and will fight to not only restore revenue sharing, but protect it from legislative raids in the future.