Legislators, advocates and tenants held a press conference at the State House on Tuesday to call on lawmakers to support proposals for rent relief and tenant protections, in particular LD 1710. (Courtesy of the Maine People’s Alliance)
Reposted from Maine Morning Star
As we approach the middle of the legislative session, there is so much moving through committees and on the floor, it can be hard to keep up. To that end, here is a brief round-up of some notable legislative action this week that we didn’t cover elsewhere.
Full Legislature
Both the House and Senate passed a bill that would provide ongoing funding of $1.2 million per fiscal year in matching funds for the Fund To Address Food Insecurity and Provide Nutrition Incentives, which provides incentives to federal food and nutrition assistance program participants for the purchase of locally grown fruits and vegetables.
The Legislature also passed LD 1505 to expand affordable housing via group equity cooperatives by ensuring that resident-owned housing cooperatives can access state and municipal housing assistance programs.
Both chambers also passed a bill that would require internet service providers to provide a rebate or credits in certain cases, including interruption of service for more than six days.
They also passed legislation to restore authority to the Board of Dental Practice to issue letters of guidance involving matters other than a dismissal of a complaint against a licensee.
Legislation that would have required climate impact notes on new transportation projects was rejected in the House and Senate this week, but not before bill sponsor Rep. Sophie Warren (D-Scarborough) spoke on the House floor about the importance of considering transportation projects in the scope of our state’s climate goals.
Both the Senate and the House accepted the recommendation of the Criminal Justice Committee and voted down a bill (LD 1789) that sought to remove all marijuana-related provisions from the Maine criminal code and expunge all convictions involving marijuana.
Senate votes
A bill that would establish a fund administered by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to support farmland conservation passed the Senate on Tuesday.
Another bill that passed the Senate Tuesday allows the Department of Environmental Protection to deny a permit or license application if a person knowingly engaged in the activity without first obtaining the license to do so.
The senate also passed an amended bill to create a commission to review laws governing residential options for individuals in need of residential supports — including long-term care and assisted living facilities — and make recommendations to the Legislature on changes to state laws in order to reflect changing demographics and labor market conditions and to ensure that Maine has the capacity to meet the current and future needs of individuals needing residential supports.
Committee work
The Joint Select Committee on Housing voted Tuesday to advance a measure sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Golek (D-Harpswell) that would establish a bipartisan commission to investigate how tenants are discriminated against by their landlords due to reliance on rental assistance programs, such as Section 8 housing or municipal assistance. An earlier draft of the bill sought to establish rental assistance, as well as discourage landlords from discriminating against low-income tenants by creating a rent guarantee fund and instituting a fine.
The majority of the State and Local Government Committee voted to advance a bill that will help the state grapple with remaining offensive place names by formalizing the renaming process. It also reworked and backed legislation to increase the inclusion of demographic data in the legislative process.
The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs committee again heard from representatives of the Department of Education on Thursday about the department’s proposal to restructure how the state provides special education for preschoolers. The department is now proposing a four-year rollout, an extended timeline from the 3-year rollout initially proposed after concerns about the feasibility of the transition, among other tweaks to be rolled into a committee bill.
The committee has yet to put forth a bill to adopt the proposal, although indicated Thursday that they intend to do so by the end of the month.
Lauren McCauley is the editor of Maine Morning Star. She has covered politics and policy in Maine for more than 10 years and is the former editor of Maine Beacon.
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