From: hannah@pingree.com Subject: Update From Augusta: Happy Spring! Date: March 26, 2006 Happy Spring! Despite an overcast weekend, it is starting to feel like Spring. Hopefully the 20 degree days are behind us. We are now into the final month of Legislative Session in Augusta, and a great deal of work has been done by each of the seventeen policy committees over the past few months. Now the hot debates begin as the committees start to report out all their bills to the floor of the House and Senate. As I wrote to you earlier in the year, it is an election year - which often means a more partisan and less productive environment for progress in Augusta. While nothing is over until it is over, I am happy to report that so far things are going better than I had predicted. We came to a unanimous agreement on the supplemental budget, which was a major success for negotiators on both sides. In my own committee, Health and Human Services, we have dealt with many very contentious issues and have found unanimous agreement on more than 80% of the issues we have reported out - from prescription drug issues to support for our hospitals. In general, education issues have been especially significant this year with many proposals being considered from measures that would make it easier to close small schools to the CDS program changes to overall K-12 school funding. Read below for more details on how these education debates are playing out. I have been working on a number of bills from state ferry issues to a bill to encourage high speed internet to Medicare Part D assistance effort. These bills are at various stages of the legislative process and you can read more on these bills below, and please note that I am especially looking for citizens who would be willing to come testify to their community's need for high speed internet access on Tuesday, March 28th at 1pm. (More details on testifying and the bill below.) In addition, I have provided more information below on upcoming information sessions for Fox Island Electric users, a reminder on the Affordable Housing Symposium, and a notice about the first-ever Maine Coastal Waters Conference being held at the Samoset on April 10. Hope this finds you all well. Please keep in touch if there is any issue you want to share an opinion on or something I can do to help. All the best, Hannah Pingree, State Representative, District 36 IN THIS ISSUE: ** EDUCATION ISSUES HOT - STATE FUNDING INCREASED, MANY OTHER ISSUES DEBATED ** WORKING WATERFRONT LANGUAGE STILL BEING DEBATED ** SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET REPORTED OUT WITH BI-PARTISAN AGREEMENT ** OTHER BILL UPDATES: - FERRY BILL PASSES - ENERGY BILL STATUS - HIGH SPEED INTERNET BILL TO BE HEARD NEXT WEEK - TUES, MARCH 28 - CHEBEAGUE ISLAND BILL PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE ** PROPERTY TAX REBATES UP SUBSTANTIALLY -- MAY 31 DEADLINE!! ** SPECIFIC TOWN/ISLAND ISSUES: - CONGRATS TO THE DEER ISLE/STONINGTON CHESS TEAMS, AGAIN! - VINALHAVEN AND NORTH HAVEN FOX ISLAND ELECTRIC SESSIONS - PUSH FOR ROADS FUNDS ON MDI CONTINUES - NEW VINALHAVEN FERRY UPDATE ** AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONFERENCE REMINDER APRIL 28 & 29 ** MAINE COASTAL WATERS CONFERENCE APRIL 10 ----- ** EDUCATION ISSUES HOT - STATE FUNDING INCREASED, MANY ISSUES DEBATED - FUNDING FIXES FOR OUR COMMUNITIES: The four-year increase to a 55% state share of total state K-12 education spending, as mandated by the Maine voters, and the new EPS (essential programs and services funding model) has been a mixed bag for the island and coastal communities. Many schools on the coast are "low-receivers" meaning the valuation of our communities is so high (thus the mill commitment to education is so low) that we receive the minimum 5% education funding from the state. But, for many schools in high valuation communities (like the islands), the increase to 84% funding of special education meant some new funds beyond those they were currently receiving. But, for some other coastal schools, other new factors in the EPS meant a drop in funds. Both Deer Isle/Stonington and Vinalhaven were slated to lose significantly this year (between $30,000 and $150,000 losses). These two schools were slated to see an even greater loss in funding over the next few years because of the way debt service was calculated as part of the new EPS formula and the fact that they both have relatively new state-funded school construction projects which they are paying off with past committed support from the state. Due to negotiated "transition" funds in 2006 and a slated change in the debt service formula in 2007, both schools will now be basically flat funded in 2006 and they will both gain additional funds in 2007. - LEARNING RESULTS & CDS REFORM ON HOLD: Over the past few weeks the Legislative Education Committee and Administration seem to be urging a roll-back of several educational issues that have been on the front-burner over the past few years including both Maine Learning Results and proposed changes in the CDS program. In a few weeks the legislature will vote on whether to put the Maine Learning Results on hold, as recommended by the Department of Education. Maine Learning Results are required local assessments, designed by teachers and local school districts to help test student progress throughout a school year. They were designed to better monitor student progress without pass/fail tests, but recent studies have found they are being implemented with varying results across Maine schools and some schools are implementing them only to a limited degree. The Maine Department of Education is recommending that for the next year, while more information is gathered, the local assessments be the choice of the schools - and thus no longer mandatory. I have talked to teachers and schools who appreciate the local assessment system, while others believe it is an excessive use of teacher time - especially with the No Child Left Behind standards which were added after the Maine Learning Results. In addition, the Education Committee is expected to recommend halting the sweeping reform of the CDS (child development services) program, which would have put much of the responsibility for CDS onto school districts. While some administrative reform of the various CDS programs might still be recommended, the significant shift from a state administered to locally administered service is not likely to be implemented at this time. While the new proposal has yet to come to the floor of the House, it is expected to come to a vote in the next few weeks. - SMALL SCHOOLS CONTINUE TO WIN THE DAY: Lastly, a highly controversial measure was reported out of the Education Committee in a very divided report which would have made it easier for the Department of Education to close a school without a vote of the town. An overwhelming majority of the legislature defeated this proposal - ensuring that a local vote continue to be required to close a school in a community. ** WORKING WATERFRONT LANGUAGE STILL BEING DEBATED Many people have written me about the progress of the new constitutional amendment allowing "current use" taxation on working waterfront property. Because the Maine voters approved the new measure by overwhelming margins, the legislature is required to write "implementing" language to turn the concept into a practical law that gives towns, assessors, and those trying to preserve working waterfront property. This task is easier said than done. The Taxation Committee has spent weeks trying to craft a measure, taking components of the law governing farmland and open space, but there are many additional complexities and debates when it comes to this working waterfront provision. Defining what property can be used, what the penalty system will be for removing property from working waterfront, and what definition of "current use" will be used and how that value will be determined are all points of consideration. The Taxation Committee has been considering a tiered system to divide up different kinds of working waterfront properties based on their use and thus entitling the tax payer to several levels of benefit - depending on the properties use. In addition, debates have continued about how a boatyard or similar entity with multiple uses would fit into working waterfront. It has been suggested that the boatyard would be able to place a portion of their value into "working waterfront" based on the percentage of that business that serves commercial fishing. While it is complicated, some final decision must be made before we leave this session. The measure was basically stalled in the Taxation Committee until a small "working group" of the Maine Municipal Association, the Department of Revenue Services, and Marine Resources Chair Dennis Damon was appointed last week and given a week to try to come to some agreement on a proposal to bring back to the Taxation Committee. To contact Dennis with your suggestions and comments email him at: dsdamon@panax.com or email me and I will pass along your comments to the working group. ** SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET REPORTED OUT WITH BI-PARTISAN AGREEMENT One of the most important functions of the legislature is to create and pass a state budget, which keeps the state running and enables functioning of so many state responsibilities from our schools to university system to health care for seniors in nursing homes to our marine resources enforcement - and so much more. While it may seem from my reports and those in the newspapers that we are always passing budgets, technically the state passes one "big" budget to enable all government operations every two years, while several "supplemental" budgets are normally needed need to make alterations in spending, and ensure the state budget is balanced at the end of every fiscal year. In addition, we find out each year what our appropriations will be from the federal government and often changes are needed based on decisions from Washington. Unfortunately, this year, many programs cut by the federal government have serious ramifications for Maine and were considered in this most recent budget. The most recent supplemental budget was passed just this pass week out of the Appropriations Committee with unanimous and bi-partisan support from the Committee and now heads to the floor of the House and Senate. This budget was needed to make up for millions in reduced federal dollars from funding for our state drug courts to transportation funds to dollars needed to continue the GOMOOS program as well as additional in-state needs. The good news is that the budget included funding to ensure the future of many important programs including: - $17 million to continue to pay back Maine Hospitals for money owed - $15 million for state roads because to make up losses in federal funding for our basic road program - $500,000 which will ensure the state-based, groundbreaking GOMOOS tracking system will stay in place - $6 million to ensure Maine seniors don't lose coverage under the new Medicare D prescription drug program - Funding for water and clam-flat testing for the DMR to ensure fishing opens up more quickly next spring and summer after waters are closed Somewhat disheartening was the fact that the state budget was required to an appropriations of $19 million of state funds for our payments back to the federal government to pay for the new federal Medicare D program (also known as the "clawback"). The fact that the states have to help the federal government pay for this new program is so unprecidented that many states, including Maine and Texas, have filed a case with the US Supreme Court to block these "clawback" payments. While Medicare D is good news for many seniors who previously had no drug coverage, it has caused serious problems for many low-income seniors who were already on the MaineCare program, in nursing homes, and who were on the Drugs for the Elderly program. The state has provided the safety net during this difficult transition period for many of these most vulnerable seniors, but soon they will have to fully transition to the federal benefit. I have worked hard to pass a state "Medicare Wrap" which will ensure these same low-income seniors receive some state support for their co-pays and those drugs not covered under Medicare Part D. Our goal is to ensure these seniors are no worse off under the Medicare D program than they were previously. Because this "wrap" proposal has been included in the budget, I am confident many seniors will be protected. ** OTHER BILL UPDATES - FERRY MEDICAL BILL PASSES: A bill that will allow patients who need long-term treatment for major illnesses free transportation on the ferry passed the legislature unanimously. This new measure is meant to help ease the burden for those required to travel to the mainland on frequent basis for things like cancer treatment, diabetes treatment, etc. The bill has a very small financial impact which can be made up by the state ferry service, but will hopefully provide some comfort and financial relief for those battling serious medical conditions. - HIGH SPEED INTERNET BILL TO BE HEARD NEXT WEEK - TUES, MARCH 28 at 1PM For more than two years I have been working to pass a measure that would encourage the development of high speed internet access to underserved or un-served communities - mostly rural areas, but a surprising number of people in the state. A recent report of the US Small Business Administration cited barriers to rural high speed internet as one of the chief challenges for the continued development of small businesses in rural America. A new, enhanced proposal will be considered in a public hearing in the Utilities Committee (in the Cross Office Building next to the State House) this coming week on Tuesday, March 28 at 1pm. It is a bill that combines a number of proposals that I worked to develop with the Governor's Office. The bill would create a State Authority to focus on solving access issues for both high speed internet and cell phone access on both a state-wide and town-by-town basis. The proposal comes with funds to spur more immediate public-private partnerships to encourage the rapid development of access in underserved areas. To read a copy of the bill or follow its progress go to: http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280020720 And please, CONSIDER COMING TO AUGUSTA ON TUESDAY TO TESTIFY if you feel strongly about this issue. Testimony will be taken from any member of the public. The best testimony is short (3 minutes or less) and ideally is also written for distribution to the committee (bring 20 copies) with your name and town, etc. It is not necessary to bring written testimony but sometimes helps. A Guide to Testifying before the Legislature: http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/Documents/hearing/Hearing%20Guide- /heargu ide.htm Or if you can't come but want to contact members of the committee to express your opinion go to: http://janus.state.me.us/house/jt_com/ute.htm - CHEBEAGUE ISLAND BILL PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE: Many islanders have asked me about the Chebeague Island secession bill which would allow that island of 350 people to leave the Town of Cumberland and set up their own town government. They would remain tied to the school system - continuing to send students to the mainland for middle and high school, but they would now have more local control over the future of decision making of their town. More than 200 islanders turned out for the public hearing in Augusta, mostly in support of the proposal, and the measure was passed out of committee with unanimous support. The proposal has not yet been voted out by the House and Senate but at this point seems very likely to pass. ** PROPERTY TAX REBATES UP SUBSTANTIALLY -- MAY 31 DEADLINE!! Don't Forget! If you haven't yet applied but think you might be eligible, remember the Maine Property Tax and Rent Program, which expanded last year to cover more Mainers who are paying too much of their income on property taxes. In addition, the program will now give double the refund to many Mainers most at risk of losing their home to high taxes. The deadline for filling an application for a refund for 2005 taxes is May 31, 2006. If you believe you are paying too much of your family income in property taxes, you may well be eligible. The average refund given so far this year is $469 and already thousands more Mainers have applied and received the refund. Applications can be submitted online or you can call Maine Revenue Services to get an application. To find out more about this program or apply go to: www.state.me.us/revenue/taxrelief/tnr.htm or call 624-7894. ** SPECIFIC TOWN/ISLAND ISSUES: - CONGRATS TO THE DEER ISLE/STONINGTON CHESS TEAMS, AGAIN! Every year I have been in Augusta (four years now) I have had the pleasure of congratulating the Deer Isle/Stonington Chess Teams for their State Championship wins. This year is no different! Once again, the High School, Junior High, and Elementary Teams have either won the State Title or tied for first and they all are now headed to Nationals. Good luck to them! For residents who want to help support their trips to Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Colorado for each of the respective national championships competitions, check out the island chess team website at: http://www.dises.org/Chess/ - VINALHAVEN AND NORTH HAVEN FOX ISLAND ELECTRIC SESSIONS Fox Island residents have received a bit of a shock over the past few months when opening their electricity bills. A variety of factors contribute to the increasingly high rates and rate-payers are obviously concerned about their continued ability to pay. Info sessions will be held on both islands in the coming weeks and residents are encouraged to attend, voice their concerns, ideas and suggestions. The meeting on Vinalhaven is on March 27th at the Union Church at 7:00pm. The meeting on North Haven is going to be at the school gym on March 29th at 7:00pm. - PUSH FOR STATE ROAD FUNDING ON MDI CONTINUES Many residents of Tremont and Mount Desert have contacted me about the increasingly horrendous state of the roads - both state and local. I have continued to urge the State DOT to schedule immediate fixes and a complete renovation plan as soon as possible. The bad news is that we are being faced by changes in federal funding which has affected the entire state transportation work plan pushing back much needed projects all over the state. We managed to secure $15 million in state funds to fill some holes, but the overall need for immediate projects is in excess of $100 million. Please know that I am continuing to pressure the state to get the immediate fixes done and get the larger complete renovation of the road done. I know it is a road that many island residents travel. I will keep you updated about our progress and will continue to take this fight to the highest levels of the DOT. - NEW VINALHAVEN FERRY UPDATE Vinalhaven residents have been acutely aware of their need for a new ferry over the past few weeks, as their second boat has been out of commission for a four-week overhaul. So many island residents and others worked for years to get the funding needed for the new boat from State and Federal sources, with voters approving the final piece of needed funding last November. I have just been made aware of a few snags at the DOT have delayed the bid process for the new boat. I, along with other representatives and Ferry Advisory Board members, have been extremely frustrated by the delays in the bid process and have urged the DOT to get this project underway immediately. And I think we have had some success. We are now being told that the new 21-car ferry will be under construction by early summer, with an approximately year-long construction period. This new ferry will significantly relieve the burden for Vinalhaven travelers, but will also add another big ferry to the overall system, reducing the regular need for the inadequate Libby ferry. I know that Vinalhaven residents are especially struggling this month with the shortcomings of the current number and size of our boats and I hope that by next year, we will all be in much, much better shape. In addition, I know the State Ferry Service is attempting to juggle the various vessels to accommodate all island ferry traffic. I will keep you posted on the new ferry's progress. ** AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONFERENCE REMINDER APRIL 28 & 29 Just a reminder that the registration deadline is coming up for the Island Affordable Housing Symposium on Friday evening April 28 and Saturday April 29, 2006. The Symposium will take place in Belfast, Maine at the Hutchinson Center. Registration deadline is Wednesday, March 29. To register contact Alyson Mayo at amayo@islandinstitute.org or call the Programs Department at the Island Institute, (207) 594-9209. Affordable housing on Maine's unbridged and bridged islands is the focus of the Symposium, so sessions will reflect this as much as possible. Some sessions will focus on replicable real-life success stories, while others will give islanders information they need to develop successful housing projects. Participants will return to their islands with tools to move their projects forward. Topics will include: Long-term Affordability; Governance (how to set up non-profit, Housing Authority, or Community Land Trust); Financing Affordable Housing; and Land Conservation and Affordable Housing. John Abrams of South Mountain Company on Martha's Vineyard will be the keynote speaker on Friday night. He has spearheaded a number of unique affordable housing initiatives on Martha's Vineyard and has experience with the same issues Maine islands face. ** MAINE COASTAL WATERS CONFERENCE APRIL 10 AT THE SAMOSET I wanted to be sure you had heard about the first “Maine Coastal Waters Conference” being organized by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Environmental Protection, State Planning Office, US Coast Guards, US Fish and Wildlife and more. This all-day event will feature informative talks about issues of concern to those who manage, study, and love the Maine coast. A morning plenary session will introduce attendees to the major conference themes, while afternoon breakout sessions will allow participants to delve into topics of interest in greater detail. Lunch, a poster session and a post-conference reception will allow for important networking time. Session Themes include: Our Changing Coast, Water Quality/Toxics, Coastal Habitats, Linking Land Use to Coastal Resource Health, Diadromous Fish, and Emerging Issues. State, federal and municipal coastal managers and others who use scientific information for coastal decision making, and non governmental organizations such as land trusts, coastal watershed groups are especially invited to attend. You can register online at http://www.regonline.com/91280. Online registration is encouraged. Or for more information, contact susan@greatgatherings.com at 207-622-5330.