June 17, 2008
Summary of New Laws Passed By The Maine Legislature In 2007 and 2008
Summary of New Laws Passed By The Maine Legislature In 2008
HEALTH AND SAFETY
856—Reduce drunk driving and strengthen OUI laws
Increases license suspension periods for OUI offenses, and allows multiple offenders to earn back their license if they install ignition interlock devices, also known as “breathalyzers�
2012—Protect kids from secondhand smoke
Protects children from secondhand smoke in cars, by prohibiting adults from smoking in a car when a child under 16 is present
2044—Prevent hospitals from charging for errors
Reduces overall health care costs by prohibiting hospitals from charging patients to correct their medical errors
2048—Protect children from toxic chemicals
Joins other states in establishing strong chemical oversight policy; requires the state to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that children are exposed to in Maine
2051—Ban private sale of firearms to minors without consent
Restricts the private sale of a firearm to minors without parental consent
2053—Get the lead out of children’s products
Protects children from the toxic effects of lead by prohibiting the manufacture, distribution and sale of lead-containing children’s products
2111—Clear hurdles to develop the statewide radio network
Improves public safety and homeland security by allowing the state to purchase lands necessary for the implementation of the statewide radio and network system
2218—Protect Maine children from lead poisoning
Works to prevent childhood lead poisoning by boosting lead inspection and enforcement efforts and creating the voluntary lead-safe housing registry
2247—Continue Maine’s leadership in covering the uninsured—Dirigo, market reform
Provides stable and reliable funding for the State’s Dirigo Health program, and reduce rates for private insurance policy owners by up to 40 percent while bringing more young and healthy people into the market
2275—Create a Bangor veterans’ campus
Authorizes the Creation of a Veterans Campus providing independent housing, a community-based outpatient clinic, a hospice facility and other facilities to serve veterans on a site of land owned by the state in Bangor
2192—Increase access to dental care in rural Maine
Creates an income tax credit of up to $15,000 for up to 5 new dentists in 2009 and 5 additional dentists in 2010 who agree to practice in underserved areas of the State for at least 5 years
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
1942—Develop a geothermal low interest loan program
Encourages renewable energy and helps consumers to save on energy costs by offering low-interest loans for the installation of clean energy geothermal heating units
2056—Reduce pollution and save fuel by restricting excessive engine idling
Prohibits certain commercial vehicles from excessive engine idling, with exceptions for some industries and weather conditions
2126—Minimize carbon emissions from coal plants
Sets a three-year moratorium on new coal-fired power plants until the state is able to establish strict guidelines to minimize emissions
2254—Move toward leaving ISO New England in order to reduce energy costs for Maine consumers
Requires Maine transmission and distribution utilities to develop a plan to leave the ISO New England Regional energy compact if the state determines that it is not in the best interests of Maine energy consumers
2283—Adopt the wind power task force report recommendations
Streamlines and standardizes the process for wind turbines to be approved in certain regions
NATURAL RESOURCES ECONOMY AND RECREATION
648—Protect the amount of state land that Is open for hunting
Requires state conservation, parks and wildlife agencies to coordinate their respective management of the public and state-owned land to ensure that there is no net loss of acreage open to hunting
1957—Restore diadromous fish in the St. Croix River
Ensures alewife passage at the Woodland Dam on the St. Croix River
2038—Facilitate the timely reopening of closed flats
Allows the state and local communities to participate in a pilot program with at least 2 private clam flat testing labs in order to expedite the reopening of closed flats that are waiting for tests
2039—Resolve, to protect public health and promote a healthy soft-shell clam industry
Allows the holder of a commercial shellfish license to safely sell shell stock to a wholesale seafood license holder at locations in addition to a permanent facility, like a commercial wharf
CONSUMER PROTECTION
2140—Protect property-sellers in real estate transactions
Protects people selling their homes from punishment if they are erroneously left with property taxes that should be the responsibility of the new owner to pay
2180—Protect value of prepaid calling cards
Protects the value of prepaid calling cards at the time of purchase, and prevents card providers from changing the rates and values of purchased cards without notice
2181—Cash return for gift cards
Allows consumers to get a cash refund on a gift card that has less than $5 of value left, with some exceptions
2189—Prevent equity stripping
Prevents predatory lenders from taking over a mortgage through foreclosure and stripping the owner of any equity, a practice known as “equity stripping,�
2257—Uniform building and energy code
Replaces the myriad patchwork of town building and energy codes and establishes a statewide model building and energy efficiency code for new home construction, remodeling and substantial renovation that cities and towns with more than 2,000 people will be required to enforce
ETHICS
2015—Prevent clean elections candidates from paying themselves for services
Prevents a clean elections candidate from paying a member of their household for campaign services unless they can prove that the family member provides those goods or services as a part of their regular business
2178—Lawmaker financial disclosure
Increases public confidence in Government by expanding public disclosure of lawmakers and their families’ sources of income
2219—Promote transparency and accountability in campaigns and governmental ethics
Allows a process for public citizens to lodge complaints about legislators, and increase reporting requirements for gifts to lawmakers and campaign finance reporting
TRANSPORTATION
2019—Strengthen investment in rail
Dedicates funding from existing accounts to support transit, aeronautics and rail transportation, including the Downeaster train service
2304—Residency requirement for drivers’ licenses
Requires that a person prove they are a Maine resident in order to qualify for a driver’s license
2313—Boost funding for bridge repair and replacement
Boosts funding to repair and replace bridges in the State through dedicated revenue bonds from registration, title and vanity plate fees
2324—Boost funding for road improvements
Dedicates funding through revenue bonds to repair roads throughout the state
EDUCATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WORKING FAMILIES
1697—Increase the minimum wage
Increases the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour in October 2008, and to $7.50 per hour in October 2009
2095—Allow family child care providers to jointly negotiate with the State
Formally allows the state to recognize childcare providers as a bargaining unit and enter into negotiations with them
2132—Amend the Family Medical Leave laws to include siblings
Allows an employee to take family medical leave for a sibling with a serious health condition or who dies while on active military duty if the sibling is jointly responsible with the employee for each other's common welfare
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
1938—Allow community service in lieu of fines
Allows communities to save money and alleviate jail overburdening by letting judges require offenders who do not pay their fines to perform community service instead of serving jail time
2124—Prevent theft of construction metals
Adds safeguards of record-keeping and identification to the sale process of scrap metal, to make it more difficult for metal thieves to move their product at scrap metal processors in the State
TAX RELIEF
2080—Reduce county property taxes and prison overcrowding by consolidating services of state and county corrections
Creates a state board responsible for collective purchasing, managing bed space, improving performance in recidivism reduction, pretrial diversion and the rate of incarceration
2202—Allow a municipality to adopt a program to provide property tax benefits to senior citizens
Provides authority to municipalities to adopt property tax benefit programs for seniors who provide volunteer services for the town
SUMMARY OF First Regular Session of the 123rd Maine Legislature—2007
Passed a balanced budget that makes funding for health care and education more sustainable, without raising taxes
• Cut spending in the governor’s original budget proposal by $114 million
• Developed more sustainable long-term funding in school and health care services
• Met the citizen-voted mandate to increase state funding for K-12 public education to 55%
• Kept tuition hikes down and expanded access to higher education; enhanced education services for blind and visually impaired children; provided additional support for domestic violence prevention and for Women, Work and Community
• Eased the prison overcrowding crisis and made progress in finding long-term solutions, without shipping prisoners out of state
Supported the largest bipartisan investment package in state history of $295 million into Maine’s economy—including the transportation network, research and development, higher education and the environment
• The bond package will build Maine’s future economy by injecting more than $670 million into the state after federal and private matching funds
• Investments in the transportation network, fixing and upgrading roads and bridges;
• Building the economy of the future through research and development;
• Infrastructure upgrades to higher education and K-12 school facilities;
• The Land for Maine’s Future program, which preserves Maine’s quality places;
• And natural resource-based and environmental cleanup projects
Made 2007 one of the best years for the environment in decades
• Joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which will lower emissions in the Northeast by 10 percent
• Banned the hazardous deca flame retardant; set new groundwater withdrawal standards; protected trees, vegetation and animals from shore land overdevelopment; set emission standards and enacted needed regulations for wood boiler use; and passed a bond package to invest in Land for Maine’s Future and the working waterfront
Continued to lead the nation in proactive initiatives to keep health care costs down
• Allowed DirigoChoice to self-administer its services, which could save the program millions in overhead costs
• Created more transparency in rising health care costs among providers and insurers
• Allowed dependents up to age 25 to stay on their parents’ insurance, to keep healthy young people in the market; prohibited advertisements in drug-prescribing software; required pharmacies to keep co-payments down; protected seniors from manipulative insurance sales practices when they’re purchasing Medicare products; and required insurance companies to cover hearing aids for children up to age 18
Protected consumers, seniors, kids and workers’ rights
• Protected Maine homeowners from predatory lending practices, and seniors from financial abuse, neglect or exploitation; required landlords to notify tenants if they’re doing work that disturbs lead paint; protected traditional community businesses by requiring impact studies for big-box retail development
• Required that domestic workers be paid at least the minimum wage
• Increased efforts to prevent domestic violence
• Expanded the family medical leave act to include domestic partners
• Established a commission to review children’s issues, including child development, care, and visitation rights
Passed measures to develop Maine’s economy and invest in education
• Created a new tax credit for Maine college graduates to help pay their student loans if they stay in the state
• Expanded Pine Tree Zone benefits to more businesses that commit to making large capital investments and hiring more employees
• Reformed workers’ compensation—returning $68 million in workers’ comp taxes to Maine businesses, establishing a workers’ training program and eliminating both the social security unemployment offset and the sunset on part-time unemployment benefits
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