Our necessary hiatus from our weekly podcast has been afforded a brief reprieve. Advocacy staff have been drinking from a firehouse of legislation and hearings on platform bills that have been waiting since cloture for printing and assignment to committee hearings.
For the first time, MMA has needed to hold a May LPC meeting as bills are still cranking out with significant municipal impact, assigned short turn around public hearing dates and even shorter work session dates. This is the time of year when good public policy dies because of lack of time to dig in and understand or worse....bad public policy not well thought through passes without review. In the coming weeks, we'll be calling on municipal officials to weigh in with their voices directly to members of the legislature to help inform them of impacts, request adequately funding measures, and make corrections. We really need you now!
This week we break down what has happened on a couple of MMA's platform bills and how you can help their fate. This week we break down:
LD 1857 - An Act to Create the Public Safety Health and Wellness Reimbursement Fund to Benefit Public Safety Workers and Volunteers, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Copeland of Saco, was unanimously supported out of committee but in a form that requires and appropriations battle instead of on going funding.
LD 1493 - An Act to Increase Affordable Housing by Expanding Tax Increment Financing, sponsored by Rep. Raegan LaRochelle of Augusta, was amended to avoid a fiscal note, but still provides an incredibly powerful tool for communities to advance their housing goals with local policy, but received a divided report out of Taxation.
LD 130 - An Act to Eliminate Senior Citizen Property Tax Stabilization and Expand the Homestead Property Tax Exemption, Sen. Richard Bennett of Oxford County, also received a divided report in Taxation. While both versions advance sensible policy changes to the hastily enacted senior property tax freeze legislation LD 280 passed last year, the majority report removes the significant hardship placed on municipal tax collectors, assessors and communities.
LD 1223 - An Act to Clarify Cost Allocations and Insurance in the Joint Use of Public Utility Equipment, sponsored by Sen. Nicole Grohoski from Hancock County, attempted to address a corporate imbalance for municipal pole attachment projects, to advance broadband connections via use of utility poles that exist in publicly owned way "rent" free. The final version was amended with agreement from the major players and afforded a sunset date setting the stage for a future legislative battle.
Finally, in the good news category, we announce the winners of the first annual Douglas M. Eugley Memorial Scholarship for Public Service!
Congratulation to Zachary White, of Skowhegan, Carolyne Sauda, of Bangor. Mary-Hollie Whitmore, of Milford, who we wish well in their college endeavors and hope to see in a future LPC Committee!