9 a.m.

Maine’s Workforce and Economic Future Committee; public hearings; room 211; Cross Building

L.D. 577, “An Act To Clarify the Role of Career and Technical Education Region Adult Education Programs”: includes adult education programs administered by a career and technical education region in the definition of “adult education” and requires that those programs offer at least one of the following: basic literacy instruction or English as a second language, high school completion courses, college transition courses, career pathways services and enrichment courses.

L.D. 960, “Resolve, To Direct Eastern Maine Community College To Create Industry-specific Workplace Transition Educational Programming”: requires Eastern Maine Community College to develop a pilot project that creates transition educational programming to develop skills specific to local businesses that begins in secondary school and continues in Eastern Maine Community College.

9:30 a.m.

Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development; public hearings; room 208; Cross Building

L.D. 1017, “An Act Relating to Employee Leasing Company Registration”: transfers registration of employee leasing companies to the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and directs complaints of client companies to the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.

L.D. 1103, “An Act To Encourage Development in the Logging Industry”: changes the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law and requires a landowner to notify the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Forestry if forest land is harvested using bonded labor, failure to do so the land would be suspended from the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law for the year in which bonded labor is used and a penalty would be assessed under the commercial forestry excise tax to compensate the State for the General Fund contribution to the cost of forest fire protection activities.

L.D. 1137, “An Act To Facilitate Veterans’ and Their Spouses’ Access to Employment, Education and Training”: requires each board, commission and agency under the oversight of or affiliated with the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to adopt a process to facilitate qualified returning military veterans and their spouses to qualify for expedited professional licenses granted by those boards, commissions or agencies and provides that nonresident students receiving certain federal educational assistance for veterans must be considered eligible for in-state tuition.

L.D. 1149, “An Act To Establish a Rebuttable Presumption Regarding a Corrections Employee That Contracts Hypertension or Cardiovascular Disease”: establishes a rebuttable presumption that if a corrections employee contracts hypertension or cardiovascular disease, the disease arises out of and in the course of employment.

L.D. 1150, “An Act To Require Prevailing Wages To Be Paid on All Public Works Projects Receiving State Funding”: removes the exemption to the requirement of the payment of prevailing wages in public works contracts for contracts in amounts less than $50,000.

10 a.m.

Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee; public hearings; room 436; State House

L.D. 267, “An Act Regarding the Sale of Firearms at Gun Shows”: requires that a national instant criminal background check be performed prior to the sale or transfer of a firearm at a gun show.

L.D. 380, “An Act To Clarify the Law Concerning the Threatening Display of Dangerous Weapons”: clarifies that “display in a threatening manner” includes to display a dangerous or deadly weapon in a public place in a way that causes a reasonable person to suffer intimidation or alarm.

L.D. 997, “An Act To Establish Restrictions on Ammunition Feeding Devices”: makes the possession, transfer or importation of an ammunition feeding device, a magazine, belt, drum or other device that has a capacity of more than 10 rounds a class D crime, with some exceptions.

L.D. 1054, “An Act To Prohibit Enforcement by a Federal or State Official or Others of the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2012”: makes it a criminal act for the state to participate in or help any federal government agency or agent attempting to implement the National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the U.S. president authority to arrest, detain without charge, detain indefinitely, try under the laws of war or transfer to a foreign jurisdiction a noncitizen.

L.D. 1183, “An Act To Prohibit the Enforcement of Federal Law Placing Restrictions on Firearms or Ammunition”: exempts firearms and firearm accessories that are owned and kept exclusively in this state from federal regulations and prohibits the enforcement of any federal act, law, statute, rule, regulation or order that attempts to restrict or prohibit the ownership of a semi-automatic firearm or a magazine or that requires the registration of a firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition.

L.D. 1240, “An Act To Promote the Safe Use and Sale of Firearms”: outlines the firearm safety course; prohibits a person who has been admitted to psychiatric hospital on an emergency basis; increases the fine for giving a false or fictitious name to a firearms dealer to $1,000; increases the minimum age for a concealed-weapon permit to 21; includes a private seller, even one at gun show, in the definition of “firearm dealer”; requires a firearms dealer to require a firearm safety certificate, current hunting licenses or current concealed-handgun permit prior to the sale; requires firearms dealers to conduct background checks, except in cases of sales between family members; and makes the first offense a civil violation and second offense a criminal violation.

Environmental and Natural Resources Committee; public hearings; room 216; Cross Building

L.D. 1028, “Resolve, Authorizing a Visual Impact Assessment of Roxbury Pond and Webb Lake”: directs the Department of Environmental Protection to authorize a visual impact assessment be done by an independent third party to review the scenic and visual attributes of Roxbury Pond and Webb Lake.

L.D. 1058, “Resolve, Directing the Department of Environmental Protection To Set the Motor Vehicle Fuel Volatility Level for the State”: directs the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules to allow gasoline with a Reid Vapor Pressure of 9.0 psi to be sold in all counties of the state year-round.

L.D. 1135, “An Act To Provide Consistency in the Regulation of Motorized Recreational Gold Prospecting”: amends the Natural Resources Protection Act to make motorized recreational gold prospecting an activity allowed without a permit, subject to landowner permission and conditions to protect the environment.

L.D. 1147, “An Act To Protect Maine’s Scenic Character”: increases to 15 miles the jurisdictional distance for requiring visual impact assessments; creates a rebuttable presumption that proposed grid-scale wind energy development projects within 15 miles of Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, the Appalachian Trail, a federally designated wilderness area or the Allagash Wilderness Waterway will have an unreasonable adverse effect on a scenic resource; requires the Department of Environmental Protection to consider the cumulative impacts of development when permitting grid-scale wind energy development projects; and requires the Department of Environmental Protection to undertake rulemaking with respect to required decommissioning plans and directs updates of the great ponds studies done in 1987 and 1989.

L.D. 1178, “An Act To Encourage the Use of Biofuels in the State”: requires that a seller provide documentation of the amount of biofuel in certain blended products at the time of sale.

L.D. 1186, “An Act To Allow Removal of Trees for Shoreline Stabilization Adjacent to Coastal Wetlands under the Natural Resources Protection Act”: exempts from the permit requirement the cutting or clearing of a shrub, tree or other woody vegetation that has been naturally uprooted or partially uprooted and threatens sedimentation in or the stability or erosion of a shoreline of a coastal wetland.

Marine Resources Committee; public hearings; room 206; Cross Building

L.D. 1097, “An Act To Allow the Sale of Incidentally Caught Lobsters”: allows commercial fishing operators who take lobsters as bycatch from federal Lobster Management Area 3 to land the lobsters at a commercial exchange that auctions fish in Portland with landing limits regulated by the commissioner of Marine Resources and directs the commissioner to monitor, review and report the effect of this regulation to the joint standing committee.

Taxation Committee; public hearings; room 127; State House

L.D. 316, “An Act To Provide Property Tax Relief for Noncombat Veterans”: provides a $4,500 property tax exemption to noncombat veterans and their relatives if they would qualify if the veteran were living.

L.D. 1164, “An Act To Allow Cooperative Housing Owners Who Are Blind To Qualify for the Property Tax Exemption”: allows a person who is legally blind and who lives in cooperative housing to qualify for property tax exemption from the first $4,000.

L.D. 1207, “An Act To Expand the Property Tax Exemption for Veterans Who Are 100% Disabled”: provides a complete exemption from property taxes for the estate of a veteran who is receiving any form of pension or compensation from the U.S. government for total, service-connected disability.

L.D. 1226, “An Act To Improve Maine Veterans’ Property Tax Exemptions”: removes the requirement that the veteran must have served during a federally recognized war period to be eligible for a property tax exemption.

1 p.m.

Educational and Cultural Affairs Committee; public hearings; room 202; Cross Building

L.D. 18, “An Act To Fund Public Education for Kindergarten to Grade 12 at 55%”: adds $183.2 million to fund 55 percent of the of the total cost of kindergarten to grade 12 public education.

L.D. 25, “An Act To Exclude Certain State-funded Costs from the State Share of the Total Cost of Funding Public Education”: beginning in fiscal year 2013-14, the state contributions to teacher retirement, retired teachers’ health insurance and retired teachers’ life insurance may not be included in the calculation of the state-share percentage of the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12.

L.D. 56, “An Act To Ensure Equity in School Costs Borne by Municipalities within Consolidated School Units”: amends the funding distribution method to ensure parity and taxpayer equity among towns that are members of consolidated school units.

L.D. 130, “An Act To Stabilize Education Funding by Reducing the Impact of Changes in Property Valuation”: requires the property fiscal capacity component of the essential programs and services funding formula to be based on a rolling five-year average of property values of a municipality included in a school administrative unit.

L.D. 299, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Require the State Share of Education Funding To Be at Least Fifty-five Percent of the Total Cost and One Hundred Percent of the Cost of Special Education”: requires the Legislature to appropriate sufficient state funds to cover at least 55 percent of the total state and local cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 and 100 percent of the state and local costs of special education.

L.D. 369, “An Act To Redesign Maine’s School Funding Model”: proposes a redesign of Maine’s school funding formula to achieve equal educational opportunity for Maine students and statewide equity in property tax burden.

L.D. 994, “An Act To Change the State’s Share of Education Costs Including Teacher Retirement Costs”: emergency bill, provides that the total cost of teacher retirement must be funded through the state and local cost-sharing formula for funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 and changes the target for the state share of the total costs of education to 52 percent.

Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee; public hearings; room 208; Cross Building

L.D. 1134, “An Act To Allow Collaborative Practice Agreements between Authorized Practitioners and Pharmacists”: authorizes licensed, qualified pharmacists in the state to engage in collaborative drug therapy management pursuant to a collaborative practice agreement with an authorized practitioner.

L.D. 1151, “An Act Regarding the Administration and Financial Transparency of the Citizen Trade Policy Commission”: emergency bill, requires the Legislature to contract for year-round staff support for the Citizen Trade Policy Commission and all funds appropriated, allocated or otherwise provided to the commission must be accounted for separately and used solely for the purposes of the commission and are nonlapsing.

L.D. 1156, “An Act To Update a Reference Contained in the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code”: requires the Department of Public Safety, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Technical Building Codes and Standards Board to use the most up-to-date version of the International Energy Conservation Code in adopting standards for residential basement wall insulation.

L.D. 1157, “An Act To Establish the Fair Chance for Employment Act”: prohibits discrimination based on employment status; prohibits online job websites from publishing any ad for a job vacancy that requires or indicates that current employment status is a qualification; prohibits anyone interfering with anyone exercising these rights; requires employers and employment agencies to keep records showing their compliance with this act; gives people and the Department of Labor the right to bring civil action against violators of the act; gives the director of the Bureau of Labor Standards the duty to enforce this act and the authority to terminate state contracts and bar a contractor for up to three years when found in court to violate this act; and creates the exception when employment status is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to successful performance in the job.

L.D. 1195, “An Act To Protect the Privacy of Job Applicants”: prohibits employers and agents of employers from obtaining consumer reports that contain information regarding creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, debts, check-writing experience or insurability of an employee or prospective employee, and prohibits consumer reporting agencies from furnishing this information to anyone for employment purposes by penalty to $500 to $1,000.

L.D. 1201, “An Act To Protect Employees from Abusive Work Environments”: provides legal relief for employees who have been harmed psychologically, physically or economically by exposure to abusive work environments by making the employees and employers, both who subject the employee to abuse and those who don’t, liable.

L.D. 1221, “An Act To Preserve the Dynamic Status Quo Pending Expiration of Collective Bargaining Agreements”: specifies that the provision of increases in pay or benefits, based on length of service or merit, must be continued during negotiations of a new agreement by virtue of the doctrine of dynamic status quo.

State and Local Government Committee; public hearings; room 214; Cross Building

L.D. 954, “Resolve, Extending the Time That the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services Has To Sell or Lease Property in Augusta”: emergency bill, extends the repeal date of the sale of the stone buildings formerly occupied by the Augusta Mental Health Institute to June 30, 2018.

L.D. 955, “Resolve, Authorizing the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services To Sell or Lease the Interests of the State in Certain Real Property Located in Bangor, Boothbay Harbor and Hallowell”: gives the commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services authority to sell or lease the Bangor Mental Health Institute in Bangor and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor and provides that any proceeds from a sale in Hallowell be deposited into the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services’ capital repair and improvement account for capital improvements.

L.D. 1122, “An Act Allowing Municipalities To Enact Firearms Policies in Local Government Buildings”: provides a municipal legislative body can restrict the carrying of firearms in the municipality’s essential municipal offices and places of legislative assembly and requires those that do post in a prominent location outside the affected offices and places a notice of the existence of that restriction.

L.D. 1152, “Resolve, To Continue Consultation and Conditions Prerequisite to the Sale or Lease of Certain Real Property in Hallowell”: emergency bill, directs the state to enter into a lease to extend the current terms of School Administrative District 16 or any successor school administrative unit that includes the city of Hallowell as a tenant at the site through June 30, 2017; specifies that a subgroup of stakeholders must be invited to participate in interviews of qualified developers and to participate in interviews with developers prior to the transfer of any portion of the site to a developer; and requires the commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services to report on the status of all efforts toward the sale or transfer of the property.

L.D. 1153, “An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Public Notices Provided by Governmental Entities”: proposes to amend the laws governing public notices that are published in a newspaper by governmental entities.

L.D. 1169, “An Act To Ensure Accountability in State Contracts”: requires a request for proposals or solicitation of bids by the state for a contract for the provision of property, products or services with respect to the state budget to include certain defining information and requires the information to be posted on the publicly accessible portion of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services website.

Taxation Committee; public hearings; room 127; State House

L.D. 563, “An Act To Clarify Tax Increment Financing”: provides that “original assessed value” means the taxable assessed value of a development district; eliminates the adjusted $50 million cap on bonded indebtedness for tax increment financing districts and the requirement that acquisition of real and personal property financed by municipal indebtedness must be completed within eight years of the approval; clarifies the 30-tax-year permissible duration of a development program; expands the capital costs allowed for an eligible commercial development district and for skills development and training for jobs created or retained in the municipality or plantation; permits a municipality or plantation to delay the operational functioning of a tax increment financing district until the tax year following the tax year in which the district takes effect; and expands to 30 years the allowable maturation period for bonds issued by the legislative body of a municipality or plantation to finance the cost of a development program within a development district.

L.D. 1218, “An Act To Amend the Law Regarding Affordable Housing Tax Increment Financing”: includes the costs of case management and support services in the authorized project costs allowable for financing under an affordable housing tax-increment financing program.

2 p.m.

State and Local Government Committee; work sessions; room 214; Cross Building

L.D. 813, “An Act To Promote the Sale of Maine Milk”: requires a state-owned or state-operated facility that sells or contracts with a person to sell beverages directly to the public to have available for sale milk processed at a milk plant in the state except facilities in an institutional setting in which sales of beverages to the public are incidental.

Taxation Committee; work sessions; room 127; State House

L.D. 401, “An Act To Provide Local Sales Tax Increment Disbursements”: requires the state to pay municipalities 5 percent of the difference between their sales and use tax for the fiscal year and 2015-16. If the amount collected is less than in 2015-16, the municipality recieves no payment.

L.D. 562, “An Act Related to Service Charges in Lieu of Property Taxes on Tax-exempt Property”: permits municipalities to impose service charges on tax-exempt property owned by nongovernmental institutions and organizations other than educational institutions, houses of worship and parsonages to cover the cost of services provided and be based on the square footage of building space occupied by the institution or organization.

L.D. 936, “An Act To Authorize Municipalities To Impose Service Charges on Tax-exempt Property Owned by Certain Nonprofit Organizations”: authorizes municipalities to impose service charges on owners of certain real property that exempt from property tax.

L.D. 996, “An Act To Improve the Accuracy of Fuel Tax Reporting”: takes temperature into account when calculating inventory taxes on internal combustion engine fuel and special fuel by requiring that fuel be measured in gallons after it is adjusted to a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a barometric pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch or in gross gallons if elected by the licensed supplier or licensed distributor.

L.D. 998, “An Act To Provide Consistency in the Application of the Property Tax Exemption for Religious Organizations”: includes all real and personal property owned and occupied or used solely for its own purposes by a religious organization in connection with religious worship in the property tax exemption and removes the limits on the exemptions for parsonages and personal property.

L.D. 1109, “An Act To Clarify the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program Tax Credit”: clarifies that the limit on the investment that may be made to certain active low-income community businesses is $40 million per project constructed, maintained or operated.

Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee; public hearings; room 437; State House

L.D. 606, “An Act To Amend the Law Concerning Landlord and Tenant Relationships”: changes the duties and obligations placed on landlords and tenants in order to simplify the requirements for security deposits and leases in order to improve the landlord-tenant relationship.

L.D. 769, “An Act To Create Fairness in Political Party Enrollment Deadlines”: extends the Jan. 1 deadline to file an application to change party enrollment to be eligible to file a petition as a candidate in that year’s election to all prospective candidates.

L.D. 923, “An Act To Require Write-in Candidates To Be Listed on the Ballot Tabulation Report”: requires the secretary of state to include in the tabulation and printing of election results the votes for any declared or undeclared write-in candidates.

L.D. 981, “An Act To Allow Candidate Name Tags on Election Day”: allows a candidate who stands outside the polls, within the designated area, to wear a name tag.

L.D. 1008, “An Act To Assess a Fine on a Person Who Provides Misinformation on a Primary Candidate’s Consent Form”: provides that a person who intentionally or knowingly makes a false statement on a consent form filed by a candidate with a primary petition commits a civil violation for which a fine of $2,000 may be adjudged.

L.D. 1086, “An Act To Revise the Laws Governing Candidate Nominations by Petition”: provides that only an unenrolled voter may sign a nomination petition; changes the number of signatures that are required on a nomination petition for various offices to the same number that are required on a primary petition; and changes the deadline for filing a nomination petition to March 15.

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