After four months of public hearings, long work sessions and extensive legislative debate the Second Regular Session of the 122nd Legislature has ended, and to the surprise of some there were several major accomplishments made during the session. (The second session of the two-year legislative term has a history of accomplishing little since it’s always a much shorter session and because the second session is held during an election year which tends to politicize many issues.)
Of course, there were some disappointments, but overall this was a very positive and encouraging legislative session. I’m especially pleased with the bipartisan work during this past session which has resulted in some notable accomplishments including significant improvements in areas like the environment, highway safety, penalizing sex offenders, education and business environment.
Baxter State Park, home to Maine’s highest peak, Mt. Katahdin, is revered by Maine people as well as hikers and outdoor enthusiasts across the globe. Governor Percival Baxter’s vision for the park, which he gave to the people of Maine long ago, was realized as a result of a bill passed this session. The famous Katahdin Lake along with more than 4,000 acres were added to the park and will now be protected forever for all generations to use and enjoy. This was indeed a rewarding accomplishment.
Maine continued its role as a national leader in reducing mercury from the environment. New laws were passed to further reduce our exposure to this dangerous material. Button cell batteries and products containing them will be banned by 2011. This and other initiatives aimed at reducing mercury exposure will help protect our people and wildlife and eventually make Maine fish safer to eat.
The state’s highways will be safer because of a new law that increases the penalties for those who drive after their licenses have been suspended. Repeat offenders will face mandatory jail time along with higher fines. This is a new law which I worked on for several months following the tragic traffic fatality last July 29 where Tina Turcotte lost her life when the car she was driving was crushed by a tractor trailer rig on the Maine Turnpike. The driver was driving after his license had been suspended. “Tina’s Law,” as it’s now known, will be recognized as one of the landmark pieces of legislation passed during the past 15 years.
Maine, like every other state, has a serious problem with predators who sexually abuse children. Two new laws, both of which I became directly involved, will address sex offenders who prey on children. The first new law will establish a suggested jail sentence of 20 years for those who commit Gross Sexual Assault against children under the age of 12. Even though this new law is not as strict as I had hoped that it would be, it does give the prosecutors and judges a clear message that the legislature wants a longer jail sentence for those who commit such crimes. Also, there will be a lifetime probation for those who are convicted of sexually assaulting young children.
The second new law will add two certified technical positions to the Computer Crime Task Force whose jobs will be to download computer hard drives containing evidence of child pornography. Currently the Task Force has more than 133 computer hard drives backlogged in their storeroom because of a lack of staff to retrieve the evidence. Every hard drive contains the evidence to prosecute another child pornographer who otherwise will continue to be free to abuse children. Now the courts will be able to get the evidence needed to convict these offenders.
Education funding to municipalities for grades K-12 was increased by $500 million for 2006-07 and 2008-09 bringing the state’s total contribution to local education to 50 percent which will increase to 55 percent by 2009. This was part of LD-1 which was passed last year with the intent to help reduce local property taxes.
The business community, along with many other organizations, supported what is now a new law which exempts new business equipment from local property taxes. As a result of this new law the state will fully reimburse municipalities for lost revenue the first year then gradually reduce that to 50 percent. The purpose for the exemption is to encourage businesses to expand their involvement in Maine. National Semiconductor, for example, has been holding back from expanding because adding new equipment that would be associated with expansion would be subjected to the equipment tax. With the removal of this tax, business expansion will no longer be discouraged which should result in more jobs for Maine.
Some more real good news about this past session is the fact that during the past two years we’ve been able to put $100 million in the state’s savings account which can be used for emergencies. It makes good sense for the state to have emergency funds available if and when it may be needed.
All of these important new laws were passed because of an impressive bipartisan effort which occured during this past legislative session. This reinforces my belief that when the political parties work together good results will follow. This same bipartisan cooperation was prevalent in many areas including developing and passing the Supplement Budget this year. This budget won unanimous committee approval and enjoyed an overwhelming bipartisan vote in both the House and Senate.
In summary, this was a session marked by many major legislative accomplishments mixed with a healthy commitment from the political parties to work together for the benefit of all Maine citizens.
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