Bills scheduled for a work session
Work Sessions are livestreamed and archived here on the Legislature's Website.
LD 626 - "An Act To Preserve Maine's Sporting Heritage And Enhance Sporting Opportunities For Maine's Youth By Allowing Maine's Youth To Hunt On Sunday"
Work Session in IFW on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 10:00 AM in Cross Building, Room 206
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Donald Ardell, LD 626 allows licensed persons under 18 years of age who hold a valid hunting license or a valid junior hunting license and persons 18 years of age who hold a valid hunting license and are enrolled in secondary school to hunt wild animals and wild birds on private land on Sundays with the landowner’s written permission. The bill directs the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish rules to implement these provisions.
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LD 672 - "An Act To Establish Youth Deer Hunting Weekend"
Work Session in IFW on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 10:00 AM in Cross Building, Room 206
MFPC Position: Opposed
Sponsored by Rep. Rick Mason, LD 672 would allow the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish a youth deer hunting weekend instead of one day.
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LD 1166 - "An Act To Allow Sunday Hunting By Landowners On Their Land"
Work Session in IFW on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 10:00 AM in Cross Building, Room 206
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Randall Hall, LD 1166 allows landowners who own land of 5 acres or more to hunt wild animals and wild birds on that property on Sundays. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is directed to establish rules to implement these provisions.
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LD 1241 - "An Act To Allow Sunday Hunting With A Bow And Arrow Or Crossbow"
Work Session in IFW on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 10:00 AM in Cross Building, Room 206
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Sophie Warren, LD 1241allows a person who has an archery license to purchase a Sunday hunting permit for $31 to hunt with a bow and arrow or, if the person has a valid crossbow permit, a crossbow. This bill distributes the revenue from the sale of the Sunday hunting permit to benefit the Land for Maine’s Future Fund and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Bureau of Warden Service and for the support of youth hunter education and experiential programs. The bill also amends the laws to allow a person to be in possession of a bow and arrow or crossbow on a Sunday if that person possesses a valid Sunday hunting permit.
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LD 1770 - "An Act To Improve Pesticides Sales And Use Data Collection And Accessibility By The State"
Work Session in ACF on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 11:00 AM in Cross Building, Room 214
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher, this bill directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Board of Pesticides Control, in collaboration with the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Office of Information Technology, to create and administer an online database of pesticide product dealers, certified applicators and commercial agricultural producers reporting the type and amount of pesticides sold, distributed or applied in the State and other information as required. The bill establishes record-keeping requirements for pesticide product dealers, certified applicators and commercial agricultural producers, similar to those in place for general use pesticide dealers. The bill specifies that information submitted to the board is public information but allows a pesticide dealer, commercial applicator or commercial agricultural producer to request that the board designate proprietary information as confidential. The bill also requires the board to report annually to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters; health and human services matters; environment and natural resources matters; and innovation, development, economic advancement and business matters on the developments and progress made in carrying out the state policy of minimizing the use of pesticides and gives those committees authority to report out legislation related to the report.
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LD 1411 - "An Act To Require The Adoption Of Sector-specific Greenhouse Gas Emissions Limits"
Work Session in ENR on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 1:00 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Victoria Doudera, LD 1411 would require the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules setting sector-specific biennial limits on greenhouse gas emissions from energy sources in the commercial sector, industrial sector, residential sector and transportation sector and for electricity and combined heat and power plants whose primary business is to sell electricity or electricity and heat to the public. The bill also requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules as necessary to ensure compliance with the State's greenhouse gas emissions levels.
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LD 1475 - "An Act To Promote Biomanufacturing And Biotechnology Development By Establishing A Tax Credit"
Work Session in TAX on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 1:00 PM in State House, Room 127
MFPC Position: Support
Senator Troy Jackson, LD 1475 establishes a refundable Maine income tax credit for investment in biotechnology incubators and biomanufacturing facilities. The amount of the credit is 30% of qualified investment, taken in the form of an annual credit of 6% of the qualified investment each year for 5 years after a certificate of completion has been issued by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. The amount of investment in a biotechnology incubator that is eligible for a credit is capped at $15 million for each project and $30 million for all projects in total.
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LD 1214 - "An Act To Clarify The Laws To Combat Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Contamination"
Work Session in ENR on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @ 1:30 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Support
Sponsored by Sen. Joseph Baldacci, LD 1214 would make improvements to the 2021 PFAS in products law including: changing how PFAS are currently defined to narrow the scope and make the law more realistic for compliance; protecting confidential business information; pushing the effective date out by one year to account for the rulemaking process; removing the 2030 ban on products with intentionally added PFAS to allow for these determinations to occur in rulemaking.
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LD 1363 - "An Act To Support Extraction Of Common Minerals By Amending The Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Support
Sponsored by Rep. Scott Landry, LD 1363 amends the definition of "metallic mineral" in the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act. It provides that mining does not include calcium carbonate or limestone extraction or beneficiation to produce cement. It provides that permitted facilities that crush and mechanically sort material excavated from an open-pit mining operation are exempt from the performance, operation and reclamation standards in the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act under certain conditions. It allows the use of open-pit mining if certain conditions are met and establishes standards for the reclamation of the open-pit area of an open-pit mining operation.
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LD 1433 - "An Act To Exclude Pegmatites From The Definition Of "metallic Mineral""
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Support
Sponsored by Rep. Michael Soboleski, LD 1433 would amend the definition of "metallic mineral" in the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act by removing thorium and uranium and adding pegmatite metals, minerals and gemstones to the excluded minerals.
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LD 1495 - "Resolve, Establishing The Commission To Study The Role Of Critical Minerals As A Resource In The State"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Neither for nor against
Sponsored by Rep. Lydia Crafts, LD 1495 would establish the Commission to Study the Role of Critical Minerals as a Resource in the State to study issues associated with the current limits on mining of critical minerals in the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and, within the context of international climate change, whether mining of such minerals in the State can be accomplished safely with appropriate restrictions.
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LD 1508 - "An Act To Ensure A Strategic Approach To Maine's Energy Transition By Imposing A Moratorium On Lithium Mining"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Maggie O'Neil, LD 1508 would amend the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act to clarify that the term "metallic mineral" as used in that law includes lithium. It would also prohibit the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing a mining permit under that law for a mining operation that involves the extraction or removal of ore or other material that contains lithium. This prohibition would be repealed October 1, 2028.
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LD 1564 - "An Act To Eliminate Metallic Mineral Mining Activities Without A Permit"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Rep. Nina Milliken, LD 1564 would amend definitions within the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act to require the issuance of a mining permit for a person to engage in any mining-related activity.
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LD 1471 - "An Act To Amend Provisions Of The Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Oppose
Sponsored by Sen. Rick Bennett, LD 1471 would make various changes to the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act.
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LD 1476 - "An Act To Amend The Definition Of "metallic Mineral" In The Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act"
Work Session in ENR on Thursday May 11, 2023 @ 1:15 PM in Cross Building, Room 216
MFPC Position: Support
Sponsored by Sen. Lisa Keim, LD 1476 amends the definition of "metallic mineral" for purposes of the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act.
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LD 1610 - "An Act To Prohibit Campaign Spending By Foreign Governments And Promote An Anticorruption Amendment To The United States Constitution"
Work Session in VLA on Friday May 12, 2023 @ 9:30 AM in State House, Room 437
MFPC Position: Oppose
This is an initiated bill that would make numerous changes to election laws including. These changes include prohibiting a foreign government-influenced entity from making, directly or indirectly, a contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure, electioneering communication or any other donation or disbursement of funds to influence the nomination or election of a candidate or the initiation or approval of a referendum. It also calls on each member of Maine's Congressional Delegation to actively support and promote an effective anticorruption amendment to the United States Constitution to reaffirm the power of citizens through their government to regulate the raising and spending of money in elections.
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