By Michael Shepherd - March 23, 2022
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Good morning from Augusta. The Maine Legislature will be back for floor sessions on Thursday.

What we're watching today

The scope of Maine's 2022 legislative session is becoming clearer as Democrats take major measures to the floor. Tuesday brought one of the busiest days of floor votes this year with less than a month left in the scheduled election-year legislative session with no deals yet on major issues, including Gov. Janet Mills' nearly $1.2 billion surplus spending proposal. Majority Democrats have been largely moving alone to shape the year's agenda.

Electoral measures were among the most consequential votes of the day. In the Maine Senate, Democrats advanced a bill that would tighten ballot custody requirements to make it harder to conduct partisan election audits like the one in Arizona last year. Two Republicans, Sens. Rick Bennett of Oxford and Marianne Moore of Calais, joined them in the vote. Other measures that would allow more than 400 cities and towns to use ranked-choice voting in local elections and make the Maine Ethics Commission responsible for campaign finance oversight in major cities also cleared initial votes.

Major real-estate bills are moving in different directions. The Senate followed the House in passing a bill siding with cities and towns locked in fights with big-box stores trying to reduce their property tax obligations, while it killed a measure driven by southern Maine lawmakers that would allow municipalities to assess fees on certain vacant homes. That comes after House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, extracted the most contentious pieces from a signature affordable housing bill that has not moved to the floor yet.

The cost of bills is becoming an increasingly big hurdle going forward. Augusta observers will have their eyes on price tags of bills as we go deeper into the session. Mills, a Democrat, only left $20 million in her latest spending proposal for lawmakers to devote to bills that need funding. It pales in comparison to the more than $1 billion needed to fund measures for this year alone as they sit in limbo before the budget committee.

It is going to get harder and harder for new bills to pass as negotiations continue. A student loan debt relief program for first-time homebuyers that Democrats advanced in the Senate on Tuesday has a $10 million price tag for the first year and needs ongoing funding to continue. Lawmakers in both parties are continuing to try to get relief programs into the budget as well. Just because bills advance does not mean we're going to be living under them.

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What we're reading

— LGBTQ snowbirds are lobbying for a federal anti-discrimination law that would allow them to retain protections they have in Maine while they live in other states. Maine's congressional delegation has supported protections in the Equality Act, though Sen. Susan Collins last year decided to not sponsor a version after the Republican cited differences with Democrats on provisions.

— U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said from Romania that $13.6 billion in recent aid to Ukraine may simply be a "down payment" compared to need during Russia's invasion. The comments from the Democrat from Maine's 1st District reflect a bipartisan desire to escalate aid to Ukraine's defensive effort.

— Blue Hill could dredge its harbor after considering the idea several times over 100 years. The federal Army Corps of Engineers has recommended a six-foot deep to a town dock now inaccessible except for a 90-minute window before and after high tide. Cost is a hurdle at an estimated $3.4 million.

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Follow along today

9:30 a.m. The state's latest plan to shift a special education program for Maine's youngest children to schools will get a public hearing before the education committee. Watch here.

10 a.m. The budget panel will continue work on Mills' spending proposal. Watch here.

A proposal from Rep. Colleen Madigan, D-Waterville, to establish a process for courts to order involuntary substance abuse treatment will get a work session before the judiciary panel. Watch here.

1 p.m. The tax committee will work on a proposal from Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, to give tax breaks offsetting higher energy costs for Mainers and businesses. Watch here.

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📷 Lead photo: State representatives take part a special session of the Legislature at the Maine State House on Sept. 29, 2021, in Augusta. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

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