Here is a list of highlights sponsored by tri-county lawmakers in bills 751 through 850.
* Rep. Stephen Wood, R-Sabattus, has a bill that would require school districts to report legal disputes between districts and parents of students in special education programs to the state Department of Education. LD 775 also requires the DOE chief to track the disputes and file an annual report to the Legislature.
The bill has not been reported to committee.
* Rep. Tom Winsor, R-Norway, is sponsoring a “right to work” bill. LD 788 would prohibit employers from deducting union dues if employees decide they don’t want to join a union. The bill is one of two right-to-work bills this session.
It has not been reported to committee.
* Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, wants the state to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and end the state’s membership in the Independent System Operator New England. LD 793 is designed to reduce electricity rates. It would seek an alternative structure to oversee the sale and transmission of electricity in Maine.
A public hearing was held April 5. The bill has been tabled in committee.
* Rep. Michael Carey, D-Lewiston, is sponsoring LD 814, a bill that would limit the amount of contributions to and from a political action committee during a two-year period. The bill also targets candidate PACs, which are typically set up to promote, support or oppose specific candidates.
Carey’s bill limits the amount a person can contribute to a PAC to $1,000 during a two-year election cycle; it limits the amount a person can contribute to a candidate PAC to $10,000 during a two-year cycle; and it limits the amount that PACs may give to candidate PACs to $25,000 during a two-year cycle.
The bill has not been reported to committee.
* Carey has another bill that would transfer oversight of liquor laws from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations. LD 821 appears to allow Public Safety to continue enforcing alcoholic beverage laws.
The bill was scheduled for a work session Friday.
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