Here is a list of highlights sponsored by tri-county delegation lawmakers in bills 851-950.
* Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, has a bill that would create a task force to review ways to deal with a projected increase in Alzheimer’s disease and related illnesses. The task force in LD 859 would report its findings and suggest legislation to the Health and Human Services Committee at a later date.
Craven’s bill is scheduled for a Friday public hearing.
* Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello, R-Poland, wants to limit civil penalties on insurance companies who violate and defraud consumers. Snowe-Mello’s LD 867 requires the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation’s Bureau of Insurance to provide “clear and convincing evidence that the violations were intentional and with the intent to defraud consumers and that consumers in fact sustained material loss or damage.”
The bill has been tabled in committee.
* Craven has a bill that would create adult day health care programs in Lewiston for veterans and their family members. LD 873 is designed to reduce short-term and long-term health care costs by utilizing community-based outpatient care services. The programs are modeled after criteria established in programs offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and would be funded with state and federal dollars.
A public hearing is scheduled for Friday.
* Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, wants to change the school Essential Programming and Services Funding Act, or EPS, to eliminate references to federal funding.
A public hearing for LD 886 is scheduled for May 4.
* Rep. Matthew Peterson, D-Rumford, wants to make prize-fight boxing legal in Maine again. Peterson’s LD 889 amends the state’s Mixed Martial Arts law to include references to boxing, thereby allowing purse fights.
A public hearing has been scheduled for May 5.
* Craven wants to make sure employers notify employees whether or not accrued personal leave time will be paid when the employee leaves the job. Craven’s LD 893 would require employers to outline their policy either in an employee handbook or in a common area at the place of employment, such as a lunch area.
The bill produced a divided report in committee and is headed for a vote in the Senate.
* Sen. David Hastings, R-Fryeburg, is proposing wholesale changes to the state’s estate tax law by creating a progressive tax structure to estates valued over $1 million. LD 898 will be paid for with revenues from the General Fund, but it’s unclear how much it will cost.
The bill has produced a divided report and is slated for a vote in the Senate.
* Rep. Eleanor Espling, R-New Gloucester, wants to require clinics performing abortions to provide patients with “specific information” at least 24 hours before the procedure. The information would include “scientifically accurate information about the fetus” and the risks of the procedure as drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
LD 924 is scheduled for a May 3 public hearing.
* Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon, has a bill that would allow concealed weapons permit holders to bring their guns into the State House and adjacent areas.
LD 932 was approved 7-4 by the Criminal Justice Committee and is slated for a vote in the House.
* Rep. Terry Hayes, R-Buckfield, has a bill that would eliminate the requirement to publish newspaper notices of new regulations adopted by the state. LD 940 would instead require the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to establish a website to publish the rules.
The bill is slated for a May 4 public hearing.
This bill eliminates the requirement that the Secretary of State publish proposed and adopted rules in the newspaper beginning July 1, 2012. It requires the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to issue a contract to provide a website for rule-making notices in accordance with the competitive bid process pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 155. The website must be fully operational no later than July 1, 2012.
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