Here is a list of highlights sponsored by tri-county lawmakers in bills 651 through 750.
* Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon, proposed banning personal watercraft on Allen Pond in Greene. LD 653 died after the House and Senate voted it down this week.
* Crafts is sponsoring LD 658, which proposes changes to the state’s concealed weapons law. Crafts wants to increase the number of places where a person can carry a concealed weapon while lowering the cost for obtaining a permit.
His bill would also remove the current requirement that an individual complete a handgun safety course within five years of obtaining a permit. Crafts’ bill would retain the safety course requirement but remove the five-year provision.
LD 658 would also extend the length of the permit from four years to seven years.
A public hearing on LD 658 will be held Monday.
* Rep. Michael Carey, D-Lewiston, has a bill to reduce the size of the Legislature and extend the length of the legislative session. LD 669 would shrink the Senate from 35 seats to 17 and the House from 151 seats to 101.
Carey’s bill has yet to be assigned to committee.
* Rep. Matthew Peterson, D-Rumford, has a bill that orders the Department of Economic and Community Development to seek out federal initiatives that would help the state develop new employment opportunities, particularly manufacturing jobs.
Peterson’s LD 679 has won the approval of the Legislature’s Labor Committee but has not come up for a House vote.
* A bill from Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, would have exempted motorcycles from annual inspections. The Transportation Committee voted not to pass LD 704.
* Rep. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls, wants to require insurance policies to include coverage for infertility treatments. LD 720 has several requirements for coverage, including that the individual is legally married, that the individual’s infertility is not the result of a sexually transmitted disease and that the number of embryos implanted does not exceed standards adopted by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.
A work session for Knight’s bill is scheduled for next Friday.
* Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, has a bill that would require products sold at farm stands to be labeled if the product isn’t grown by the person operating the stand.
LD 738 has produced a divided report in committee, but it hasn’t been reported to the Senate.
* Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, wants to amend MaineCare to allow more people to qualify for long-term care services.
A public hearing for LD 739 has not been scheduled.
* Saviello is sponsoring a bill that would beef up the state’s sex offender notification and registry law. Included in LD 740 are mandatory incarceration periods for individuals who fail to register.
A public hearing for the bill has not been scheduled.
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