This was a lighter week in Augusta with most committee activities on pause Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to give legislators the opportunity to participate in the always anticipated MDF bus tour.
This year, the tour included stops at two MFPC member locations on Thursday with one bus heading to the Tiny Homes of Maine facility in Dyer Brook that was recently acquired by Hancock Lumber while the second bus continued up the road to tour LP Building Solutions in New Limerick. Both tours were well attended and informative.
We would like to thank MDF for shining a light on some of the exciting products being produced from Maine’s forests, and for allowing us to tag along for these informative tours.
| While we appreciated the change of venue towards the end of the week, there is still some action to report on legislation of interest. On Tuesday, the Council testified before the ACF Committee in support of LD 39, “An Act To Require Forest Landowners To Report The Registration Or Sale Of Their Forest Carbon Credits”. As you will see below, the work session on this bill will take place next Tuesday. We also have kept a close eye on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee as they deliberate on the supplemental budget, LD 209. While continuous progress has been made at various meetings this week, the Committee has not yet made a determination on Part U which includes critical funding to implement an Early Intervention Strategy (EIS). With a quickly growing spruce budworm population now impacting roughly 250,000 acres across dozens of land ownerships in northern Maine, this funding is a top priority for the Council and for our industry. If you haven’t yet done so, please take a moment to reach out to AFA Committee members this morning to reiterate just how important Part U is for the health of our forests and for rural Maine’s economy. Contact information and our fact sheets are included below. This upcoming week, the Council will engage on a number of policy issues ranging from illegal dumping to weight limits for oversize ATVs and more. If you have any questions about the bills below, or our policy positions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best,Pat Strauch and Krysta West Maine Forest Products Council |
| Appropriations and Financial Affairs Senator Margaret Rotundo – Chair Margaret.Rotundo@legislature.maine.gov Senator Sue Bernard Susan.Bernard@Legislature.Maine.gov Senator Cameron Reny Cameron.Reny@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Drew Gattine – Chair Andrew.Gattine@legislature.maine.gov Representative Amy Arata Amy.Arata@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Mark Blier Mark.Blier@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Michael Brennan Michael.Brennan@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Kristen Cloutier Kristen.Cloutier@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Deqa Dhalac Deqa.Dhalac@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Jack Ducharme John.Ducharme@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Kenneth Fredette Kenneth.Fredette@legislature.maine.gov Representative Ambureen Rana Ambureen.Rana@Legislature.Maine.gov Representative Holly Stover Holly.Stover@Legislature.Maine.gov |