Legislative Updates

The end of the 132nd Legislature is in sight with only 5 days remaining until Statutory Adjournment. Most of the bills we have engaged with have finished debate and all that remains to be seen is whether those with fiscal notes will be funded. The budget and bond processes remain contentious, as they often are

With only 12 days remaining until Statutory Adjournment, the Legislature is in the full swing of floor debates. Even as time winds down, there are still a number of bills that have not yet been released from committees, and we are even engaged on one bill that has not yet been printed or assigned an

This week marks a change in focus for the Legislature. Almost all bills have been voted on in their respective committees and many have gone through their final language reviews and will be making their way to the House and Senate chambers. Bills sponsored by senators begin in the Senate and those introduced by representatives

Today marks the official, but rarely enforced, deadline for the committees to have their work completed. At this point, the bills that are voted out of committee will start moving to the floors of the two chambers for votes and debate. MFPC will continue to engage on a number of bills as they progress through

At this point in the legislative session, bills and committees are moving fast. Bills can be printed and heard without notice whenever the committee wishes to take them up and bills that are out of committee can hit the chambers at the discretion of the presiding officers. This is keeping the MFPC team quite busy

This week was a busy one for MFPC with two events with legislators early in the week. On Tuesday Maine Forest Products Council held the final Timber Talk breakfast of the 132nd Legislature focused on the state of the forest economy in Maine. Thanks to Alexander Ingraham, Patrick Strauch, Joel Slate, Shane O’Neill and Dr.

We testified in support of LD 2187 ” An Act To Update Certain Water Quality Standards And To Reclassify Certain Waters Of The State” as presented. This bill reflects the Triennial Water Quality review recommendations made by DEP and approved by the Board of Environmental Protection. The bill as drafted, which is based off of

Next Wednesday, MFPC will be testifying in strong opposition to LD 276 “An Act Regarding Inland Fisheries and Wildlife” which would replace the weight and width allowance for ATVs that can be registered in Maine with three classifications of manufacturers specifications based on width and configurations. This bill completely ignores the work of the Public Access to Private