Maine
House lawmakers narrowly rejected a bill to repeal Maine’s controversial school-district consolidation law Wednesday but approved a separate measure granting communities a one-year reprieve from penalties if they fail to reorganize.
By voting against the repeal, the House effectively opted to place the issue in voters’ hands during a statewide referendum on school-district consolidation this November. A citizen initiative to repeal the law already has been filed with state election officials.
As anyone who follows ballot measures knows, the language in a ballot questions matters a lot.The Maine Secretary of State just released the language that will be on the ballot there if opponents assemble the necessary 55,087 certified signatures.
A formal challenge to the state’s new gay marriage law has been filed, setting into motion plans for a possible public vote that could be months or more than a year away.
A legislative committee has been hearing testimony today on a citizen initiative seeking to cut Maine’s car excise tax in half. The excise tax, which varies depending on the age and the value of a car, is collected locally. The proposal also calls for eliminating the 5 percent sales tax and the first three years of car excise taxes on certain fuel-efficient vehicles.
State House Reporter
AUGUSTA (Feb 26): A proposed bill that would attach fiscal impact statements to citizen-led initiative questions is being championed by its sponsor as a move toward transparency. But opponents said it would unfairly put people or groups who bring such questions to the ballot box at a disadvantage.
Citizens in Maine have united in protest against two unconstitutional bills currently moving through the Maine legislature that would severely limit their first amendment rights. Several grassroots activists and community organizers are calling on the legislature to act on LD 28 and LD 530 and protect Maine citizens
A proposed bill that would attach fiscal impact statements to citizen-led initiative questions is being championed by its sponsor as a move toward transparency, but opponents said it would create an unfair disadvantage.
Filing an initiative is a very simple process in Maine. All
you need to do is take your initiative language to the Secretary of State –
it doesn’t have to be in petition format. The Secretary of State then
submits the language to the Reviser of Statutes who puts it in the format
that is consistent with state law and gives it back to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State then returns the initiative to the proponent. Once
this occurs, the proponent of the initiative will take the language and put
Date initiative language can be submitted: Anytime
Signatures tied to vote of which office: Governor
Next Gubernatorial election: 2010
Votes cast for governor in last election: 550,870 (2006)
Net number of signatures required: 10% of votes cast for Governor for a
statute (55,087). If proponents have enough signatures, the measure is
sent to the Legislature. If the Legislature does not approve the measure, it
is placed on the next statewide election.
You have a statutory Initiative & Referendum process. Citizens can pass laws they write or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature by collecting enough petition signatures to place the statute on the statewide ballot for a decision by the voters. Unfortunately, voters do not yet enjoy any process for passing a constitutional amendment by Initiative.
Coalition for an Open & Accessible Initiative Process:
In 1908, Maine became the first state east of the Mississippi to adopt a
constitutional provision for statewide initiative and referendum. It could
not have happened without the work of the state’s foremost I&R
advocate, Roland T. Patten of Skowhegan.
A few weeks back we sent out an Action Alert about a bill in the Maine House that would require petition circulators to be registered voters. CICF sent a letter to the bill’s sponsor and the rest of the state legislature informing them that requiring circulators to be registered voters violates the First Amendment. We then worked with local Maine activists to get testimony against the bill in the upcoming hearing.
Mike Gravel won’t go away. The fringe Democratic presidential candidate turned fringe libertarian candidate thundered away Thursday morning at the National Press Club, as he joined a panel brought together by the Citizens in Charge Foundation.
“The people intuitively know they’re being screwed,” spouted Gravel.
Recent news reports indicate that efforts to reduce the number of bills submitted by Maine legislators have been successful — with the number of bills down 23 percent from the previous two-year session. But a close look at one bill moving forward this year illustrates that Maine’s legislative process remains fundamentally flawed.