Eye on Augusta: A Special Session & a Few New Laws (Maine State House Photo by Andi Parkinson)



Although Democrats have backed an amendment to put ranked-choice voting into compliance with the Constitution, Republicans haven’t budged from their position for full repeal. After all, the system currently benefits Republicans, most notably exemplified in the election of Gov. Paul LePage due to a split in the vote between Democrat Libby Mitchell and right-leaning independent Eliot Cutler. If the Legislature is unable to reach an agreement on how to amend the law, the fate of ranked-choice will likely be decided by the courts.



At the same time, Gov. LePage is urging the Legislature to remove meat and poultry from Maine’s first-in-the-nation “food sovereignty” law, which allows municipalities to enact ordinances that exempt direct-to-consumer sales of locally produced food from food-safety regulations. In August, the governor wrote to legislators that the US Secretary of Agriculture has served him notice that the Dept. of Ag will exercise federal control of the oversight of meat and poultry processing in the state unless the new law is amended to prohibit sales of unlicensed meat. He noted that Maine’s Meat and Poultry Inspection program operates under a federally approved delegation of authority on the condition that its jurisidiction extends statewide. The governor said that because the new law permits towns to exclude state inspections of meat, it would place Maine in violation of the federal agreement.



“We will not be able to continue growing this local food sector of the Maine rural economy by subjecting Maine farms and businesses to inspectors and regulation based in Washington,” wrote LePage. “If the state program is eliminated, small farms will lose the most.”



So far, 20 Maine municipalities have enacted local food ordinances.



But other than the upcoming special session, and LePage’s occasional on-air tirades, not a whole heck of a lot is going down on the policy front in Augusta. So for now, here’s a few new laws that somehow got by the governor’s veto pen that we haven’t covered much. A little fun fact: LePage has vetoed 519 bills during his tenure, including 128 this year and 211 last year. The previous record of 49 vetoes was set by independent Gov. James Longley in 1977.



Banning Firearms Registries



Last year, gun control activists failed to convince voters to support Question 3, which would have required background checks for all sales of firearms in the state. During the debate over the referendum, opponents made the false claim that the law would have led to the creation of a gun registry. Although the referendum failed, the National Rifle Association wanted to make extra sure that gun owners would never have to register their guns by lobbying the Legislature to pass a new law banning the creation of a comprehensive gun owner registry to keep track of who owns guns in the state. Currently Hawaii is the only state that requires registration of all firearms, while only Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey require gun owners to have a license to own all guns, according to the NRA. Eight others have gun-registry bans.



Acupuncture to Treat Substance Use Disorder



The Legislature has directed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a two-year pilot program to treat alcohol abuse disorders and co-occurring disorders using the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association auricular acupuncture protocol. The law requires the department to consult with a statewide association representing licensed acupuncturists in the establishment of treatment standards and mandates that the treatment be provided by staff who are licensed to practice acupuncture in the state. Neither the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, the American Psychological Association nor the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices recognize acupuncture as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of substance use disorders, according to an analysis by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.



Insurance Protections for Living Donors



A recently passed law adds new protections for living organ donors. The law prohibits insurance companies from limiting coverage or refusing to issue or renew life insurance, disability insurance or long-term care insurance coverage due to the policy holder’s status as a living donor. The law also bans carriers from precluding individuals from donating an organ as a condition of receiving insurance; considering the status of an individual as a living donor in determining insurance premium rates, or otherwise discriminating in the offering, issuance, cancellation, amount of coverage or price of an insurance policy on the basis of the person being a living donor.



The “Right to Shop” Law



The Legislature passed a new law that requires insurance carriers to offer small group health insurance plans that incentivize patients to shop around for comparable health care services including radiology and imaging services, laboratory services, and infusion therapy services. The law directs insurance carriers to either put a toll-free number on their websites where policy holders can get information about obtaining comparable health care services or direct enrollees to a website that keeps track of health care costs. If a patient finds a treatment or service from an out-of-network provider that is less than the average cost to their insurer, the carrier and the patient can split the savings, which can either be applied toward co-payments and deductibles or be in the form of a cash pay-out.



The bill was strongly backed by conservative groups including the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability and the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC). In testimony, MHPC CEO Matt Gagnon argued that a resident of Bangor in need of a c-section would likely go to Eastern Maine Medical Center, but Waldo County General Hospital offers the same procedure for $6,000 less.



Coverage for Contraceptives & Gifts to Doctors



The Legislature also passed a law that requires insurance companies to cover the full cost of at least one form of contraceptive without a co-payment. A 2011 study by the Bixby Center at University of California San Francisco found that women who received a year supply of birth control pills were 30 percent less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy compared to women who received one or three packs. The study also found that dispensing a year supply also reduced abortions by 46 percent.



Another new law prohibits drug manufacturers from offering gifts to doctors and other health care practitioners. In testimony on the bill, the Maine Medical Association — which represents 4,000 physicians, residents and medical students — stated that the American Medical Association already considers the practice to be unethical as “gifts to physicians from industry carry the risk of subtly influencing — or being perceived to bias — professional judgment in the care of patients.” Not surprisingly, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) opposed the bill, arguing that it “will restrict interactions with health care professionals.”



Last month, the 128th Maine Legislature’s first regular session sputtered to a close with several issues yet to be resolved. The Legislature will likely reconvene at the end of October to consider a bill to implement rules for the legal sale of adult-use marijuana as well as to resolve a constitutional conflict in the state’s new ranked-choice voting law. While ranked-choice voting is still the law of the state, in May Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court issued an advisory opinion that the new election system, which requires winning candidates to receive a majority of votes, is unconstitutional for state-level elections (governor and state legislative seats) because the Maine Constitution allows those candidates to be elected with a plurality.Although Democrats have backed an amendment to put ranked-choice voting into compliance with the Constitution, Republicans haven’t budged from their position for full repeal. After all, the system currently benefits Republicans, most notably exemplified in the election of Gov. Paul LePage due to a split in the vote between Democrat Libby Mitchell and right-leaning independent Eliot Cutler. If the Legislature is unable to reach an agreement on how to amend the law, the fate of ranked-choice will likely be decided by the courts.At the same time, Gov. LePage is urging the Legislature to remove meat and poultry from Maine’s first-in-the-nation “food sovereignty” law, which allows municipalities to enact ordinances that exempt direct-to-consumer sales of locally produced food from food-safety regulations. In August, the governor wrote to legislators that the US Secretary of Agriculture has served him notice that the Dept. of Ag will exercise federal control of the oversight of meat and poultry processing in the state unless the new law is amended to prohibit sales of unlicensed meat. He noted that Maine’s Meat and Poultry Inspection program operates under a federally approved delegation of authority on the condition that its jurisidiction extends statewide. The governor said that because the new law permits towns to exclude state inspections of meat, it would place Maine in violation of the federal agreement.“We will not be able to continue growing this local food sector of the Maine rural economy by subjecting Maine farms and businesses to inspectors and regulation based in Washington,” wrote LePage. “If the state program is eliminated, small farms will lose the most.”So far, 20 Maine municipalities have enacted local food ordinances.But other than the upcoming special session, and LePage’s occasional on-air tirades, not a whole heck of a lot is going down on the policy front in Augusta. So for now, here’s a few new laws that somehow got by the governor’s veto pen that we haven’t covered much. A little fun fact: LePage has vetoed 519 bills during his tenure, including 128 this year and 211 last year. The previous record of 49 vetoes was set by independent Gov. James Longley in 1977.Last year, gun control activists failed to convince voters to support Question 3, which would have required background checks for all sales of firearms in the state. During the debate over the referendum, opponents made the false claim that the law would have led to the creation of a gun registry. Although the referendum failed, the National Rifle Association wanted to make extra sure that gun owners would never have to register their guns by lobbying the Legislature to pass a new law banning the creation of a comprehensive gun owner registry to keep track of who owns guns in the state. Currently Hawaii is the only state that requires registration of all firearms, while only Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey require gun owners to have a license to own all guns, according to the NRA. Eight others have gun-registry bans.The Legislature has directed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a two-year pilot program to treat alcohol abuse disorders and co-occurring disorders using the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association auricular acupuncture protocol. The law requires the department to consult with a statewide association representing licensed acupuncturists in the establishment of treatment standards and mandates that the treatment be provided by staff who are licensed to practice acupuncture in the state. Neither the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, the American Psychological Association nor the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices recognize acupuncture as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of substance use disorders, according to an analysis by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.A recently passed law adds new protections for living organ donors. The law prohibits insurance companies from limiting coverage or refusing to issue or renew life insurance, disability insurance or long-term care insurance coverage due to the policy holder’s status as a living donor. The law also bans carriers from precluding individuals from donating an organ as a condition of receiving insurance; considering the status of an individual as a living donor in determining insurance premium rates, or otherwise discriminating in the offering, issuance, cancellation, amount of coverage or price of an insurance policy on the basis of the person being a living donor.The Legislature passed a new law that requires insurance carriers to offer small group health insurance plans that incentivize patients to shop around for comparable health care services including radiology and imaging services, laboratory services, and infusion therapy services. The law directs insurance carriers to either put a toll-free number on their websites where policy holders can get information about obtaining comparable health care services or direct enrollees to a website that keeps track of health care costs. If a patient finds a treatment or service from an out-of-network provider that is less than the average cost to their insurer, the carrier and the patient can split the savings, which can either be applied toward co-payments and deductibles or be in the form of a cash pay-out.The bill was strongly backed by conservative groups including the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability and the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC). In testimony, MHPC CEO Matt Gagnon argued that a resident of Bangor in need of a c-section would likely go to Eastern Maine Medical Center, but Waldo County General Hospital offers the same procedure for $6,000 less.The Legislature also passed a law that requires insurance companies to cover the full cost of at least one form of contraceptive without a co-payment. A 2011 study by the Bixby Center at University of California San Francisco found that women who received a year supply of birth control pills were 30 percent less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy compared to women who received one or three packs. The study also found that dispensing a year supply also reduced abortions by 46 percent.Another new law prohibits drug manufacturers from offering gifts to doctors and other health care practitioners. In testimony on the bill, the Maine Medical Association — which represents 4,000 physicians, residents and medical students — stated that the American Medical Association already considers the practice to be unethical as “gifts to physicians from industry carry the risk of subtly influencing — or being perceived to bias — professional judgment in the care of patients.” Not surprisingly, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) opposed the bill, arguing that it “will restrict interactions with health care professionals.”



The Legislature also appropriated $500,000 to the Maine State Housing Authority to treat contaminated drinking wells for low-income households. Supporters of the bill noted that naturally occurring arsenic is common in local bedrock and that one in 10 Mainers could be drinking from a contaminated water well, according to a study by researchers at Dartmouth College. Exposure to high levels of arsenic has been linked to cancers and lower IQs and learning disabilities in children, according to the American Cancer Society. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that homeowners test their drinking wells every 3 to 5 years to check for naturally occurring chemicals like arsenic, uranium, radon, and fluoride, but fewer than half of Maine households actually do that.



More Welfare Restrictions



After voting down similar proposals in the past, Democrats finally bowed to pressure from the LePage administration and passed a bill that will prevent low-income parents from using a number of excuses for not fulfilling the 20-hour-per-week work requirements that are part of the condition for receiving the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash benefit. Under the new law, TANF recipients will no longer be able to get out of work requirements due to a lack of child care or transportation, inclement weather, remoteness from the work location, and other reasons. Instead, it’s now up to the Department of Health and Human Services to determine what a good cause is for missing work. A separate bill prohibits TANF beneficiaries from spending the money on marijuana.



New Marijuana Laws



The Legislature also passed a law that requires an organ transplant evaluator to treat the use of medical marijuana like any other medication when determining eligibility for an organ transplant. During the public hearing on the bill, a man named Garry Godfrey testified that he was put on the list for a kidney transplant at the Maine Transplant Program in Portland in 2003 after he was diagnosed with alport syndrome, a condition that leads to the loss of kidney function. However, he said that after he became a medical marijuana patient in 2012, he was informed that he was no longer eligible for a kidney transplant due to his marijuana use.



“I became addicted to prescription pills, I tried to commit suicide, and went into a very deep depression,” said Godfrey in testimony back in March. “I had only two choices. Either stop my marijuana use and become very ill until I received a transplant, or, remain on dialysis until I died. As I saw it, I only had one choice. Marijuana made it possible for me to function daily and take care of my family. I should never have to choose between a lifesaving organ transplant, or a lifesaving medicine.”



A new law also allows municipalities to pass ordinances that restrict medical marijuana growers and caregivers from operating within 500 feet of a school as long as the towns due so by July of next year. The new law does not apply to marijuana providers that have been approved prior to the adoption of the ordinance.



Child Labor Revision



Another new law prohibits minors from working in marijuana retail, cultivation and processing establishments. It also prohibits all minors under 14 from working, except for planting, cultivating or harvesting of field crops or other agricultural employment not in direct contact with hazardous machinery or hazardous substances. The law provides an exemption for children working for their parents’ business as long as the work is not prohibited under Maine Department of Labor rules or federal law. The Legislature also repealed the ban on minors 14 and 15 years of age working in bowling alleys and movie theaters.



New Hunting Laws



The Legislature made several changes to hunting laws this session. One law eliminates the spring and fall open season for wild turkeys along with bag limits on the birds. The law also prohibits hunting turkeys with a crossbow from October 1st until the first day of the open season, which is established by the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) Commissioner the following year. Another law guarantees moose permits to resident applicants who are 65 years of age and older and have accumulated 30 points or more in the public chance drawing for moose permits.



IF&W will now also have the authority to revoke hunting and fishing licenses of anyone caught destroying, tearing down or defacing property posting signs. Violators face a one-year suspension of their licenses. Public Law 96 allows hunters under 10 years of age to be eligible for a moose hunting permit and accrue points in the moose lottery. Another law lowers the limit from 70 to 65 years of age for when hunters may use a crossbow during hunting seasons. Thanks to a new law, nonresident disabled veterans will also be able to obtain hunting, trapping and fishing licenses just like resident disabled vets as long as their home states have a reciprocal agreement with Maine.



The Legislature expanded the prohibition on baiting deer to also placing bait in areas to entice deer from June 1st to the start of an open hunting season. The ban was also expanded to include baiting deer from the close of all open deer hunting seasons to December 15th if all open hunting seasons on deer are closed before December 15th. It was already illegal to bait deer during the open hunting season. A separate law increases the penalties for baiting deer to include a revocation of a hunter’s license for the first offense and permanently losing the license for the second offense. And finally, Amish hunters will be able to hunt in bright red clothing, rather than the standard blaze orange, which they say violates their religious principles.



Loud Snowmobile Law



Snowmobilers will have to make sure their pipes meet noise- level standards or face the consequences. A new law prohibits anyone from operating a snowmobile manufactured after 2007 unless the snowmobile has a visible and unaltered certification marking issued by an independent organization that certifies snowmobiles for uniformity of safety features and noise levels on the snowmobile’s exhaust silencer. The law states that riders may not operate a snowmobile manufactured after October 1, 1985, that emits total vehicle noise greater than 78 decibels. Of course it remains to be seen how much the noise limits will be enforced given how seldom police crack down on loud motorcycles, which are prohibited by from going above 95 decibels.



Real ID Law Passed



After more than a decade of resisting the federal “Real ID” law, Maine finally succumbed to federal pressure and passed a law putting Maine into compliance with the controversial law. The Real ID law was passed in 2005 as part of an anti-terrorism effort to create a national identity card system. Civil liberties groups had long opposed Real ID due to privacy and security concerns that the government will eventually store sensitive information on the cards, such as Social Security numbers. Maine was the first state to reject the mandate in 2007, but last year the federal government warned that Mainers would not be able to board an aircraft or enter a federal building using their IDs next year if it didn’t comply with the law. The new law allows the Secretary of State to use biometric technology, “including, but not limited to, retinal scanning, facial recognition or fingerprint technology, to produce a driver’s license or nondriver identification card.” The Legislature also appropriated $500,000 to the Maine State Housing Authority to treat contaminated drinking wells for low-income households. Supporters of the bill noted that naturally occurring arsenic is common in local bedrock and that one in 10 Mainers could be drinking from a contaminated water well, according to a study by researchers at Dartmouth College. Exposure to high levels of arsenic has been linked to cancers and lower IQs and learning disabilities in children, according to the American Cancer Society. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that homeowners test their drinking wells every 3 to 5 years to check for naturally occurring chemicals like arsenic, uranium, radon, and fluoride, but fewer than half of Maine households actually do that.After voting down similar proposals in the past, Democrats finally bowed to pressure from the LePage administration and passed a bill that will prevent low-income parents from using a number of excuses for not fulfilling the 20-hour-per-week work requirements that are part of the condition for receiving the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash benefit. Under the new law, TANF recipients will no longer be able to get out of work requirements due to a lack of child care or transportation, inclement weather, remoteness from the work location, and other reasons. Instead, it’s now up to the Department of Health and Human Services to determine what a good cause is for missing work. A separate bill prohibits TANF beneficiaries from spending the money on marijuana.The Legislature also passed a law that requires an organ transplant evaluator to treat the use of medical marijuana like any other medication when determining eligibility for an organ transplant. During the public hearing on the bill, a man named Garry Godfrey testified that he was put on the list for a kidney transplant at the Maine Transplant Program in Portland in 2003 after he was diagnosed with alport syndrome, a condition that leads to the loss of kidney function. However, he said that after he became a medical marijuana patient in 2012, he was informed that he was no longer eligible for a kidney transplant due to his marijuana use.“I became addicted to prescription pills, I tried to commit suicide, and went into a very deep depression,” said Godfrey in testimony back in March. “I had only two choices. Either stop my marijuana use and become very ill until I received a transplant, or, remain on dialysis until I died. As I saw it, I only had one choice. Marijuana made it possible for me to function daily and take care of my family. I should never have to choose between a lifesaving organ transplant, or a lifesaving medicine.”A new law also allows municipalities to pass ordinances that restrict medical marijuana growers and caregivers from operating within 500 feet of a school as long as the towns due so by July of next year. The new law does not apply to marijuana providers that have been approved prior to the adoption of the ordinance.Another new law prohibits minors from working in marijuana retail, cultivation and processing establishments. It also prohibits all minors under 14 from working, except for planting, cultivating or harvesting of field crops or other agricultural employment not in direct contact with hazardous machinery or hazardous substances. The law provides an exemption for children working for their parents’ business as long as the work is not prohibited under Maine Department of Labor rules or federal law. The Legislature also repealed the ban on minors 14 and 15 years of age working in bowling alleys and movie theaters.The Legislature made several changes to hunting laws this session. One law eliminates the spring and fall open season for wild turkeys along with bag limits on the birds. The law also prohibits hunting turkeys with a crossbow from October 1st until the first day of the open season, which is established by the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) Commissioner the following year. Another law guarantees moose permits to resident applicants who are 65 years of age and older and have accumulated 30 points or more in the public chance drawing for moose permits.IF&W will now also have the authority to revoke hunting and fishing licenses of anyone caught destroying, tearing down or defacing property posting signs. Violators face a one-year suspension of their licenses. Public Law 96 allows hunters under 10 years of age to be eligible for a moose hunting permit and accrue points in the moose lottery. Another law lowers the limit from 70 to 65 years of age for when hunters may use a crossbow during hunting seasons. Thanks to a new law, nonresident disabled veterans will also be able to obtain hunting, trapping and fishing licenses just like resident disabled vets as long as their home states have a reciprocal agreement with Maine.The Legislature expanded the prohibition on baiting deer to also placing bait in areas to entice deer from June 1st to the start of an open hunting season. The ban was also expanded to include baiting deer from the close of all open deer hunting seasons to December 15th if all open hunting seasons on deer are closed before December 15th. It was already illegal to bait deer during the open hunting season. A separate law increases the penalties for baiting deer to include a revocation of a hunter’s license for the first offense and permanently losing the license for the second offense. And finally, Amish hunters will be able to hunt in bright red clothing, rather than the standard blaze orange, which they say violates their religious principles.Snowmobilers will have to make sure their pipes meet noise- level standards or face the consequences. A new law prohibits anyone from operating a snowmobile manufactured after 2007 unless the snowmobile has a visible and unaltered certification marking issued by an independent organization that certifies snowmobiles for uniformity of safety features and noise levels on the snowmobile’s exhaust silencer. The law states that riders may not operate a snowmobile manufactured after October 1, 1985, that emits total vehicle noise greater than 78 decibels. Of course it remains to be seen how much the noise limits will be enforced given how seldom police crack down on loud motorcycles, which are prohibited by from going above 95 decibels.After more than a decade of resisting the federal “Real ID” law, Maine finally succumbed to federal pressure and passed a law putting Maine into compliance with the controversial law. The Real ID law was passed in 2005 as part of an anti-terrorism effort to create a national identity card system. Civil liberties groups had long opposed Real ID due to privacy and security concerns that the government will eventually store sensitive information on the cards, such as Social Security numbers. Maine was the first state to reject the mandate in 2007, but last year the federal government warned that Mainers would not be able to board an aircraft or enter a federal building using their IDs next year if it didn’t comply with the law. The new law allows the Secretary of State to use biometric technology, “including, but not limited to, retinal scanning, facial recognition or fingerprint technology, to produce a driver’s license or nondriver identification card.” X