In about two weeks, the 130th Legislature will come to a close. It looks like most of our priority bills may make it across the finish line. It's been a good run.
Rally for Clean Drinking Water: Legislators will vote soon on a bill that could finally bring clean drinking water to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik (Pleasant Point) after a 40-year struggle to address contamination in the water supply from the Passamaquoddy Water District. Supporters will hold a rally in Augusta on Monday, April 11. There may also be a chance to lobby inside the State House for other Tribal Sovereignty legislation. Want to participate? Click here to learn more.
No Really — You Should File Your Taxes: When you are filling out your Maine tax forms, you can check a box to designate $3 to the Maine Clean Election Fund. This helps to finance the election campaigns of qualifying Clean Election candidates. The Clean Election check-off is on Line 1 of the Maine Income Tax form. It will NOT increase your tax bill, and it will NOT decrease your refund. Learn more here.
Election Season: This year's election cycle is now upon us, which means candidates will be running via public funding — or not. If you have a preferred candidate, consider making a $5 contribution to the Maine Clean Election Fund so that they can qualify for the Maine Clean Elections Act funding. Taking action like this helps to boost the Clean Elections program. Learn more here.
The current session is scheduled to conclude April 20, and there's much to celebrate – knock on wood. The bills we've been watching had a successful week last week, with each of them moving along the way to becoming law! Here are your updates:
Municipal Ranked Choice Voting (LD 859):This bill would allow towns to adopt RCV for municipal elections. Enacted in the House; awaiting enactment in the Senate. - Equity in Policy Making (LD 1610): This bill is a critical step toward improving demographic analysis and data sharing in Maine government so that we can create equitable and evidence-based policy. It builds upon LD 2, which passed last year. Enacted in the House; awaiting funding and final enactment in the Senate
- Money in politics — Municipal Campaign Finance (LD 1658): This bill requires candidates or PACs in towns with populations over 50,000 to submit campaign finance reports to the Ethics Commission instead of the municipal clerk. It got a disastrous $1 million fiscal note. Enacted in the House; awaiting funding and final enactment in the Senate.
- An Act To Protect Election Integrity (LD 1779): Yes! This bill will protect ballots after an election by ensuring they remain in the custody of our trusted election officials. It's an important backstop against actions that undermine election security by disrupting the chain of custody, as we have seen in Arizona and Colorado. Signed into law!
- An Act to Protect Election Officials (LD 1821): Originally, this bill would have made it a Class C crime (a felony) to intentionally interfere with a public official performing an official function relating to a federal, state, or municipal election. As amended under this bill, these crimes remain Class D crimes (misdemeanors), but they can be referred for prosecution to the Attorney General’s office. The amended bill also institutes Secretary of State tracking for these incidents and de-escalation training for municipal election officials. Passed to be enacted in the House; awaiting final enactment in the Senate.
Thank Election Heroes Day: What It Takes To Run Elections
Hosted on Zoom.
Tuesday, April 12
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Register here
Elections can't run without people. Normal folks are behind the scenes helping to register voters, print ballots, train poll workers, and hundreds of other tasks that make up a smooth election day. That's why we want to celebrate Town Clerks and other election workers for their efforts on Tuesday, April 12.
This panel discussion will discuss the work that goes into running elections, the current environment in Maine and nationally around election administration, and what can be done to support our election heroes.