Democrat Bill Would Give State Agencies Broad Power to Interpret “Ambiguous” Statutes

The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on a bill Monday intended to codify into law the principle that power essentially belongs to state agencies and not the people. If enacted, LD 1408 would mandate that state bureaucrats exercise more power than Maine’s courts when it comes to rule-making.

LD 1408, “An Act to Codify Judicial Deference to Agency Interpretations” was submitted by Judiciary Committee members Representative David Sinclair (D-Bath) and Senator Anne Carney (D-Cumberland). They are the only sponsors of the bill and both are lawyers. Sen. Carney is the long time Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

The bill would force Maine courts to defer to state agencies when it comes to the interpretations of ambiguous statutes and rules. State agencies are run by bureaucrats, most of whom are members of public sector unions. Rule-making is a very ‘in the weeds’ function of state government, but an important one. Basically, rule-making means that if the legislature passes a bill about “Widgets” then the state agency with jurisdiction over Widgets can write rules around the law.

There are two types of rule-making. These are ‘Routine Technical’ and ‘Major Substantive’. Routine technical rules are supposed to be restricted to simple and minor interpretations of laws into rules. Major substantive rules on the other hand are, as their name suggests ones that have bearing on the law’s actual meaning. Major substantive rules require approval by vote of the legislature. This is why agency rules are usually classified as routine technical by the state agencies who write them.

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Rep. Sinclair’s bill is built upon the once longstanding legal theory of Chevron Deference. Chevron deference required federal courts to defer to federal agencies when rules or statutes were ambiguous. The legal principle was born out the 1984 Supreme Court ruling in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

In 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference legal theory in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. This was an earthquake in the world of administrative law. It reversed 40 years of precedent and returned power from unelected federal agencies to the federal courts.

The bill from Rep. Sinclair and Sen. Carney appears to be an attempt to implement and codify the legal theory of Chevron deference on a state level. The 2024 overturning of Chevron deference only applies to federal statutes. If Maine passes LD 1408 it will codify the power of Maine state agencies over Maine state courts. It would implement on a state level the legal theory that the Supreme Court overturned in 2024. This bill is a potentially monumental change to Maine’s legal landscape.

LD 1408 will have a public hearing at 1pm on Monday April 7th. As of Sunday morning, public testimony for the bill was not listed on the Judiciary Committee page of the Maine Legislature’s website.