Public Will Have Chance to Weigh In on Proposed Changes Maine’s Vehicle Inspection on Tuesday

Maine’s Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing Tuesday on several bills that aim to amend the state’s vehicle inspection requirements.

Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have introduced legislation that would change Maine’s annual vehicle inspection requirements as they are known today.

While some proposals would make this program more restrictive, others would make it less intrusive or do away with it entirely.

The public hearing is set to begin at 1pm and will be held in Room 126 of the State House.

Written testimony may also be submitted online at www.mainelegislature.org/testimony.

Of the six vehicle inspections bills on the docket for Tuesday’s hearing, four would make the program less restrictive, while two would allow the State Police to require the use of an electronic program to track vehicle inspections.

LD 320 — introduced by Rep. Ann Fredericks (R-Sanford) and cosponsored by several other Republican lawmakers — aims to repeal the vehicle inspection program entirely.

[RELATED: Maine Considers Repealing Annual Vehicle Inspection Requirement]

A Democrat-led bill, LD 661, would exempt cars from needing a safety inspection for the first three years after they are manufactured.

That said, this exemption would be nullified if the vehicle were involved in a crash or natural disaster, as well as if the car is sold to another owner.

[RELATED: Maine’s Annual Vehicle Inspection Requirement in the Cross-Hairs of Bipartisan Legislators]

LD 1010 would allow Maine drivers to go two years between safety inspections, instead of requiring that they be updated every year.

[RELATED: Maine Drivers May Only Need to Update Inspection Stickers Every Other Year Under New Proposal]

This bill was sponsored by Rep. Chad R. Perkins (R-Dover-Foxcroft) and cosponsored by a number of Republican lawmakers, as well as Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) from across the aisle.

Another Republican-led bill, LD 547, would prevent cars from failing safety inspections for “exterior, nonstructural corrosion.”

Rep. Donald J. Ardell (R-Monticello) was the primary sponsor for this bill, while Rep. Robert W. Nutting (R-Oakland) and Rep. Chad R. Perkins (R-Dover-Foxcroft) joined as cosponsors.

In a different direction, two other Republican-led bills — LD 556 and LD 667 — would allow the State Police to establish an electronic surveillance system to track vehicle inspections that mechanics around the state would be required to use.

More specifically, an “electronic inspection program” is defined in these proposals as a program designated by the Chief of the State Police “that uses electronically generated data as part of an inspection and permits the creation and exchange of an electronic record for maintaining inspection information.”

LD 566, sponsored by Sen. Brad Farrin (R-Somerset), would raise this limit to $20, while LD 667, sponsored by Rep. Wayne R. Parry (R-Arundel), would cap fees at 2.5 times the state minimum wage.

Based on the current minimum wage of $14.65, this would mean that the cap would be initially set at $36.63.

[RELATED: Inspecting the Inspectors: Electronic Surveillance System for Vehicle Inspections, and Fee Hikes, Proposed]

After Tuesday’s public hearing, the Taxation Committee will likely schedule work sessions for these bills where they will be discussed further and potentially amended.

Committee members will then vote on whether to recommend to the full Legislature that these bills be approved or rejected. Whether or not they are likely to be debated on the chamber floor depends upon if the Committee’s recommendations are unanimous or divided.

While divided reports often lead to debate and roll call votes in the House and Senate, unanimous reports are typically accepted without further consideration.