The Maine House and Senate will meet for a day of legislative business on Tuesday with a number of bills up for referral to committee, debate and even a vote in the House. These range from measures to curb US Immigration and Customs law enforcement, abortion pills, Mennonite drivers and even a bill to make January 6th a day or remembrance.
Things will kick off with an opening prayer from Litchfield’s Raymond Vensel of the Maine Chapter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It won’t be a prayer so much as a soap box sermon on why we don’t need religion or need to be free from it. It’s a perfect prologue for a day that’s going to be filled with animosity and venom as the progressive majority enforces their will upon the conservative minority under the dome. Elections definitely have consequences, and they play out every session day in Augusta.
After the usual bill referencing and legislative sentiments, they will get to the meat on the bone for the day’s legislative work: divided reports. Divided report are the results of split committee votes on a bill. These are usually party line votes. Democrats have more seats on committees because they won more seats in the last election and their partisan reports are usually the majority report to pass or kill a bill. Tomorrow’s divided reports of note include:
1259 “An Act to Enhance Public Safety in Maine by Defining the Relationship Between Local and Federal Law Enforcement” was introduced by Representative Ambureen Rana (D-Bangor) and is designed to prohibit state or local law enforcement agencies or officers from entering into contracts with federal immigration enforcement authorities. Simply put, this is an anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) bill designed to protect illegals in Maine from being arrested and deported. There isn also bigger bill from Representative Deqa Dhalac (D-Portland) that goes even further than Rep. Rana’s bill. That bill, LD 1971, “An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities” that will be sent to the Judiciary Committee for a public hearing in the near future.
422 “An Act to Require the State to Obtain Municipal Approval Before Placing Noncitizens in the Municipality,” introduced by Representative Greg Swallow (R-Houlton). The bill is simple in how it embraces the Maine ideal of local control. Its summary states: “This bill prohibits the State from placing noncitizens within a municipality without the municipality’s prior authorization and allows the municipality to limit the number of noncitizens the State places within the municipality.” If all Democrats on the House floor vote along party lines, they will be saying that they and Governor Janet Mills (D-ME) have absolute power to force migrants into local communities without giving those municipalities a voice. It’s a question that might wind up being answered in court.
163 “An Act to Require Health Insurance Coverage for Federally Approved Nonprescription Oral Hormonal Contraceptives and Nonprescription Emergency Contraceptives” was introduced by Representative Poppy Arford (D-Brunswick). The bill expands the requirements in current law for coverage of contraceptives for nonprescription oral hormonal contraceptives and nonprescription emergency contraceptives approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Regardless of how you feel about abortion, this bill enables the government to tell businesses what to do with no regard for the economic impact that such legislation causes to their bottom line. The floor debate will most likely devolve into a proxy war about abortion policy. The end result will likely be a party line vote.
918 “An Act to Allow a Qualifying Religious Organization to Self-insure for Automobile Insurance” was introduced by Representative Steve Foster (R-Dexter) on behalf of his Mennonite constituents. It would allow the Mennonites to self-insure their horse-drawn carriages instead of having to take part in the broader world of car insurance. A similar bill failed last session, but Rep. Foster is still trying. This time Senator Rick Bennet (R-Oxford) and Senator Stacy Guerin (R-Piscataquis) are riding shotgun with him by offering testimony in support at the public hearing. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D-ME) testified against the bill, essentially cracking the whip to force a devout people to bend the knee to government control. Fingers crossed that both sides can win one for the Mennonites so they can get back to their peaceful lives with minimal interaction with Augusta swamp creatures. Representative Sally Cluchey (D-Bowdoinham) was an original cosponsor of the bill yet voted against it in committee. This may be a bad omen for the bill’s fate on the floor.
702 “An Act to Designate January 6th as A Day to Remember and to Preserve the Accounts of Witnesses to the Events of January 6, 2021” is from freshman Representative Rafael Macias (D-Topsham). Rep. Macias is also a member of the Maine People’s Alliance Board of Directors, so it’s not a surprise that he put in a bill to try and irritate the minority Republican Caucus. LD 702 would designate January 6th every year as a day of remembrance and require the Governor to issue a proclamation honoring the resiliency of democracy during the events of that day in Washington, D.C. This is the equivalent of the Michigan Wolverines planting their flag in the Ohio State logo at the 50-yard line in the Buckeyes home stadium. That resulted in a brawl between the two teams. I don’t think we will be too far off from that tomorrow, rhetorically of course, once the floor speeches start on this bill.
Follow the Maine Wire on X and Facebook for all legislative news and updates.
