Legislative Update - May 20, 2011
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE LEGISLATIVE DATABASE
Late last Friday, it was reported that House Chair of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, Representative Patrick Flood, had resigned as Chair of that Committee but that the Speaker of the House had refused to accept his resignation. This reportedly stemmed from the partisan rancor that occurred when LD 1333, a broad overhaul of Maine’s health insurance market, was passed in the Legislature on a partisan basis. Given the procedural posture of the biennial budget, the Appropriations Committee must develop a bi-partisan bill and partisan fights harm the prospects of developing a consensus budget.
In any event, Representative Flood remains as House Chair of the Appropriations Committee. This is universally viewed as a positive development, as his leadership and knowledge is needed to ensure that a budget is developed in a timely fashion.
COMMMITTEES FINISHED WITH THEIR WORK
Legislative Committees have now finished with public hearings and work sessions. A handful of very late bills may still be in committee, but at this point, committee work is, essentially, over. The Legislature is now meeting four days per week and holding double sessions. Both chambers are working hard to process bills and the Appropriations Committee is working to put together a budget. Statutory adjournment is June 15, 2011, but it is rumored that the Legislature will run out of funding by June 9, 2011.
An updated legislative database is linked to this weekly report for your information. It contains any newly introduced bills we have identified of interest to the MSBA, along with updated status listings of previously introduced bills. Those items highlighted in red indicate new changes since the last database was made available.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need specific information.
John Delahanty at 207-791-1222 or jdelahanty@pierceatwood.com
Avery Day at 207-622-6311 or aday@pierceatwood.com.
Click here to open the Legislative Database.