Friday, June 22, 2007
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Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
Sacrifices that still shine
Thomas speaker urges change in business climate
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT AUGUSTA: Many welcome talk about campus housing
WALL ST. NIGHTMARE CONTINUES
Citing imploding economy, Mitchell endorses Obama
Town forms co-op for fuel
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES: Colby, Amherst look to run first
Tigers host rival Raiders for Homecoming
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Many welcome talk of campus housing at UMA
WATERVILLE Mitchell: Obama right man for hard economic times
Thomas speaker urges change in business climate
MARKETS CONTINUE FREE-FALL
Maine Gold Star honors veterans
All invited to 'the amazing back yard' Friends of Unity Wetlands welcome children
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES: Colby, Amherst look to run first
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Winslow, Gardiner know what's coming
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Wednesday, June 20: The countdown begins
AUGUSTA — You know the end of the legislative session is near when Judy St. Pierre puts on her tiara.
St. Pierre, the helpful woman at the information kiosk on the first floor of the Statehouse, said she started the tradition six or eight years ago.
“At the end of the session, everybody’s so tense,” she said, her brown curls hiding some, but not all, of the plastic silver headgear. “It brings joy and happiness to the people at the end of session.”
Technically, today is supposed to be the final day of the legislative session.
Technically.
Maine had been one of only eight states that reduced older workers’ unemployment compensation benefits by 50 cents for each dollar of Social Security payment, according to AARP.
Members of the Appropriations Committee are working through bills that have passed the House and Senate, but require money. They are deciding which bills on the “special appropriations table” should be funded and which ones should not.
Behind the scenes, work continues on tax reform, which has yet to be taken up in the Senate.
See you in an hour.
3 p.m.: The House and Senate are both in.
In the Senate, three television cameras are set up in anticipation of a tax reform vote. While the Senate bell rings, but before they are in session, Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville, grants an interview in the corner of the chamber.
When they come to order, Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, plows through the “special study table,” which is a list of 25 bills that were previously set aside.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, is moving to kill them, pass them or reconsider them, and there’s no debate.
The House has spent most of the last hour debating a transportation bill and is moving on to other items on the unfinished business list, including education bills and a mental health measure.
4 p.m. The Senate’s been in recess for nearly an hour — even though they were supposed to take a 30 minute break — and the House continues to work a variety of bills.
Before they leave for recess, Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, reminds colleagues to turn in their expense reports before they adjourn for the session.
The House considers bills that come over on supplements, which means they are not printed on the regular calendar. This time of year, things are happening so fast that much of the business passes back and forth on 8 1/2 X 14 paper.
After House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, calls a fellow Democrat up to the rostrum to confer, they take up a bill called “An Act to Require Insurance Coverage for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders.”
“It’s one of those disorders that’s caused by trying to say that disorder too many times,” said Rep. John Brautigam, D-Falmouth.
(According to www.mayoclinic.com, it’s “tenderness and pain” in the “ball-and-socket joint on each side of your head where your lower jawbone (mandible) joins the temporal bone of your skull.”)
The House passes the bill and sends it to the Senate.
5 p.m. The Senate’s back, and is working on different tax and spending bills. The House is working on various bills, and takes time to pay tribute to Jim Dionne of Winthrop, who is retiring from the state’s fiscal office.
The Senate takes a final vote on a bill that would allow adult adoptees to get access to their original birth certificates. For Bobbi Beavers, who’s worked for nearly two years to get the bill passed, the vote holds special meaning.
“It means the state of Maine is finally going to honor adult adoptees,” she said while standing outside the Senate Republican Office. “Everybody deserves a right to their own truth.”
On an unrelated subject, the House Republican Office put out an update on an effort by one of their members, Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland, to gather signatures for a breast cancer license plate. She fell short of the 2,000 signatures needed to move forward this year, so her bill has been carried over until next year.
6 p.m. The House is taking a dinner break until 7 p.m., and the Senate is out until 7:30.
Prior to the break, the House honored the service of Lock Kiermaier of Augusta, who spent nearly 23 years working in the state’s fiscal office.
The Senate sped through several bills from the Appropriations Committee, with official dialogue back and forth between Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, and Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston.
“Madame President, I move the Senate suspend the rules and reconsider its action whereby...,” Rotundo says.
Edmonds repeats the motion and it goes on from there.
7 p.m. The House isn’t back from dinner yet, and the Senate isn’t due back for another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, here’s some food for thought: If history is any indication, it would be unusual for the Legislature to reach final adjournment before midnight — whenever they wrap up.
According to the House Clerk’s Office, the recent track record indicates a preference for an early morning conclusion:
- May 12, 2000: 3:31 a.m
June 22, 2001: 1:16 a.m.
April 25, 2002: 4:44 a.m.
June 14, 2003: 3:55 a.m.
April 30, 2004: 7:50 a.m.
June 18, 2005: 3:03 a.m.
May 24, 2006: 11:23 p.m.
8 p.m. The House is back to work, voting on bills that have come over from the Senate.
The Senate isn’t back yet.
At 7:20 p.m., a group of Republican women lawmakers head down to the Appropriations Committee because they’re worried that two bills to help prevent domestic violence won’t get funded.
As the House bell rings, they join women Democrats already in the room, ready to sit there and hold up House business if necessary in hopes of getting the bills funded.
Attorney General Steven Rowe tells the committee that the bills — one modernizes the state’s stalking law and the other makes domestic violence a separate crime — will cost the state very little, if anything. In fact, they may save money by preventing crime, he said.
Committee Chairman Rep. Jeremy Fischer, D-Presque Isle, ends the meeting by saying they need to talk to leadership, and each other, before making a decision.
9 p.m. Nothing’s officially going on, but there’s a lot taking place behind the scenes.
Following the dustup in Appropriations over the domestic violence bills, Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, walk hand in hand down the hall to the Speaker’s Office.
Veteran lobbyist Severin Beliveau joins a discussion on the outdoor balcony with a circle of other lobbyists.
And, as Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland explains, there’s plenty of horse trading going on over tax reform.
“The reality is, you have pieces of legislation in a position that won’t allow them to be passed,” he said. “There’s a cadre of people that would like them to be passed who are modifying the language in an effort to get them in a posture where they can move on.”
For the record, Turner doesn’t believe all the Legislature’s business will be finished tonight, or early Thursday morning.
“I would bet my socks, I have two of them, that we’d be back tomorrow,” he said.
10 p.m. The House and Senate are back at work.
The Senate debates a bill that would increase the fee bottlers pay to redemption centers from 3.5 cents to 4 cents.
“Isn’t it amazing in this business, there were eight professional lobbyists here over a halfpenny per unit,” said Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-Biddeford. “Who was lobbying for you? Who was lobbying for your constituents?”
Sen. Lynn Bromley, D-South Portland, said although some redemption centers are struggling, this bill wouldn’t solve their problems. For one thing, there are 811 licensed redemption centers in Maine, which is too many, she said.
“There needs to be a remedy,” she said. “This is not it. There needs to be a thoughtful approach.”
The Senate voted to kill the bill, then moved on to consider a bill that would “allocate the number of redemption centers based on population.”
That bill passed 22-13.
The House came back at 9:45 p.m. and began taking roll call votes on bills.
11 p.m. After a flurry of activity, the House and Senate are waiting for more work.
In the last hour, the Senate gave final approval to a bill brought forward as a citizen initiative.
The bill would give graduates of Maine colleges an income tax credit for some or all of their student loan payments if they stay in Maine after graduation.
They also approved a bill to allow the state, rather than an outside insurance company, to manage the Dirigo Health program.
In the House, after moving as much paper as possible, House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, said they would recess until there’s more work to be done.
“Wherever you can find a cat nap, it will be helpful,” he said.
Then he announced that following partisan caucuses, community college lobbyist and Maine comedian Gary Crocker would be doing a routine to help pass the time.
12 a.m. The work comes in fits and starts now.
The House and Senate are at ease.
A long awaited amendment to the tax reform bill is supposed to be ready for review.
Democrats cram into a committee room to discuss upcoming bills. Rep. Ben Pratt, D-Eddington, sports a ball cap and carries a football through the halls.
People are starting to get tired. Most have been at the Statehouse since 9 a.m. or before. Some try to sleep on couches.
Rumors fly — will they stay or will they come back later today?
1 a.m. The House and Senate are gone for the night. They are expected back at 9 a.m.
After working through several routine bills, the House adjourns shortly after 12:30 a.m. and the Senate follows suit 15 minutes later.
A moment of levity — shortly after midnight, Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, takes off his shoes and does a headstand in the back of the chamber.
Thursday, June 21:The countdown continues
AUGUSTA — The countdown begins again.
After working until after midnight, lawmakers headed out for some sleep before returning to the Capitol this morning on a beautiful first day of summer.
The House and Senate calendars are thin today, a sure sign that the end of the first regular session is near.
Still to come — action on a major tax reform bill.
And inquiring minds want to know: Will anyone play the upright piano on the fourth floor?
For the second day, the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel will give you the blow by blow, hour by hour update on what’s going on under the dome.
10 a.m.: The House and Senate are back at work.
The House is taking a roll call vote on a bottle redemption bill that the Senate voted down last night. And they are having some fun with a motion to suspend the rules to allow lawmakers to remove their jackets.
The House began the day as usual, with a prayer, the national anthem and the pledge. During the prayer, Rep. Herb Clark, D-Millinocket, asked from some guidance from above.
“Guide and bless members of this great House of Representatives that they may enact laws that please you,” he said.
In a show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans dropped off bags of diapers for Rep. Chris Barstow, D-Gorham, whose wife is pregnant with twins. At last count, he had five bags and one large bottle of baby powder.
11 a.m. Here’s a phrase used quite a bit in the final hours: “Will leadership please approach the rostrum?”
A command more than a question, it’s a way for Democratic and Republican leaders to compare notes. Which bills can they run? Which bills need to be caucused?
Which brings us to another common occurrence right about now, the caucus.
Each of the four caucuses — House D, House R, Senate D, Senate R — run off into separate rooms to hash out where they stand on bills.
Leading up to the 11 o’clock hour, the Senate runs through a bunch of bills, holding some over until next year and sending some back to the Appropriations Committee for amendments.
The House is at ease, waiting on paperwork. The Senate breaks to caucus.
Noon: The Senate is debating a motion to kill the major tax reform bill.
If they vote in favor of the motion to indefinitely postpone, it will head to the House.
A frustrated Taxation Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Perry, D-Bangor, explains that he and others tried to find a way to expand the sales tax base to make it more stable, to extend it to items that are discretionary, and to get tourists to pay more of their fair share.
The proposal seeks to lower the income tax, while expanding the sales tax to more items.
In the end, Perry said on the Senate floor, last minute questions and a “campaign that has scared the public” killed it.
“We can keep moving it further along, at some point, we have to decide if were going to do it or not,” he said.
Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, said in a floor speech that he hopes Gov. John Baldacci calls back lawmakers for a special session to work once again on tax reform.
Strimling worked with Sen. Richard Nass, R-Acton, to help lay the early groundwork for the proposal.
Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, is expressing his disappointment that the bill is not moving forward.
1 p.m.: The Senate tax reform debate rages on.
The pending motion is to kill the bill, which proposes to lower income taxes and expand sales taxes. Judging by the debate, the motion will pass.
Some of those who spoke said lawmakers are out of touch with the people they serve.
“This is my ninth year as a legislator and I’ve never spent the night in Augusta,” said Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville. “The longer you stay in the building, the crazier you get.”
Weston said lawmakers failed to get citizens involved.
An angry Taxation Committee member Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, responds to Weston by saying he too has never spent the night in Augusta.
He said he keeps in touch with the people he serves, and took exception to comments that the tax plan won’t save people money.
“Maine people will not get a reduction in taxes today when this plan fails,” he said. “That is simply the truth.”
Assistant Senate Majority Leader John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said the Senate action means there will be no tax reform this year or next.
Lawmakers have to face voters again in November 2008.
“If anyone in this body thinks any Legislature can pass a tax package in an election year, you haven’t been in the Legislature as long as I have been,” he said.
Martin said lawmakers must come back in a couple of months to try to work it out, before campaigns begin.
After the Senate vote, the bill heads to the House. Will they try to revive it?
Stay tuned.
2 p.m. Now that the Senate has voted 26-9 to kill the tax reform bill, the House is considering an amendment in hopes of keeping it alive.
Rep. Thomas Watson, D-Bath, is offering an amendment that he believes addresses nearly all of the objections raised in the Senate.
The bill seeks to lower the income tax and expand the sales tax. His amendment exempts some of the most controversial services that would have been taxed — snowplowing, plumbing, haircuts and a long list of other services.
Watson’s amendment also makes changes to the real estate transfer tax proposal and would lower the income tax to 6.5 percent.
“Nothing comes easy and important and historic things, if you will, come the hardest of all,” he said.
Taxation Committee Chairman Rep. John Piotti, D-Unity, tries to convince fellow House members to look beyond lobbyists.
“What’s happened the last few weeks is all about politics,” he said. “We have all been manipulated. Special interests with one narrow interest tells you you have to fight this.”
He makes a prediction:
“If you care about tax reform, this is our last chance. No one in these halls is going to take up this charge again and put in what this committee has put in knowing failure is the result.”
3 p.m. The tax reform ball is back in the Senate’s court.
A House vote of 80-59 to pass an amended version of tax reform sends the bill back to the Senate for consideration.
Here’s a quick recap: last week, the House passed a tax reform bill that lowers the income tax and expands the sales tax. Earlier today, the Senate voted to kill it.
The House just voted to support an amended version that takes out some of the more controversial items that would have been subject to the sales tax, such as haircuts and snowplowing.
That means the amended version of the bill now goes back to the Senate.
During House debate, Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland, said she needs more time to consider such a big change in tax policy.
“This amendment hit my desk at 1:30,” she said. “To me, this is about process, it’s just we’ve run out of time.”
Taxation Committee member Rep. Kathleen Chase, R-Wells, encourages representatives to support the amendment, although she knows not everyone agrees.
“We all are going down the same road, we’re just in different cars,” she said.
4 p.m. There’s a lot of paper moving back and forth.
And it isn’t all tax reform related.
As they push toward the end, the House and Senate are taking votes on dozens of bills.
They’ve given final approval to a bill that directs the Attorney General to write rules to outlaw the sale of flavored cigarettes and cigars.
Sorry, no more grape cigars for you.
They held over until next year several bills, including one that seeks to allow slot machines on Indian Island and one to create the position of public access ombudsman.
Mostly, though, House Democrats are trying to convince their Senate colleagues to support the amended version of tax reform.
The Senate just came in.
5 p.m. Tax reform died sometime around 4:20 p.m.
Despite efforts by House Democrats — and some Senate Republicans — the Senate votes to stick with its original position, which is to kill the bill.
Officially, since the House and Senate don’t agree, the bill is dead for this legislative session.
During debate, Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, gives a passionate speech urging Senators to support the House amendment, which calls for a more modest expansion of the sales tax with a reduction in the income tax.
“Every pundit, egghead, geek, commentator, economic development expert who opines on the tax code has said we ought to do two things that are so obvious it’s like egg on your face,” he said. “Expand the base of the sales tax and cut the income tax.”
He said lawmakers can’t be concerned with pleasing everyone.
“I don’t think this is easy politics,” he said. “This is taking your medicine time.”
Others — Sen. Richard Nass, R-Acton, among them — said something is missing.
What about reducing spending?
6 p.m. The Senate continues to work bills, including a measure that puts more money in the judicial retirement system.
It passes 22-11.
Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, said he wondered if there weren’t better ways to use the money.
“Is this the best use of this so called found money that was brought to us by the judicial staff 24 hours ago?” he asked.
But Assistant Senate Majority Leader John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said the bill restores money that was taken out of the system a few years ago.
“We constantly do things at the last minute,” he said. “We find money at the last minute. It’s not unusual.”
Meanwhile, over in the House, Maine comedian Gary Crocker of West Gardiner wears his Moxie orange shirt and yellow ball cap while he does standup from the Speaker’s rostrum.
The House is killing time, waiting for paperwork.
7 p.m. House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, says things are wrapping up.
The Senate reports 20 bills left in play.
The end is near.
In the 6 o’clock hour, House Majority Whip Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, delivers a spirited speech in the House, arguing against a constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds vote for tax increases or decreases.
He mentions Jefferson and Madison, “five feet four inches of legal genius.”
All that leads to the argument that it’s not a good idea for the House (151 members) to give 12 people in the Senate veto power.
“It is unwise to trade away our form of government to a minority,” he said.
The House rejects the measure.
On another front, the Senate gives final approval to the term limit bill, which means come November, we will all be asked to decide whether lawmakers deserve an extension on their terms from eight to 12 years.
8 p.m. The House is waiting on an amendment to a Department of Transportation bill.
The Senate moves a few more papers.
The place to be is on the third floor balcony, where legislators and lobbyists sit in rocking chairs, use their cell phones or find a corner for a quiet conversation. The view of Capitol Park is beautiful.
Another clue the session is almost over — lobbyists are leaving the building. The leather couches they so often occupy on the third floor are nearly empty, with just a few diehards left.
9 p.m. The House is back to work a few bills.
And for at least the third time in the last two days, House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, scolds House members for talking too loudly.
People are restless.
The Senate bell is ringing.
Still pending is final approval of an amendment to a major transportation measure that’s designed to secure long term funding for road and bridge projects.
During the break, Senate Republicans order Chinese, leaving the hallway smelling, well, like Chinese food.
Gov. John Baldacci’s office is putting the final touches on his sine die (Latin for adjourning “without day”) address, the short speech he delivers at the end of the session.
10 p.m. There are just a few votes left to take. As the Senate waits for bills from the House, Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, pays an emotional tribute to her fellow Senate colleagues, Senate Secretary Joy O’Brien, and many staffers.
“I’m going to take this moment to talk to you about the fact that you’re as important as family to me,” she said. “I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of this family.”
After taking a break, House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, scours the halls for Democrats so they can get the votes they need to pass the two-thirds threshold required for some bills.
The House votes unanimously in support of a bill that makes domestic
violence a separate crime.
11 p.m. Following a short speech from Gov. John Baldacci, the House adjourned for the year at 10:24 p.m.
Baldacci told lawmakers he would bring forward a tax reform bill for them to consider next year that will change the state’s tax code and reduce spending.
“We will do more to take our case to the people,” he said. He then walked down the hall, and delivered a similar speech to the Senate, calling the legislative session “one of the most productive in recent history.”
He said the Legislature passed major bills to restructure school districts, reduce greenhouse gases, and protect Mainers from predatory lenders.
Baldacci said he will also continue to work to improve health care in the state.
The Senate adjourned at 10:34 p.m. Susan Cover — 623-1056 scover@centralmaine.com
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