Action 128 MAINE legislature June 2-6 and beyond

The legislature is wrapping up the session.  Just a few hearings and work sessions remain: bills are heading for floor votes which will determine their fate: become law, be tabled, or to the dust bin.  Here is a link to the schedule for the week: https://legislature.maine.gov/calendar/#Weekly/2025-06-01  That same page has an arrow at the top that allows you to browse the schedule to the end of the session on June 18.  Since almost no public hearings remain, this will probably be our final Sunday legislative action summary until the next legislative session.

The following page has links to live streaming of the House and Senate voting sessions:  https://legislature.maine.gov   (see the text that says “You can find live and archived proceedings from our Event Calendar, and via Senate or House internet streaming.)    Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to find out when any particular bill will be coming up for a floor vote so you can plan to tune in for the ones you are interested in.  Not even the legislators may know until the morning, what bills will be heard that day.  For a bill you are critically interested in, you might be able to get your legislator to text you as soon as it’s known when (or even if) the bill will be heard.

There are a number of interesting links to explore on that https://legislature.maine.gov page.

For instance, the May 2025 Revenue Projection contains this paragraph:

“The Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission (CEFC) ... emphasized that there is considerable uncertainty at this time around economic policy, government spending, geopolitical tensions, and consumer sentiment. Rapidly changing tariff policies are contributing to the possibility of a global trade war. The federal government has entered into a period of significant fiscal austerity, which is raising uncertainty around ongoing federal funding. Maine’s economy will be impacted by any reduction of federal funds, with the full scope and scale unknown and dependent on the exact nature of the reductions. Maine may be at greater risk from federal funding and tariff policy changes. Maine has seen some targeted impacts from the federal government, and Canada is Maine’s largest trading partner. The tensions between Canada and the U.S. may also drive a decline in Canadian tourism to Maine. The CEFC noted that geopolitical tensions remain elevated and continue to pose a negative risk to the forecast.”

Not exactly a surprise.  Trump has rendered what is normally a difficult process – foretelling future revenue – into an impossible one. 

The rigamarole involved in floor voting is extensive.  It’s outlined here, worth studying: https://legislature.maine.gov/follow-a-bill-through-the-legislature.   “The Maine Legislature records and transcribes all the remarks that are made on the record. A complete account of all the arguments made on bills is available in the Legislative Record, which is generally available within a few weeks of the debate. The Record is also available on the Senate and House web sites”. 

Note: any member can request a roll call vote, so if you have an interest in getting legislators on record for any particular bill, communicate that request to your representative and senator.  A voting record is important in deciding whether or not to support a legislator in future elections. (As Rachel Maddow says, “Watch what they do, not what they say”.)

Also note: in Maine, the Governor has line-item veto power on budget items.

Spring sunshine and flowers tomorrow, hopefully.    Back in the trenches on Monday!