The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of the Maine Legislature called a special session for June 19 and expected to last multiple days.

Legislators want to finish business from the regular session regarding Medicaid expansion and minimum wage increases.

Lobbyists who have filed non-session waivers and plan on lobbying during the special session must file a monthly activity report, next due on July 15, 2018.

The Maine Legislature is polling members to decide if they should return for a special session.

The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House may call a special session if they have the consent of the majority of members.

Legislators want to finish business from the regular session regarding Medicaid expansion and minimum wage increases.

If agreed upon, the special session will likely be called for June 19.

The Maine Legislature adjourned sine die on May 2, 2018. The session adjourned 14 days after statutory adjournment, or April 18, leaving key bills on the floor.

House Speaker Sara Gideon attempted to extend the session by four days, but House Republicans voted against the Joint Order.

The Legislature failed to pass bills involving public school funding, wage hikes for direct-care workers, and a bill aligning Maine’s tax code to new federal law.

Some lawmakers are hoping for a special session to address these issues.

Maine voters approved a ballot measure to expand access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Maine is the first state to settle the issue by referendum as Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed expanding Medicaid access five times.

Additionally, voters approved ballot measures relating to infrastructure bonds and pension funding and rejected a ballot measure allowing casino or slots in York County.

Maine voters approved a ballot measure to expand access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Maine is the first state to settle the issue by referendum as Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed expanding Medicaid access five times.

Additionally, voters approved ballot measures relating to infrastructure bonds and pension funding and rejected a ballot measure allowing casino or slots in York County.

The first special session of Maine’s 128^th Legislature adjourned sine die on November 6, 2017. The House sustained Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill allowing and regulating the retail sale of recreational marijuana.

Additionally, the bill to bring ranked-choice voting law into constitutional compliance became law without the governor’s signature. Maine voters passed a ballot initiative approving ranked-choice voting in the November 2016 elections.

Ranked-choice voting ensures the winning candidate in a multicandidate race receives the majority vote because voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate does not receive 50 percent of first-choice votes, then the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated and votes are retabulated.

The bill to bring ranked-choice voting into constitutional compliance delays the new system until 2021 and automatically repeals the law unless voters ratify a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to determine the method the state Legislature and Governor are elected by December 1, 2021.

Gov. Paul LePage has called a special session of the Maine Legislature.

The special session will address a food sovereignty law conflicting with federal requirements and funding for the Office of Geographic Information Systems.

The special session will begin on October 23, 2017.

Gov. Paul LePage called a special election for House District 56.

The seat’s holder, Rep. Gina Mason, passed away unexpectedly on September 5, 2017.

The special election will be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

State Rep. Gina Mason passed away unexpectedly on September 5, 2017.

Mason, mother of Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, was serving her first term as the representative for District 56.

Gov. Paul LePage may call a special election if the municipal officers of any municipality affected by the vacancy inform LePage there is a need to fill the vacancy before the next general election.

The next general election is scheduled for November 7, 2017.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage has indicated he plans to call the Legislature into a special session later this year.

LePage wants a special session to amend Legislative Document 725, because it conflicts with federal law regarding meat and poultry inspection programs.

LePage did not state when he intends to call the special session.

The first regular session of the 128th Legislature adjourned sine die on August 2, 2017.

Lawmakers increased the age for purchasing cigarettes to 21 and overrode Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill increasing access to opioid addiction services.

The general effective date for non-emergency laws passed in the first regular session is Wednesday, November 1, 2017.

Following a brief adjournment on July 3, the Maine Legislature convened for one day on July 20. The Legislature will meet for one additional legislative day on August 2.

The 128^th regular session has been delayed twice due to disagreements on the budget and other topics.

On August 2, lawmakers will consider possible objections of Gov. Paul LePage to any bill or resolution presented to him by the Legislature.

The Maine 2017 regular session recessed on July 3, 2017.

The Legislature failed to pass a budget on June 30, 2017, forcing Gov. Paul LePage to declare a state of civil emergency in the absence of a biennial budget. The Legislature worked late on July 3, 2017, to pass the $7.1 billion budget.

LePage signed the budget the following morning and ended the civil emergency.

In an attempt to prevent doctors from overprescribing opioids, the Maine Legislature recently passed a bill prohibiting manufacturers or wholesalers, or an agent of either, from offering gifts to health care practitioners.

A “gift,” as it pertains to the Maine Pharmacy Act, will not include samples of prescription drugs to be given to patients for free, items with a total value of less than $50 over a calendar year, payments to sponsors of educational programs, honoraria and payments of expenses incurred at an educational conference or meeting, compensation for research, publications or educational materials, and salaries or other benefits paid to employees.

The bill will become effective 90 days from the end of session.