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.

The first regular session of the 128^th Legislature has been extended for up to five legislative days.

Originally, statutory adjournment was scheduled for June 21, 2017.

Both the Senate and House agreed to extend the session in a Joint Order filed as Senate Paper 595.

The staff of the Maine Ethics Commission (MEC) will propose legislation to the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices at a meeting on December 8, 2016, to enhance the public’s understanding of major contributors to political committees.

The statutory proposal would require national organizations contributing more than $100,000 to Maine-based political committees to file a one-time report with MEC detailing basic contact information about the national organization, a responsible officer, the form of the organization, and a description of its purpose. The report would require the organization to provide the top five sources of funding received during the previous 12 months. Failure to file a report could result in a $50,000 penalty.

If the statutory proposal is approved by the commissioners, it would then go to the Legislature for consideration.

Several citizen’s initiatives were approved by Maine voters last night. Ranked-choice voting will replace the current election system (IB 2); a tax surcharge will be imposed on certain households to increase funding for public schools (IB 3); minimum wage will be raised to $12 an hour by 2020.  Maine will be the first state to institute ranked-choice voting.

The new system 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.

Gov. Paul LePage stated he would not be resigning over his alleged racist remarks and profanity-laced voicemail to Rep. Drew Gattine. LePage has publicly apologized to the citizens of Maine and privately to Gattine for his actions.

Democratic members of the Legislature wanted a special session in order to issue an official censure of LePage’s behavior.

On August 29, 2016, Republican legislative leaders responded to the controversy by convening a closed-door meeting with LePage to discuss his future in politics.

Photo of Gov. Paul LePage by MattGagnon on Wikimedia Commons.

On August 31, 2016, the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices adopted a rule clarifying the “house party” exception from the definition of contribution. Following complaints the exception amounted to undisclosed contributions, the commission adopted a rule stating the costs of food and beverages are exempt only if they relate to the personal services provided by the volunteer and only if paid for by a single volunteer.

The rule will be effective following certification from the secretary of state.