A record five citizen’s initiatives are set to hit the November ballot.

If all five initiatives pass, ranked-choice voting would replace the current election system (IB 2), a tax surcharge would be imposed on certain households to increase funding for public schools (IB 3), minimum wage would be raised to $12 an hour by 2020, background checks would be required for private gun sales (IB 5), and marijuana use would be legal (IB 6).

Ranked-choice voting ensures the winning candidate, in a multi-candidate 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.

Despite the Legislature’s intention to kill the bill version of IB 2 in March, voters have the opportunity to pass the initiative this November, much like the passage of IB 1 in November 2015, which revamped campaign finance laws.

If successful, Maine would be the first state to institute ranked-choice voting.

The second regular session of the 127th Legislature adjourned sine die April 29, 2016.

The statutory adjournment date was April 20, 2016; however, the Legislature spent an additional nine days in session.

Legislators successfully overturned 20 of the 30 vetoes by Gov. Paul LePage.

Photo of the Maine State House by Albany NY on Wikimedia Commons.

Following the resignation of State Sen. David Dutremble, Gov. LePage has set a date for a special election to fill the empty District 32 seat. The special election will be held on March 29.

Democrats, Republicans, and members of the Green party must hold caucuses to name a candidate by February 16.

State Senator David Dutremble has announced his resignation from the senate after serving there for the past four years. Dutremble cited the demands of splitting his time between working as a firefighter and senator as the primary reason for his resignation.

Governor LePage will call for a special election to fill the senate seat, but has not yet announced a date.

The Maine Ethics Commission handed down two penalties today for lobbying and campaign finance law violations.  Joel Allumbaugh, a lobbyist for a Florida-based think tank, was fined $50 for failing to disclose his status as a paid lobbyist to a legislative committee.  Allumbaugh faced up to a $5,000 fine, and is the first lobbyist to be punished under a 2006 state lobbying disclosure law.

State Representative Diane Russell was also fined by the Maine Ethics Commission after she omitted over $1,200 in expenditures from her political action committee.  Russell faced a potential $10,000 fine, but members of the Commission decided on a reduction to $2,000.

Governor LePage has requested a special session during an appearance before the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. LePage is urging the committee to readdress the state budget and to reconsider additional funding to address the drug crisis facing the state.

In Maine, special sessions can be called by either the governor or the Legislature.

On November 4, 2015, voters in Maine approved a ballot initiative expanding the state’s public campaign financing system.  The initiative increases both election transparency and the total pool of money available to qualifying candidates. Organizations behind political advertisements must now disclose their top three donors and will face increased penalties for campaign finance law violations.

The new requirements will be effective 30 days after the Governor proclaims the official results of the election.

A special election has been scheduled for November 3, 2015, to fill the vacant House District 23 seat.

Candidates had until September 14 to file to be on the ballot. Write-in candidates must file their declarations by September 25.

State Rep. Michael Shaw, who was in his fourth term, resigned his position because he will be moving out of the district.

A special election has been scheduled for November 3, 2015, for the House District 19 seat. The seat was left vacant when state Rep. William Noon passed away from cancer.

His widow, Jean Noon, an organic sheep farmer, was chosen by Democratic caucus to run in the special election.

The Republican caucus chose Matthew Harrington, a police officer, as their candidate.

Photo of Rep. William Noon courtesy of the Maine House of Representatives website.

On August 6, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion finding 65 bills from the 2015 legislative session were vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage too late to prevent the legislation from taking effect.

Last month, the governor had returned the 65 bills to the Legislature on July 16, the last day of the session. However, the bills were returned beyond the 10 days, excluding Sundays, a governor has to veto legislation once he or she receives the bills.The court found the bills were beyond the ten days provided for gubernatorial objection and became law effective ninety days after the adjournment sine die of the Legislature, except where enacted as emergency legislation.

The opinion was made at the request of the governor.

Mainers for Accountable Elections, an activist group advocating for stricter campaign finance law, has developed a ballot measure to be considered by voters in the November 2015 election. The measure proposes to establish gubernatorial transition committees to help finance a governor-elect’s inauguration; increase penalties for late filings and certain other campaign finance violations; and require independent expenditure communications to include a conspicuous statement listing the top three funders of the communication.

The measure also proposes several amendments to the Maine Clean Election Act related to public funding for candidates. The most ambitious section of the measure proposes to require lawmakers to eliminate $6 million in corporate tax breaks in order to fund the expansion of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

The measure will appear as “Question 1” on the November 2015 ballot.

The Maine Legislature adjourned the first session of the 127th Legislature sine dine Thursday, July 16, 2015.

The session was marked by controversy, including an historic number of vetoes issued by Gov. Paul LePage. The governor acknowledged many of the vetoes were retaliatory after legislators rejected most of his policy initiatives.

Several Maine lawmakers are considering launching an investigation for impeachment hearings of Republican Gov. Paul LePage. LePage allegedly attempted to wield his influence to push Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves out of a new job at a charter school.

The grounds for impeachment include abuse of authority, conduct unbecoming and possible misuse of public assets. The relationship between LePage and Democrats in the Legislature is already contentious after LePage vowed to veto every piece of Democratic legislation submitted to him.

The Maine Constitution gives the state House of Representatives sole authority to bring an impeachment action. The state Senate would try the action and vote on whether to impeach. Impeachment requires a two-thirds vote of the state Senate.

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

The contribution limit for Maine gubernatorial candidates has been increased by $75, from $1,500 to $1,575 per election.

The contribution limit for county and municipal offices has been increased by $25, from $750 to $775 per election.

The contribution limit for state legislative candidates remains unchanged at $375 per election.

The foregoing adjustments were effective for any election held on or after January 23, 2015.