The biggest thing we want to highlight is that the tribal sovereignty bill (LD 2007) has its public hearing today at 10:00 AM in the Judiciary committee. It's expected to look a lot like the tribal sovereignty bill from the previous session; right now only a concept draft is available. The Wabanaki Alliance has provided a toolkit for learning more and taking action.
Upcoming: - LD 1578 — National Popular Vote (NPV): The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact guarantees the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes. NPV should be reported out of committee soon and may head to the chamber floor as soon as Thursday, February 29. Contact your legislators now and ask them to support LD 1578!
- LD 2001 — Strengthen Wabanaki & African American Studies: This bill has been reworked to include pieces from LD 1642. This bill will establish an advisory council, provide professional development opportunities, and include resources to educators so that they can develop appropriate curricula for Maine schools. It was passed in the House and next goes to the Senate for approval.
- LD 2007 — Tribal Sovereignty: The League stands with Wabanaki communities and their claim to tribal sovereignty. LD 2007 has its public hearing on Monday, Feb. 26 at 10:00 AM in the Judiciary committee. We plan to testify in support.
- LD 2224 — Gun Safety Reform: Governor Mills released a bill on gun safety reform that includes expansion of background checks for gun sales, changes to Maine’s yellow-flag laws and improvements to Maine’s mental health system. It's a start in the right direction, and eventually we would like to see a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. The bill was referred to the Judiciary committee.
Updates from last week: - LD 1590 — Disclosure of Campaign Funding Sources: True source disclosure helps the voter trace back the money to the source donor and/or corporation and not just a vague PAC name. Unfortunately, this bill failed in both chambers and is officially dead. We're disappointed, but we stick by the idea that voters should know who's spending big $$$ in Maine's elections.
- LD 1966 — Clean Elections for District Attorney Races: We're excited that LD 1966 passed its first round of voting in the House and Senate with bipartisan support! Next, it goes to the special appropriations table to receive its funding. Before too long it could be on the Governor's desk for her signature and signed into law.
- SP 705 — Article V Constitutional Amendment: This was a joint resolution that could trigger two Article V Conventions to amend the U.S. Constitution, where one seeks to establish term limits for Congress and the other addresses money in politics and overturns Citizens United. The League opposed SP 705 because we think the Article V conventions could open an entire can of worms where anything could happen, leading to disastrous consequences. Last week it was defeated in the Senate and will not be advancing to the House. It's officially dead.
|
|
