2017-02-17 Update
Legislative Update
Introduction
Despite two
rather big storms, one cancelled legislative session and one re-organized
legislative session, the week was
busy.
Looking Ahead
WHAT:
Constituent Office Hours
WHO: Sen. Nate Libby, Rep.
Jared Golden, Rep. Heidi Brooks, Rep. James Handy and Rep. Roger
Fuller
WHEN: Saturday, February 25, 2017, 11:00 AM to
12:30 PM
WHERE: Couture Room, Lewiston Public
Library, 200 Lisbon Street
Members of Lewiston’s delegation
to the Legislature will hold constituent office hours from 11:00 AM to
12:30 PM Saturday, February 25, in the Couture Room at Lewiston Public
Library.
The office hours provide local residents a chance
for Lewiston residents to meet with their elected officials and discuss
legislative and state government
matters.
House Calendars
Bill
Text can be found using this link called Directory of
Bills
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_128th/billtexts/
Link to
Bill
Status
http://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/search.asp
Events Calendars
Click this link ot see an events calendar - Events
Or, see the calendar in the side bar to the
left.
This week in the House -
The House Calendar shows that the week was
really spent in referring bills to appropriate committees. Perhaps most
interesting of all was the Thursday evening address to both the House and
Senate from Chief Justice Leigh Saufley. You can read a review of her
remarks from the Bangor Daily News at this link - State
of the Judiciary
This week in the Education
Committee
The Education Committee had a very
full agenda for this week. You can always check on the topics being
discussed by going to the events calendars mentioned above - as I always
try to put the agenda there.
For me, it was the
first time I had the opportunity to present a bill - a kind of
transitional event. So much of the process reminded me of the skills
learned in so many years of debate, so it felt both comfortable and
challenging. You can read a transcript of the testimony by going to this
link - LD841
Reflections
So much of
legislation involves regulation. It is the job of government to regulate;
however, can we ask question about creative incentives? Regulation by its
nature tends to be constrictive - well, regulatory.
In what ways can the leaders and planners in government create incentives for people and industry to do the right thing? Can we move from regulation to creative incentives?
We worry about what students know, so we create a regulation regarding testing. In fact, we test students every year in an attempt to regulate education.
Can we instead ask students to demonstrate what they know and can do? Can we say, “Show me your work.”
__________
As we continue to have discussions on immigration, here is a video on what it takes to become a United States Citizen. This video clearly outlines the vetting process.
_________
The legislature is on February break next week.
As
always, let me know what you think by calling or writing.
