State News Update

I apologize for being out of touch for awhile. It's been high harvest at the farm and I've focused most of my time and attention on putting up food for winter.

A comprehensive update is forthcoming here, in your inbox, and in your mailbox. Please send an email to me at craighickman@rocketmail.com if you want to receive future updates via email as well.

For now, I'll share this:

Governor LePage and First Lady LePage welcome Mainers, donations at Third Annual Blaine House Food Drive

Maine’s First Family is inviting Mainers to visit the Blaine House once again this year in an effort to help fellow citizens who are less fortunate. In October, Governor Paul R. LePage and First Lady Ann M. LePage will open their doors for the annual Blaine House Food Drive. The Governor and First Lady started the food drive three years ago and have collected thousands of pounds of food for pantries and homeless shelters across Maine.

The food drives will take place on three consecutive Saturdays during the month of October: Oct. 12, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26. Mainers will have an opportunity to bring a food donation, receive a tour of the Blaine House led by Governor LePage and enjoy light refreshments.

All donations collected at the Blaine House will be given to Good Shepherd Food Bank. Good Shepherd Food Bank will determine the communities that need the food most and distribute the donations.

Doors will be open at the Blaine House for the food drive between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Oct.12, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26.

Secretary of State Warns Consumers About Online Driver’s License Scams

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap would like to warn consumers about websites claiming to provide new driver’s licenses and driver’s license renewals. These websites charge customers, but do not actually issue credentials. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has received complaints recently about a company called Drivers-Licenses.org.

The company implies that a credential can be ordered through the website for a fee; however, once payment is made the customer is simply directed to the BMV website.

A new Maine driver’s license can only be obtained through the BMV at its various offices and mobile units or through AAA New England locations. A complete listing of BMV locations can be found at http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/locations .

“It’s very important that people know the only valid website for renewing a Maine driver’s license is http://www.maine.gov/online/bmv/dlr and the service is only available to customers who have already established proof of residency and legal presence.” Said Secretary Dunlap, “Some of these sites may look like they are affiliated with state government; however, they usually have a disclaimer somewhere on the page noting that they are privately owned and are not operated by any government agency.”

If you believe you have been a victim of a driver license scam, please contact the BMV Investigations Unit at 624-9000, extension 52144 or visit the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection website at http://www.maine.gov/ag/consumer/ .

State News Update

Governor Issues Proclamation Calling Legislature Back to Take Action on Bond Package

Governor Paul R. LePage issued a proclamation calling for a special session on Thursday, August 29 for the Legislature to take action on issuing on a bond package of $149.5 million for infrastructure improvements.

The bond package, which was negotiated with Legislative leadership, includes the Governor’s original proposal of $100 million for improvements to highways and bridges, as well as ports and railroads. In addition, the package includes $14 million the Governor requested to maintain and upgrade Maine’s armories, many of which are in dire need of repair and rehabilitation.

Bonds will also be used for infrastructure improvements at Maine’s universities and community colleges.

Secretary of State Announces New Electronic Driver License Testing 

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap introduced an electronic testing system that is now available for Mainers who are completing the “written” portion of their driver’s license exam for both commercial and noncommercial Class C credentials.  Motorcycle exams will also be available in this electronic format soon.

The new touch-screen monitors were made possible by a federal grant intended to enhance the security of the commercial testing process. Not only does this system improve the readability of the exams, it also randomly generates each test, ensuring that no two tests are the same.

In addition to the added security features, the electronic format now makes it possible for the test to be offered in multiple languages.

 Maine Bureau of Insurance to Hold Public Informational Sessions Regarding the Federal Health Care Reform Law (ACA)

Maine’s Superintendent of Insurance Eric Cioppa has announced that the Maine Bureau of Insurance will be holding public information sessions regarding the federal health care reform law (ACA).

Individuals seeking information about the new federal health insurance exchanges, newly proposed plans for offering on the exchanges, or other aspects for the health insurance portions of the ACA are invited to attend.

Questions about all other types of insurance are also welcomed. The Bureau will address all insurance-related questions or concerns. Informational materials will be available. Dates, locations and times are listed below:

-- August 16th: 6 pm, Husson University, Bangor (CFB Conference Room)

-- August 29th: 6 pm, Central Maine Community College, Auburn (Kirk Hall)

-- August 30th: 6 pm, University of Maine, Presque Isle, (Allagash Room)

Each session will be preceded at 5:00 p.m. with a public session for individuals wishing to comment on Anthem’s request to discontinue its current plans in the individual market and offer people with those plans the option of selecting one of Anthem’s newly proposed plans.

Approximately 17,500 people in Maine are covered by one of Anthem’s current individual plans. Some of those people would be ‘grandfathered’ and able to maintain their present coverage, because they signed up for the policy prior to the ACA becoming federal law. The Bureau will hold a formal hearing on this matter on September 9, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 208 of the Burton M. Cross State Office Building in Augusta.

Consumers with questions about the ACA can also call the Bureau of Insurance toll-free at 1-800-300-5000 or visit the agency’s website (www.maine.gov/insurance).

Consumers with questions can reach the Bureau of Insurance through its web site at www.maine.gov/insurance; by calling 800-300-5000 in state; or by writing to Bureau of Insurance, 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.

Maine Legislature Releases Digest of Bill Summaries and Enacted Laws

The Legislature has released its Legislative Digest of Bill Summaries and Enacted Laws for the First Regular Session of the 126th Legislature.  It’s available on the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis’ website, http://www.maine.gov/legis/opla/legdig126th-1st.htm.

The Digest includes summaries of bills considered, committee amendments, adopted floor amendments and laws enacted or finally passed during the 1st Regular Session.

The Digest is posted in the form of separate searchable pdf files for each committee.  It is also posted as 2 pdf files of the entire publication (2 volumes); however, please note that each volume is about 500 pages and may take time to load.

It's Time For A New Declaration of Independence

On Independence Day 1976, when the nation celebrated its bicentennial, I was 8-years-old. By then, my father had already taught me how to grow collard greens, among other things, in our backyard garden. Because we were poor, we had to rely on our own means of production as much as possible. My mother taught us to patch our clothes and provided natural remedies to many of our ailments. She swore by cod liver oil and a half a grapefruit every single day. My sister and I ever had a childhood disease.

In the September 1976 edition of Organic Gardening and Farming, Robert Rodale wrote an editorial that is just as timely today, nearly 37 years later, as it was when he penned it.  He provides a clear picture of how independent we are not and suggests what we can do to best progress toward independence.

It should come as no surprise that one of his suggestions is this:

Gardens of Liberty
The garden is the best place to start looking for ways to help people become more independent. A garden is both the symbol and reality of self-sufficiency—especially an organic garden, which recycles organic wastes of the yard and household, permits the production of significant amounts of food with only minimal reliance on outside resources. Any campaign to boost personal independence should start by helping people become gardeners—teaching, motivating, and making land available.

Liberty doesn't end at the border of the garden, though. Home production of a variety of goods and services extends the idea of gardening. Both gardeners and non-gardeners can also grow their own bean sprouts, make some of their own clothes, become proficient at crafts, improve insulation of their home, and do similar home production tasks. Each such activity you learn makes you less dependent on others.

Music to my ears. I've been preaching this for as long as I've been preaching anything. It fuels my fire as we work to encourage and teach more people to grow and process their own food, as we work to influence policy in Augusta that will ensure the preservation of family farms and traditional foodways, with a distinct focus on making it easier for homemade food and farm food products to be accessible to people in their local communities.

So, here I am. A small-scale organic farmer serving in Augusta to bring more liberty to the People in the most essential way I know how: food sovereignty. While our efforts didn't succeed this time around (we did get edible landscaping in Capitol Park, a lead-by-example garden initiative that I believe makes common sense), Rodale believed in 1976, as I'm sure he would today, that such efforts remain necessary at all levels of governance. To wit:

Needed—A Politics of Independence
Personal independence is an idea with profound political importance, yet it is a non-partisan concept. Whether you are liberal or conservative in your thinking, or middle of the road, you can make good use of greater personal independence. Any free political philosophy that a community chooses to emphasize will work better if its citizens have greater independence. Perhaps that’s because a government of independent people is by definition a smaller government, and is called on to provide fewer services. A government that is smaller can be observed more clearly, and is easier to manage, no matter which party is in charge.

Can the political system be used to help us become more independent? I think it not only can, but must be used for that purpose. We are so tied up now by centralization, especially centralization of government functions and programs in Washington, that in spirit of peaceful revolution we must petition for loosening our present bonds of dependence. Only by sticking to a positive approach can we mount a unified effort for personal independence that will have the support of people of all political views.

As a start, we should ask for a research program in personal independence. The development of new techniques and advanced technology is a potent force which has shaped our present society in many ways. Many millions are now being spent in research which is helping large institutions become bigger, and which as a result is squeezing out what little independence is left in us.

We need a comparable effort to develop techniques that will help people work on their own, and do things for themselves. All the activities I’ve mentioned so far (plus more) could be helped immeasurably by a research program in independence. We need more study of improved methods of gardening, alternate energy production, health promotion, transportation, personalized home building, home production, and so forth. I can even visualize a National Institute of Independence, whose sole function would be the development of ways that the American people could partially unhook themselves from the web of dependence that has been created during the 200-year history as a nation. Someday we could even have a Secretary of Independence in the cabinet, presiding over a department that would be working for personal independence in a wide variety of ways.

That may sound somewhat odd to you—asking Washington to help us become independent of the forces Washington represents so clearly, and even having an agent in Washington working toward that end. But the simple truth is that our dependence has increased to the point where we have to ask for help in changing the direction of our lives. It's also true that you and I, when aroused to write letters to our representatives, can get them to take note of our needs and maybe even take some action. Asking for a research effort to make personal independence more practical is really not such a big thing, and should be possible to achieve.

Whether or not we need a research effort at the national level to make more practical what many of us already practice in our lives at the community level is anybody's guess. But here in Maine, we can do better. We must embrace policies that encourage more personal independence and self reliance -- starting with food.

Public Hearing Notice

This is all the notice the public gets on these late-filed major substantive rules of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. If any (or all of you) have any time to show up to voice your thoughts and feelings on vector control spraying of pesticides by aircraft for mosquitoes in a municipality near you this summer, then you would want to try to carve out the time to show up in Augusta tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

I can't give you details about any of the resolves because I haven't completely understood them yet and as far as I can see, they are not yet available on the Legislature's website. But from the looks of it, they're unsightly.

Please spread to the word.

::

Wednesday: 6/26/2013 – In Room 437 State House

1:00 PM PUBLIC HEARING
L.D. 1567 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 22: Standards for Outdoor Application of Pesticides by Powered Equipment in Order To Minimize Off-Target Deposition, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

L.D. 1568 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 20: Special Provisions, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

L.D. 1569 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 51: Notice of Aerial Pesticide Application, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

1:00 PM WORK SESSION
L.D. 1567 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 22: Standards for Outdoor Application of Pesticides by Powered Equipment in Order To Minimize Off-Target Deposition, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

L.D. 1568 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 20: Special Provisions, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

L.D. 1569 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 51: Notice of Aerial Pesticide Application, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

State News Update

Legislature Deals With Biennial Budget and Hospital Debt Repayment

LD 1555, “An Act To Strengthen Maine's Hospitals and To Provide for a New Spirits Contract,” passed both the Maine House and Senate unanimously under the hammer, moving the state closer to repaying the debt owed to hospitals. The measure will pay Maine’s hospitals, restructure the state’s liquor operations and sales, and advance bonds.

The biennial budget proposal for 2014/2015 was also considered by the House and Senate, with a 102-43 vote in favor of enactment in the House and a 25-10 vote in favor of enactment in the Senate. The budget proposal now awaits a decision by Governor LePage. The full budget document is available HERE.


Community Preservation Grants available; deadline July 1

Each year, Historic New England provides Community Preservation Grants of $1,000 each to a small to mid-sized heritage organization in each of the six New England states. These grants support projects that raise the visibility of historic preservation and present diverse stories of life in our region. Past projects have included the renovation of a historic theater in New Hampshire, preservation of hand-colored photographs in Rhode Island, and the purchase of archival shelving to preserve family papers in Vermont.

Historic New England seeks to support projects that complement our goal of telling diverse stories of New England life. Award recipients will be announced in August 2013.
The application is simple. Apply online before Monday, July 1.

Learn more about the Community Preservation Grants program, and see a list of previous recipients HERE.

Maine History Corner

At the turn of the century, two of Maine’s famous citizens were oxen – the world’s largest, in fact. Owned by A.S. Rand of Stetson, and named A. Granger and Mt. Katahdin, the two oxen weighed in at about 6600 pounds and were too big to do farm work. In order to keep their leg muscles strong enough to support their massive weight, Rand placed the oxen’s water at the end of a raised board so they were forced to exercise their leg muscles in order to reach it. Because they were too large for farm work, Rand exhibited them around the northeast United States and southeast Canada. They were even displayed at Madison Square Garden in 1906. After the death of Mt. Katahdin, the ox was mounted and used in events such as parades until it was destroyed in a 1934 fire. Lore says that A. Granger was buried under an apple tree in Stetson following his death. For more information on these remarkable animals visit HERE.

Maine House Overwhelmingly Supports GMO Labeling Requirements

By Matthew Stone, BDN Staff

Posted June 11, 2013, at 1:58 p.m.
Last modified June 11, 2013, at 7:47 p.m. 

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House took a step Tuesday toward requiring genetically modified food products carry special labels. If the measure ultimately becomes law, its success will depend on action taken by lawmakers in four nearby states.

The Maine House voted to support a bill, LD 718, that would require genetically modified food products carry labels that state “Produced with Genetic Engineering.” The 141-4 vote was in favor of an amendment that would have the labeling requirement take effect once four other contiguous states pass similar laws.

The bill originally would have taken effect if five other states anywhere in the United States passed similar legislation or any combination of states with a total population of at least 20 million.

“It does not make Maine an outlier,” said Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, the bill’s primary sponsor.

The measure now faces votes in the Senate and an additional vote in the House.

During debate on the House floor Tuesday, there was little disagreement about the value of labeling genetically modified food products.

“The consumers have a right to know,” said Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop. “The people want to know what’s in their food, and they want to be able to make a choice that’s right.”

Read the rest...

Floor Speech: Cell Phone Privacy

Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House, as a cosponsor of LD 415, An Act To Require a Warrant To Obtain the Location Information of a Cell Phone or Other Electronic Device, I rise in strong opposition to the pending motion of ought not to pass.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

In other words, the ends do not justify the means.

The ends do not justify the means.

The ends do not justify the means.

The 4^th Amendment demands that the government respect your privacy and liberty, demands that the government do its job by securing a warrant before tracing your whereabouts anywhere in the world.

Please vote against the pending motion. Please vote to uphold essential liberty for your constituents, for yourself. 

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

::

OUTCOME:

5/29/2013 -  Speaker laid before the House
Subsequently, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report FAILED.

ROLL CALL NO. 148
(Yeas 28 - Nays 113 - Absent 10 - Excused 0)

On motion of Representative McCABE of Skowhegan, the Minority Ought to Pass as Amended Report was ACCEPTED.

The Bill was READ ONCE.

Committee Amendment "A" (S-106) was READ and ADOPTED.

Under suspension of the rules, the Bill was given its SECOND READING without REFERENCE to the Committee on Bills in the Second Reading.

The Bill was PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (S-106).

In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH.