Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House 6.30.12
Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House provides a high-level overview of recent activity at the Maine State House. If you would like more specific information regarding an item in this newsletter or related to government relations, please contact a member of our Government Relations Practice Group.
State May End the Fiscal Year with a Small Surplus
Maine’s current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2012, may end with a small surplus. The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee heard from the Maine Revenue Services last week that revenues are currently above projections made in April, meaning the State could see a modest surplus. It appears to be difficult to discern any trend in these increased revenues, as some of the increase is due to unexpected events, like one very large estate tax payment in May.
Should the State end the year in the black, this does not mean there will be additional funds for the Government to spend. Maine statute already contains a “cascade,” which determines how excess revenues will be distributed at the end of the fiscal year. Only amounts in excess of funds already earmarked in the “cascade” are truly funds that are not already spoken for, and a surplus above and beyond the “cascade” is unlikely.
Early Polling Released in U.S. Senate Race
A poll released last week asked Maine voters who they would vote for today in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Olympia Snowe. The poll shows former Governor Angus King (unenrolled) in the lead with 50 percent of the vote, followed by Secretary of State Charlie Summers (Republican) with 23 percent of the vote and State Senator Cynthia Dill (Democrat) with 9 percent of the vote. Seventeen percent of those surveyed were undecided.
Candidates Dropping out of Legislative Races
Following the primary elections earlier this month, a number of legislative candidates have announced that they are withdrawing their names from the general election ballot. Provided a candidate withdraws on or before 5 p.m. on July 9th (the second Monday in July), another candidate can be selected by a local party committee to be placed on the general election ballot. It is not unusual for political parties to take advantage of this procedure by running “placeholder” or “paper” candidates on the primary ballot in order to buy extra time in which to identify actual candidates to be placed on November’s ballot. This practice has drawn some criticism this year, most likely because both Republican and Democrat candidates for House District 57 have withdrawn from the race, leaving no candidate on the ballot for the time being (both parties intend to nominate replacement candidates for this seat soon).
Prescription Drug Task Force Prepares First Report
In the fall of 2011, Attorney General William Schneider held a prescription drug abuse summit. The result of that summit was an Executive Order signed by Governor LePage creating the 17-member Maine Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force to address this issue. The Task Force is charged with reporting to the Governor every 6 months on the actions that they have taken and any recommendations that they have formulated. The Task Force has been meeting regularly and met this week to review a draft of its first report. The Task Force and its work are very timely, as recent media reports have tied a sharp increase in Maine’s crime rate in 2011 to prescription drug abuse. Moreover, pharmacy robberies in Maine for 2012 already match the number of robberies committed during the entire year in 2011.