It’s Session Time!

Rebecca Lambert and Amanda Campbell take to the air for their first Potholes & Politics podcast of 2026. Seeing that both hosts are members of MMA’s advocacy team, it is only fitting that this episode dives straight into the 2026 Legislative Session. The show kicks off with an overview of the work already underway, as legislative committees convened on January 5.  

Transcript

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Welcome everyone to Potholes and Politics, Local Maine Issues from A to Z. I'm your co-host Rebecca Lambert, and with me as always is my amazing colleague, Amanda Campbell. 

Good morning, Rebecca. Happy New Year and thanks everybody for listening. 

Happy New Year. Yes, thanks to everyone who listens to us. We appreciate your support and of course, not to brag, but because of you, our valued listeners, we have some awesome stats to report from our podcast platform, Buzzsprout.

Potholes & Politics has been on the air for three years and is heard in 739 cities across 37 countries. You heard that right. 37 countries. And in 2025 alone, our podcast was downloaded almost 2,700 times. 

Our last episode highlighted some of our 2025 moments and gave us a teaser of what to look forward to as we enter into the second regular session of the 132nd legislature.

If you missed our wrap up episode, please consider checking it out and while you're there, also consider liking and subscribing to our podcast so you never miss an episode. Now that the legislative session is upon us, and our lives pretty much revolve around it, we plan to discuss what's happening at the State House for what is shaping up to be a very busy short session.

We mentioned in the last episode that bills held by the governor is one thing we've been keeping an eye on as the second regular session convenes. As a reminder, held bills are ones that have been passed for enactment by both the House and Senate, but the governor has opted to hold them for one reason or another.

With opening day of session on January 7th, that marked the start of the three-day clock that the governor had to act on the 61 held bills. On that opening day, January 7th, Governor Mills announced that she would allow 53 of those held bills to become law. One bill was vetoed and seven others were recalled from her desk by the legislature.

That means that those bills will go back to the committee of jurisdiction for further work. 

Okay, so I'm gonna start us off with some of the bills that MMA was watching and remember that all of these bills are ones that did become law.

The first one, LD 15, was an Act to Modify the Excise Tax on Camper Trailers, which completely changes how the excise taxes on campers is calculated. Initially, this bill would have eliminated camper trailer excise tax completely, but a sponsor amendment changed the bill to modify the system instead of eliminating it.

Our tax collector and municipal agents for BMV and IFW will recognize the change since the new excise tax rates are almost identical to those for boats. The excise calculation based on the MSRP of a camper is out and a fixed fee based on length of the camper is in. So, for comparison, let's look at a brand new 2026, 21-foot camper with a $17,000 MSRP.

Under the old calculation, towns would've received $408 in excise tax, but under the new schedule, that same camper is only gonna result in $26. 

Wow, what a difference. 

Right? And even the smallest campers will result in a significant revenue reduction with 13-foot campers now having only a $7 excise tax.

Luckily, we were able to prevent the complete elimination of the excise tax, although I'm not really sure it mattered, but as my fellow Stranger Things fans will notice, this C-O-M- promise is not even close to halfway happy. 

I am not a Stranger Things fan, so I, I don't get the reference, but I appreciate it.

That's okay. Anybody who's fans of Eleven and Hopper will understand what halfway happy means. 

Another bill to become law was LD 1784, An Act to Require Police Departments to Publish and Make Accessible Their Policies and Procedures of Officers. This bill requires police departments to publish their policies and procedures or make them available. However, it does exclude intelligence related documents and policies otherwise deemed confidential, which makes sense. 

I would think so. 

LD 1738 an Act to Establish the Biohazard Waste Disposal Program to Support Public Health Efforts in the State does just what the title says by creating a program to assist municipalities in a hypodermic apparatus mitigation and collection program.

The only problem is, you guessed it, no money. The fiscal initiative provides allocations to establish the fund and authorize expenditures, but only with a $500 holding place appropriation and no department staff to oversee the program.

Also now law is LD 1897, An Act Regarding Outdoor Cultivation in the Medical Use Cannabis and Adult Use Cannabis Industries. This bill will make changes to both the medical and adult use cannabis acts by increasing the number of cannabis plants or canopy that are allowed in an outdoor setting. The intent of this bill was to level the playing field for outdoor only growers who contend with weather challenges in a shorter growing season than cultivators who grow indoors in climate-controlled settings.

LD 1985, An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Maine Abandoned and Discontinued Roads Commission makes several changes to statute regarding, municipal responsibility and local authority about public ways, easements, public easements, and it also appropriates funding to support continued work of that commission.

LD 1934, An Act to Promote Responsible Outdoor Lighting. Originally, the bill sought to require that all outdoor lighting installed or replaced after October 1st, 2026, should comply with certain standards to reduce the amount of unnecessary light emitted, and it also directed each municipality to adopt a local ordinance to promote compliance.

However, as amended, it now encourages municipalities to adopt ordinances to comply with the provisions and also exempts DOT roadway lighting and ski facilities. Lastly, the bill directs the Office of Community Affairs to develop a sample ordinance for municipalities once it has the resources to do so.

That's not gonna be the last mention of the Maine Office of Community Affairs. Just a teaser. 

No. 

So now that all of our held bills are dealt with and have been disposed of one way or another, we're gonna move forward towards what happened during the first week of the second session, which is safe to say, came in with a bang. Starting even before opening day, committees were scheduling work sessions for carryover bills, which makes sense because leadership has directed that all carryover bills need to be reported out of committee by the end of January.

Although there may seem to be plenty of time, once you factor in the time it takes for public notices, it doesn't leave a lot of time for a committee to schedule multiple meetings if the issue is complex. I think a good assumption to be made is that any complicated bills that were carried over have probably been worked on by stakeholders during the interim.

Having conversations with stakeholders in the interim allows more time for negotiation, and it helps move challenging bills forward in a way that hopefully works for everyone. 

That interim work can be super important when you have those complex bills and helps prevent those last-minute, 40-page amendments when we get them, in the middle of session.

Truly. 

So generally, we will be reporting on bills that our team has assigned to the “hopper,” bills that the Legislative Policy Committee will have debated and then voted on. However, this session we're also tracking several bills that the LPC will only see if something goes sideways and our team thinks a position is necessary.

So, this next section are bills that are live right now and still making their way through the process. 

On January 8th, the Taxation Committee held a work session for LD 438, An Act to Allow Municipalities to Limit Nonprofit Property Tax Exemptions, which was sponsored by Representative Hymes from Waldo.

Which sounds like a great idea 'cause it proposed that municipalities could have the authority to limit the amount of a property tax exemption for a nonprofit entity. However, it was voted out “ought not to pass” at the request of the sponsor. Rep. Hymes works for a nonprofit organization and recognized that the topic needed much more discussion and that weighing public benefit in relation to an exemption from property taxes is super complicated. And the Real Estate Property Tax Relief Task Force interim report is actually going to include a recommendation for the tax committee to propose another working group essentially to study all of the property tax exemptions and the current use programs. So hopefully this topic will get some official airtime as a result of that. And the task force interim report is due to the committee anytime now. 

On January 7th in the Judiciary Committee, they held a public hearing on LD 1761, An Act to Prohibit Indemnification Agreements, sponsored by Representative Morris from Turner.

The intent of the bill is to help small businesses by prohibiting larger corporations from shifting responsibility for negligence within contracts. Support largely came from logging and construction companies, and opposition came from Ski Maine and railroad companies.

Ski Maine was hoping for an exemption for recreational businesses like ski facilities and railroad companies were concerned with private railroad crossings, third party access and utility easements. Opposition also came from the insurance industry and the Maine Mayor's Coalition. The representative from the Maine Mayor's Coalition pointed out that municipalities have many agreements with indemnity clauses to protect their taxpayers and pointed to cable franchise agreements as an example. 

The work session for this bill is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13th, which is today at 1:00 PM. 

So, getting back to, the Maine Office of Community Affairs, the Housing and Economic Development Committee held a public hearing for a department bill from the new Maine Office of Community Affairs, or MOCA, to stand up a technical assistance hub, that would assist municipalities with planning, climate resilience, housing and development activities. If you're subscribing to the MOCA mailing list, you will recognize that part of this work has already begun, with department outreach regarding recently enacted housing legislation, which was sent out just last week. There was no testimony in opposition to this bill. And the work session is also today, January 13th. 

The Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Committee held a work session on January 8th for a carryover bill, LD 1547, An Act to Use a Portion of the Sales Tax on Snowmobiles to Fund Maine’s Snowmobile Trail Programs. This was sponsored by Senator Black of Franklin County. Originally, this bill proposed to use a portion of the sales tax to help cover the cost of constructing and maintaining snowmobile trails. As amended, the bill now proposes to increase snowmobile registration fees to help offset the cost of building and maintaining trails and also includes a one-time general fund appropriation of $1 million.

The purpose of the appropriation is to cover the funding gap that was identified by the Maine Snowmobile Association lobbyist who reported that under the current funding system there was a gap of approximately $3 million. The increase in registration fees along with the $1 million appropriation would help to close that gap.

Luckily for municipalities Representative Bunker of Farmington asked what impact this would have on revenue sharing, which was a concern MMA had when the bill proposed using a portion of the sales tax to increase revenues. It was determined that with the revenue coming from increased registration fees, instead of a portion of sales tax, that revenue sharing would remain unchanged.

So that's a good thing for municipalities. Conversations still need to be had with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, just to be sure they're comfortable with the language. So, the bill was tabled until a later date, which has not yet been scheduled. 

It is amazing, isn't it? How so many things across so many policy areas can impact revenue sharing and most folks don't even know it. So. 

Absolutely. 

Good thing we were keeping an eye on that one. And thank you to Representative Bunker for pointing it out. 

And so, during the second week of session, the committee meeting schedule has increased exponentially. Even though the House and Senate are only meeting once a week during January, committees are already working overtime to meet that end of January deadline for reporting out carry over bills. 

The Health Coverage Insurance and Financial Services Committee scheduled a work session on Wednesday, January 14th for LD 1530, An Act to Improve the Sustainability of Emergency Medical Services in Maine, sponsored by Senator Curry of Waldo County. This bill is an MMA platform bill that proposes reimbursement for non-transporting emergency medical services and certain paramedicine services. Interestingly enough, there are several additional bills that were submitted for the second session that address community paramedicine, non-transport care, and reimbursement through both traditional insurers and MaineCare. The discussion at the upcoming work session may indicate how this topic will be addressed during the session, and it's very important. 

Agreed. And in addition to bill work, several committees have received or are expecting to receive reports from departments, agencies, and interim study groups. Last week, the criminal justice committee heard from the State Fire Marshal's office regarding an interim study to determine the feasibility of municipal fire departments approving sprinkler plans.

And this week the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee received multiple reports from the Secretary of State's office regarding elections. Judiciary received two reports, one from the Right to Know Advisory Committee, which we discussed at length during our November 12th episode, and also the interim study group that looked into prevention of deed fraud.

The Housing and Economic Development Committee received reports reviewing interim studies about housing barriers and affordability, and two additional reports that we're following are due to their committees by January 15th, which is this Thursday. Those are the interim report from the Real Estate Property Tax Relief Task Force and a report from the County Corrections Professional Standards Council that reviewed county jail reporting compliance, mandated standards, and funding.

It's worth mentioning that all of these reports are made available for public viewing, and the committee discussion can be viewed online at the Maine Legislature's website. We'll add links to the show notes for the reports that are already available. 

And this Friday will be the first edition of our legislative bulletin for this session. So, watch your email inbox for the most up-to-date schedule and info from the team about the beginning of this session. If you're currently receiving the bulletin through the US mail and would like to receive it electronically, on Friday when it's published and hot off the electronic press, email Laura to update your subscription and we'll put her email in the show notes as well.

Yes, the legislative bulletin is another great way to learn about the things happening under the dome, and so this would be it for our first legislative edition of the podcast. We hope you found the information useful, and please remember to subscribe so you don't miss an episode now that the busy legislative season is upon us.

Thank you everyone for listening and Happy New Year. 

Yes, Happy New Year everybody, and thanks so much for all of your support.

UOCAVA Voters & Local Elections Report https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/12203 

Central Voter Registration (CVR) and Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) Report https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/12228 

Threats to or Harassment of Public Officials Annual Report https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/12229 

Housing Affordability & Stability https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/12208 

Regulatory Barries to Housing Construction https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/12199 

Laura Ellis – lellis@memun.org For Legislative Bulletin subscription updates