Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap certified four citizen petitions Monday that seek to force the Legislature into action or trigger momentous questions on a future statewide ballot.
The verification of the signatures clears the way for four pieces of legislation that would repeal the school district consolidation law, decrease automobile excise taxes, enact a tax relief plan and establish a new medical marijuana law.
A fifth measure, which would have allowed Mainers to buy health insurance from out-of-state companies, will not move forward because it lacked the 55,087 verified signatures necessary for a citizen initiative.
It has taken the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions since last fall to sift through all the signatures, verifying that they belong to registered Maine voters and that they were gathered using the correct process.
“I can’t think of a time in Maine history when this office has faced the challenge of certifying five initiatives at once,” said Dunlap in a press release. “This has been an extraordinary effort.”
The petitions require the Legislature to either enact the bills in question or send them to voters statewide. The Legislature has opted for the latter option in recent years, at times introducing a “competing measure” to appear beside the citizen-initiated question.
Approved Monday were signatures for the following initiatives:
– “An Act to Repeal the School Consolidation Law” would overturn legislation that seeks to merge the state’s 290 school districts into no more than 80 regional units. The law, approved in 2007, is in the midst of being implemented. Organizers of this initiative had 58,193 of 66,357 signatures verified.
– “An Act to Decrease the Automobile Excise Tax and Promote Energy Efficiency,” would cut motor vehicle excise taxes by about 50 percent in the first five years. In addition, it would exempt sales taxes on hybrid or alternative-fueled vehicles, or vehicles that achieve 40 miles per gallon, for the first three model years. Dunlap’s office verified 58,002 of the 70,223 signatures submitted.
– “An Act to Provide Tax Relief” would impose expenditure limits on state and local governments and require voter approval for certain tax increases. Revenues in excess of the limits would be used for direct tax relief or funneled into a budget stabilization fund. Dunlap’s office validated 56,546 of the 67,672 signatures submitted. This is a rewritten version of the “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” that was rejected by voters in 2006.
– “An Act to Establish the Maine Medical Marijuana Act” would revamp the state’s existing medical marijuana law. This act, sponsored by a group called Maine Citizens for Patients’ Rights, would require the Department of Health and Human Services to issue registry cards to patients who qualify to possess marijuana for medical use and establish non-profit dispensaries. It would also change the description of conditions for which medical marijuana is permitted. Dunlap certified 55,408 of the 72,775 signatures.
The fifth initiative, “An Act to Expand Affordable Health Insurance Choices In Maine,” failed because the petition that was circulated was not approved by the Secretary of State’s office. Specifically, according to a press release, the six-page text of the proposed legislation was presented out of sequence, which led to Dunlap disqualifying all 63,690 signatures gathered.
The two initiatives that deal with taxes were pushed by the conservative groups Maine Leads and the Maine Heritage Policy Center.
“These proposals work together to address long-term overspending and high taxes in Maine with real solutions that make fiscal sense,” said Tarren Bragdon, chief executive officer of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, in a press release. “Both of these ideas, supported by tens of thousands of Maine people, are good ways to improve the business climate and sustainable, long-term prosperity.”
(Statehouse News Service)
