Bills focus on rockweed law and DA district

Bills affecting Washington County to be taken up during the upcoming legislative session include ones that would the repeal the rockweed management law for Cobscook Bay, allow for a referendum on whether the county should have its own district attorney and extend the Down East Sunrise Trail to Calais, while changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act also may be considered. The second session deals with a limited number of bills restricted to budgetary matters, legislation submitted by the governor and state agencies, bills held over from the first session and legislation deemed to be an "emergency" by the Legislative Council.

Rockweed and aquaculture
The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is introducing a bill to repeal the Cobscook Bay Rockweed Management Area Law. The DMR believes that the law is inconsistent with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling last March that found rockweed to be privately owned, while under the Cobscook Bay law the DMR gives harvesters exclusive rights to cut in different sectors, according to Gordon Smith, an attorney who represented those who brought the lawsuit against a rockweed harvesting company, Acadian Seaplants. He notes that if a landowner wanted to sell the rockweed to a harvester who was not given the right to cut there, the Cobscook Bay law could be viewed as a restraint on trade or property rights.
Smith, though, believes that the law does not need to be repealed but can be amended, perhaps by having harvesters, when they submit their sector plans for approval to the DMR, include the permission agreements from landowners. The property owners could also be given the option to sell to their harvester of choice. Smith believes that the Cobscook Bay law should be extended along the entire coast, as it provides a benefit to the ecosystem.
The DMR also has introduced a bill to amend the state's aquaculture leasing laws. Another bill, proposed by Senator David Miramant of Camden, was not accepted by the Legislative Council for consideration during the upcoming session. Miramant's bill would have reduced the maximum acreage of leases held by one person from 1,000 acres to 50 acres; reduced the maximum lease term from 20 years to seven years and required a public hearing upon renewal; required lease applicants to demonstrate that no practical alternative exists for the aquaculture site; and created a presumption that leases should not be granted if they cause interference with existing or surrounding uses.

Separate prosecutorial districts
Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias is sponsoring a bill to allow voters in Washington and Hancock counties to decide whether they want to continue to share a district attorney (DA) or establish separate prosecutorial districts. The referendum vote would be in the November 2020 general election. If separate districts are favored, a new district attorney for each district would be elected in the 2022 election. Each county could also opt to form a new prosecutorial district with other counties prior to January 1, 2022. Although the bill was initially rejected by the Legislative Council, it was approved in a 7-3 vote during the December 6 meeting to consider appeals by legislators. Tuell introduced the bill at the request of Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis.
In his appeal letter, Tuell noted, "Hancock and Washington counties are radically different. Hancock is smaller, more urban and more closely connected to larger service centers such as Bangor, whereas Washington County is much more rural, spread out and geographically diverse. To drive this point home, it takes two hours -- or more -- to get from Steuben in the west to Danforth in the north and an hour and a half to get to Calais in the east. These differences have created an imbalance in access to justice, which has only grown over the years as demographics in both counties have changed since the introduction of prosecutorial districts in the '70s. At the very least, the voters of both counties should have a chance to weigh in before electing their next district attorney to a four-year term."
Along with pointing to the distances involved, Sheriff Curtis says that the type of crime has changed over the years. Noting that there were 30 drug-related arrests this year in the district, with most of them in Washington County, he says those more serious crimes require more time for prosecution, both on the part of law enforcement and the DA's office. "If we had the DA right here to assist us, that would be awesome." He says having a DA for Washington County would help both with enforcement and prosecution of cases. "It would make it easier for the DA's office and law enforcement."
While Tuell's bill to reduce pay disparity in Maine schools by modifying the regional adjustment component in the Essential Programs and Services funding formula failed on appeal, he says it's possible the measure to help rural schools will be incorporated into the supplemental budget.
Tuell also is sponsoring a bill to establish a first responders day as a state holiday on September 11. It would honor active military, veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In addition, the Marine Resources Committee will be getting a report in February on how the pilot program allowing nighttime lobster fishing in the disputed grey zone through most of the year went this fall. The change was implemented under a bill Tuell submitted during the last legislative session. The nighttime fishing provision could be extended for the future, and Tuell notes, "This was a big help to our grey zone fishermen this past year, and I am hopeful that we can make the pilot permanent."

Mill Pond dam bill turned down
Senator Marianne Moore of Calais requested two bills, but the one to provide funding for restoring the Whiting Mill Pond dam and installing a fishway to allow for the passage of anadromous fish, including alewives, was turned down by the Legislative Council in a 4-6 vote during the meeting to consider appeals. The dam is owned by the Downeast Salmon Federation, which is seeking to restore fish passage and initially had proposed removing the dam. The town's selectmen and residents had then expressed their concerns about preserving the town's fire suppression system that depends on the Mill Pond.
A second bill sponsored by Moore to clarify the rights of parties in certain foreclosure actions was tabled at the Legislative Council's December 6 meeting. It would provide that a mortgage loan returns to the status quo if the mortgagee does not prevail in a foreclosure action.
Bills sponsored by Moore that have been carried over to this upcoming session include one to provide funding for the state prison in Bucks Harbor. It was carried over in case it was needed, but last May the state decided to replace the shuttered Downeast Correctional Facility with a new pre-release center. The budget for the pre‑release center is from $6.2 to $8 million, which is being made available through bond money that was promised by the state to Washington County in 2015-16. A 10,000‑square‑foot steel building will be constructed for up to 50 inmates. According to Rep. Tuell, the rebuilding of the facility should go out to bid this spring or early summer, and the prison should be reopened between December 2020 and June 2021.
Another bill sponsored by Moore would extend the Down East Sunrise Trail from Ayers Junction to Calais. While the trail extension is supported by the City of Calais, the Eastport Port Authority is opposing the proposal, as it would result in the removal of the railroad lines over that section of the former rail bed, including a portion that runs through the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. The port authority is hoping that eventually the port can be connected to rail service.
Other carried over bills sponsored by Moore would increase funding for the St. Croix International Waterway Commission by $25,000 to help pay for an administrative assistant; and would address student hunger with a "Breakfast After the Bell" program in schools.
Health-related bills
Rep. Anne Perry of Calais is sponsoring a bill that would reduce barriers to healthcare for low-income homeowners. It would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to take the state option to perform estate recovery in the MaineCare program only for people 55 or older who receive healthcare services that are mandated to be included in the estate recovery program by federal statute. Those services mandated in federal statute are nursing facility services, home and community-based services and related hospital and prescription drug services.
Among the bills sponsored by Rep. Perry that have been carried over are ones to increase the viability of assisted living facilities by increasing the rate of reimbursement; to assist nursing homes in the management of facility beds; to strengthen the state's public health infrastructure; to improve public health by maximizing federal funding opportunities; to change the process by which designated nonstate mental health institutions petition the district court to admit certain patients to a progressive treatment program; to improve healthcare data analysis; to provide a healthcare preceptor tax credit; and to allow certified registered nurse anesthetists to bill for their services.
Tribal bills
A number of bills have been carried over that relate to the tribes in the state. They include bills that would amend the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980. Meanwhile, a task force that is considering changes to the settlement act has been meeting regularly, with its final public meeting being held on December 13.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Rena Newell of the Passamaquoddy Tribe that has been carried over would establish a formal tribal consultation process with the state to promote effective communication between state agencies and the tribes regarding legislation and policies that affect the tribes.
Other carried-over bills include a bill to enhance tribal-state collaboration in the enforcement of child support and a legislative resolve to establish a conference to improve relations between the tribes and the legislature. In 2015 the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation withdrew their legislative representatives amid tension between the tribes and the state regarding issues of respect and sovereignty.
Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland is sponsoring a bill to restore to the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe the authority to exercise jurisdiction under the federal Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010.
Ongoing tribal gaming proposals include a bill sponsored by Rep. Benjamin Collings of Portland to authorize a casino operated by all four tribes; and another bill sponsored by Rep. Collings to authorize the state's Gambling Control Board to accept an application from the Passamaquoddy Tribe operate 50 slot machines in the tribe's high-stakes beano facility.