Casinos and school funding targets of bills

Area legislators are putting bills in the hopper to address issues ranging from allowing gambling proposals such as a casino for the Passamaquoddy Tribe to proceed, to authorizing the City of Eastport to sell the Boat School property. Broader measures they are seeking to address include reforming the state's school funding formula to eliminate inequities, changing the state's regulatory process to improve the state's business climate, and eliminating the Land Use Regulation Commission and giving that planning authority to the counties. Public hearings on the bills will be scheduled in the next few months.

Opening the gambling doors
Senate President Kevin Raye of Perry is sponsoring a bill, An Act to Improve the Laws on Gaming, that would fling open the state's doors to gambling so that legislative approval would no longer be needed for any further gaming proposals. Following the statewide referendum approval of the Oxford County casino and gaming at Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Raye says, "The issue of whether Maine is a gaming state has been settled. The free market should determine how we proceed."
The bill would make the necessary changes in state law to ensure that areas such as Washington County and Biddeford can participate in gambling projects. "We want it fair across the board," says Raye, noting that there are restrictions in current law, such as on the distance a new casino can be from an existing one. "Washington County should be able to have a racino and Bangor should be able to have table games." He says the bill would allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe to establish a racino or casino without needing further legislative approval. "If they can fund it and the market can bear it, they can do it."
The Passamaquoddy Tribe has been trying for nearly 20 years to establish a casino or racino, but the proposals have been turned down in the legislature, vetoed by then Governor Baldacci or rejected in statewide referendums. "There's no basis in logic, fairness or equality for denying the Passamaquoddy from trying their best to make it work," Raye says. "We need to remove the barriers in Maine law to having this option. Let the market determine it. No one needs to prejudge it for them."
Raye says Passamaquoddy Chief Joseph Socobasin of Indian Township is supportive of the bill, and Chief Clayton Cleaves of Pleasant Point says he is also supportive. Both tribal chiefs will be meeting from January 19 through 21 with a potential investor for a tribal casino in Washington County. According to Cleaves, the casino would be a joint effort by both Indian Township and Pleasant Point, and although a Calais location, as has been proposed previously, "is in the front seat right now," the tribe would defer to the investor on the location.
Cleaves says a casino "would bring jobs and change the definition of Downeast Maine" and that the effort would be aimed at assisting all of Washington County. The tribal chief agrees with Raye that gambling is already well established in the state, noting that every store that sells state lottery tickets "is a casino in some form."
"The state ought to be glad we're doing this. We'd be putting people to work and relieving the state welfare program," Cleaves says. He will be meeting with Governor Paul LePage in a few weeks to speak about the tribe's economic struggles. He adds that the new governor "would make history if he supports development in Downeast Maine."

School funding reform
An Act to Restore Equity in Educational Funding would reform the current Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding formula to make it fairer to rural Maine. Senator Raye has been working with the Maine Small Schools Coalition to identify the most egregious problems. Because sudden jumps in state valuation of property can "cut the legs from out under a school," Raye says his bill would propose using a three-year average for determining a municipality's valuation in the formula. If there's a sharp increase, then "it can soften the blow," he notes.
The bill also would address inequities caused by the use of the labor market index in determining reimbursement rates. School districts receive rates of state subsidy reimbursement based on the local teacher salaries. In most of Washington County, the rate is 84%, while the Calais and Baileyville area is at 96% and some school districts are at 114%. The bill would remove the teacher benefits portion from the variable rate and have all districts reimbursed at 100% for benefits. Raye notes that the way the labor market index is used for reimbursement "is indefensible" and can trap school districts into paying lower salaries, since they get reimbursed by the state at lower rates.
Additional ways to improve the formula will also be considered, although Raye notes that legislators will not be looking at changes that would "be punitive or unfair to other areas."
Rep. Howard McFadden of Dennysville also has submitted a bill concerning state reimbursement rates for subsidies to schools that are in the same regional school unit (RSU) or alternative organizational structure (AOS). Under his proposal, schools in the same RSU or AOS would be placed under the same labor market index for reimbursement rates for teacher salaries and benefits. McFadden says that the 12% difference in state reimbursement is hurting those AOS 77 towns, such as Eastport and Lubec, that are reimbursed at the lower rate for central office salaries.
Both Raye and McFadden are sponsoring bills to amend the pupil-teacher ratios. Raye's bill proposes a 10% reduction in the required number of teachers in the ratios, for districts with fewer than 1,200 students. Education funding for rural areas suffers as a result of not having enough students to meet the required ratios, Raye notes.
McFadden's bill proposes to change the 17-to-1 ratio for grades K-4 to 15-to-1 and the secondary school ratio from the present 15-to-1 to 17-to-1. The 16-to-1 ratio for grades 5B8 would remain the same. McFadden says that there are not enough students in this area for schools to meet the 17-to-1 ratio for grades K-4, so they would receive more reimbursement from the state at the lower ratio. He says the change only would apply to resident students and not tuition students. "It would help Eastport and Machias quite a lot."
Bills concerning Eastport Raye is sponsoring a legislative resolve to allow the City of Eastport to transfer ownership of the Boat School property. The resolve is expected to be an emergency measure. Rep. David Burns of Whiting, who is co-sponsoring the measure, points out, "It's just to give the city the authority; how it's done is up to the city council." The city council has been considering selling the property to Marlow Yachts for a boatyard facility.
At the request of the Eastport Port Authority, Burns will be sponsoring a bill to amend the port authority's charter to give it policing powers, which is one of the four powers that can be held by a municipality. With that power specified, the port authority aims to qualify for municipal bonding status with the IRS, and the lower rates would save the port authority a significant amount of money.

Regulatory reform
Raye is sponsoring LD 1, An Act to Ensure Regulatory Fairness and Reform, which will be used as a vehicle for Governor LePage's plan to improve the business climate in the state and encourage job creation by reforming state regulatory processes to eliminate unnecessary or duplicate regulations and to ensure fairness and efficiency in the implementation of regulations. Raye notes that a series of hearings are being held around the state to solicit public input on how the regulatory stream can be made more efficient so that businesses can be more competitive. A hearing in Machias is tentatively scheduled for January 31.

Eliminating LURC
Rep. Burns is submitting a bill to restore property rights and local authority in the unorganized territories (UT) by directing the State Planning Office to develop a plan to eliminate the Land Use Regulation Commission and have the counties assume the responsibility for land use planning in the UT. A similar bill submitted by Rep. Henry Joy had failed in the last session, and Burns believes that similar bills are being filed for this session and will be combined into one bill. Burns says he is concerned that most of the LURC board members are from southern Maine and deciding planning issues for residents in northern Maine. Although paper companies have expressed concern that there could be different regulations for each county, Burns does not believe that would happen.

Native public health district
Rep. Madonna Soctomah of the Passamaquoddy Tribe is sponsoring a bill to amend the laws concerning the state's eight public health districts to allow Native communities to have their own district. It would extend to the tribes in Maine and their health clinics the laws on comprehensive community health coalitions, district public health units, Healthy Maine Partnerships, the universal wellness initiative and health risk assessment.

Other legislation
An Act to Preserve Maine's Working Waterfront, sponsored by Senator Raye, would provide a new source of funding for the state's Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program. Presently the program is entirely dependent on state bond funding. The bill proposes that when coastal property is sold a percentage of the real estate transfer tax would be used for the preservation of working waterfront. The loss of access to working waterfront property for fishermen and others "is a serious issue for coastal Maine," Raye notes.
Another bill Raye is sponsoring would allow the sale of gasoline that does not contain ethanol for off-road use, such as for snowmobiles, lawn mowers and chainsaws.
A resolve sponsored by Raye would improve the services for elders and other adults who need longterm home-based and community-based care. It would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to identify ways to increase access to home-based care, since the department has not followed through on a previous report's recommendations.
Rep. Soctomah is submitting a resolve to allow for pull tab ticket machines to have denominations in addition to $1 tickets at tribal high-stakes bingo parlors. She is also submitting a bill to remove the sunset provision in a law enacted in 2009 that directs that fines for civil violations, traffic infractions or Class D or E crimes imposed for violations of tribal or state laws must be remitted to the Passamaquoddy Tribe or Penobscot Nation when the tribal law enforcement agency issued the ticket or made the arrest.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Burns to amend the juvenile labor laws would create a student and trainee wage for minors of $5.25 an hour. Burns believes the change would give students more opportunities for work and employers more opportunity to offer employment at a lower rate. Also, homeschooled children could apply directly to the Department of Labor for summer jobs, instead of going through the local superintendent's office. The bill might also increase the number of hours that minors could work to four hours a day, outside of school hours.
Another bill, submitted by Burns at the request of the Department of Corrections' victim services coordinator, would establish an elder victim restoration fund. The fund would help provide reimbursement to elder victims of crime if the offenders are not providing payment. It would also provide for reimbursement for a greater number of crimes.
Other legislation Burns is sponsoring would regulate private investigators by establishing a board to hold them accountable to professional standards. Another bill would amend the bear dog training law to allow training to occur north of Route 9 in Washington and Hancock counties, which is not currently allowed.
By request, McFadden has resubmitted a bill to have inmates at correctional facilities grow vegetables to help save on costs to run the prisons. The produce could be used in the prisons and also could be sold. The bill did not pass when he submitted it two years ago.