Legislation
UPDATE: LD 307 – Results on Data Center bill vote in the House
THANK YOU to all of you who contacted your legislators about LD 307 – the data center bill. [The vote in the Senate is still ahead – please contact your state senator if you haven’t already.]
The corporate lobby has been very, very busy on opposing this bill.
LD 307 was debated and voted on in the House yesterday.
First vote was in favor of the bill, 80-62.
It is now tabled in the House for a possible amendment. Governor Mills wants a carveout for a data center project in Jay.
This data center (LD 307) bill has huge cost implications. The PJM region (mid Atlantic to Tennessee and Illinois) saw a tenfold increase last year in the capacity markets due to data centers, and customers were forced to pay $9.3 billion more in a single year due to these data center cost spikes.
There’s an awesome update from Maine People’s Alliance about the millionaire’s tax!
You’ve probably heard that Tuesday night, the state appropriations committee voted to add a millionaire’s tax to the FY2026-2027 supplemental budget!
That means that by raising taxes a little bit on the 0.4% of Mainers who can most afford it, our state will bring in nearly $250 million over the next three years to fund programs we all use. It also means we’re a step closer to a fair system that makes sense.
Also in the budget:
- $10 Million in ongoing funding for the child care affordability program, which helps young kids access safe, stable and enriching childcare when they’re really little – and gets them off waitlists so their parents can work, go to school or get job training; and
- $11 Million in funding for the Eviction Prevention Program – which in this really uncertain moment is keeping people in their homes by helping lower-income Mainers who are behind on rent and at risk of eviction by paying for late and future rent.
Thank you to all of you who have been fighting for these policies these past few months! This budget isn’t perfect – but the funding for these programs, along with the millionaire’s tax, is really going to make a difference for people. This is what happens when we join together and show up to fight for what we believe in.
The budget will go to the House and Senate early next week, and then to Gov. Janet Mills. In the meantime, why not drop your legislator a note and let them know you support these programs in the budget?
This is a list of important bills to keep an eye on. Click on the bill number to get more details. Please take some time and contact your legislators with your opinions!
- Check complete bill listing here: https://legislature.maine.gov/Calendar/#PHWS. Set the date range in the upper left corner. This listing also shows work sessions if you want to weigh in on any of those.
- Find the text of any bill here: https://legislature.maine.gov Or click through on the calendar, on the bill number, which is a link. Then read the pdf or the word version (link in upper left area). Form your own opinions!
- Instructions for testifying are here: https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/
If you know of other important legislation, please let us know and we’ll add it to the list!
Maine
Economy
LD 229: An Act to Bring Fairness in Income Taxes to Maine Families by Adjusting the Tax Brackets and Tax Rates
LD 307: An Act Regarding Energy, Utilities and Technology
LD 1879: An Act to Support Maine’s Agricultural Economy by Increasing Revenue from the Corporate Income Tax
Education
LD 1089: An Act to Permanently Fund 55 Percent of the State’s Share of Education by Establishing a Tax on Incomes of More than $1,000,000
LD 1414: An Act to Support and Sustain Maine’s Child Care Workforce
LD 1955: An Act to Increase Child Care Affordability and Early Childhood Educator Stability
LD 2066: An Act to Establish the Child Care Employment Award
LD 2175: Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 115: The Credentialing of Education Personnel, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Education, State Board of Education
LD 2192: An Act to Protect Students by Ensuring Schools Have Complete Information About School Employees and Applicants for Employment
Environment
LD 276: An Act Regarding Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
LD 474: An Act to Improve Maine’s Environment and Protect Natural Resources
LD 1870: An Act to Establish a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program to Impose Penalties on Climate Polluters
LD 2174: An Act to Replace the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act with the Maine Renewable Energy and Associated Transmission Development and Conservation Act
Healthcare
LD 2206: An Act Expanding Access to Oral Health Care by Creating a New Path for Obtaining a License to Practice Dentistry
LD 2208: An Act to Offset Federal Cuts to Health Insurance for Certain Maine Families and Seniors
LD 2209: Resolve, to Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to Develop Innovative Models for the Delivery of Dental Services to Expand Access to Oral Health Care Throughout the State
Civil & Human Rights
LD 335: An Act to Safeguard Reproductive Rights
LD 1383: An Act to Require State Divestment from Perpetrators of International Human Rights Violations
LD 1666: An Act to Include in the Ranked-choice Election Method for General and Special Elections the Offices of Governor, State Senator and State Representative and to Make Other Related Changes
LD 1822: An Act to Enact the Maine Online Data Privacy Act
LD 2176: An Act to Safeguard Reproductive Rights
Immigration
LD 2106: An Act to Prohibit the Disclosure of Nonpublic Records Without Proper Judicial Review
Tribal Sovereignty
LD 395: An Act to Restore Access to Federal Laws Beneficial to the Wabanaki Nations
LD 785: An Act to Enact the Remaining Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act
Federal
H.R.22: SAVE Act
H.R.7300: Make Elections Great Again Act
H.R.7296: SAVE America Act
