AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s legislative session this year may be best remembered for passage of a same-sex marriage law, but legislators also took major steps to overhaul the state’s tax code and help secure energy independence.
Lawmakers during the six-month session also took action that will affect residents who drive two- and four-wheeled vehicles, who hunt, fish, own snowmobiles and boats, buy homes, and who smoke. Most of the new laws take effect in mid-September.
While gay marriage drew national attention, the law faces a challenge that could lead to a statewide referendum in November. And while no new broad-based taxes were enacted to balance an austere state budget, a tax overhaul package will broaden the sales tax to new goods and services and reduce the income tax from 8.5 per-cent to 6.5 percent.
More Mainers, especially low-income families, will see their homes weatherized under a law that brought Maine’s energy rebate, efficiency and conservation programs under one roof. The law sets goals to weatherize all homes and half the businesses in the state by 2030 and reduce consumption of liquid fossil fuels by at least 30 percent, also by 2030.
Another new law streamlines the permit process for companies that want to test renewable ocean energy technologies in the Gulf of Maine. Renters or condominium owners who want to conserve energy will get protection from a law restricting regulations or bylaws that bar them from setting up solar units and clothes lines.
On Maine highways, motorcycle operators and passengers up to age 18 will have to wear helmets. Currently, the law applies only to motorcycle permit holders, those who have had their licenses less than a year and passengers under age 15.
Failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle while distracted will become a traffic infraction. “Distracted” can mean using a cell phone or other device not necessary to the operation of the vehicle.
Pedestrians and joggers will find roads that have no sidewalks safer. A new law will require motorists to give walkers and runners at least 3 feet of clearance and allow drivers to pass pedestrians only when it’s safe. The bill was modeled after a state law for passing a bicycle.
Bicyclists will not be allowed to pass a stopped school bus whose red lights are flashing. The legislation also applies to motorized bicycles and scooters.
Another new law creates a civil penalty when a driver’s motor-vehicle violation results in a death.
Truckers who use alternative power units got some help with passage of a bill that takes into account the average 400-pound weight of APUs in determining truck weight limits. It means truckers don’t lose hauling capacity by using the energy-saving devices.
Off the road, Maine residents’ snowmobile registration fees will rise from $35 to $40.
Residents’ hunting and fishing license fees, now $21, will increase by $4 next year, and boat registrations will rise $5. Whitewater rafting head fees will rise from $1 to $2.
Hoping to keep guns from getting into the wrong hands, lawmakers created a process for private sellers at gun shows to voluntarily perform criminal background checks on firearms purchasers. Only licensed dealers are currently required to do the checks.
A new law opens the door for a game-hunting preserve in Piscataquis County, but doesn’t change the state’s limit of 11 licenses for operating commercial game shooting areas. The law also allows game preserves currently in operation to expand the variety of animals they offer for hunting.
Maine joined other states in removing the eagle from its endangered and threatened species list.
The Department of Conservation will be allowed to rent equipment such as canoes, kayaks and bicycles, and to sell merchandise such as T-shirts, hats and mugs, at state parks and historic sites.
The trend to restrict smoking continued, as lawmakers enacted a law that bars smoking in outdoor public dining areas, such as patios and decks. Smoking also will be prohibited on state park beaches, playgrounds, snack bars and group picnic shelters.
Lawmakers enacted a bill requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards as of February 2011.
Mainers still without health insurance could get coverage under a law that gives the state’s DirigoChoice program a funding mechanism aimed at greater stability. Hospital patients will be screened for infections, and health coverage for temporarily laid off workers of small firms will be expanded.
A measure to bolster the state’s ability to track down parents who owe child support would require businesses to tell the state when they hire independent contractors for $2,500 or more so the state can see if they owe support. Lawmakers also set the stage for a process in which slot machine operations and race tracks will set aside money won by child support debtors.
Mainers who face foreclosures will get help saving their homes under a bill that sets up a mediation program and counseling for homeowners.
Buyers of single-family dwellings or apartment buildings must certify at closing that the building has smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Current law requires detectors in newly built or refurbished dwellings.
It will be easier for laid-off workers to get job training. A new law makes training available to those who lose their jobs due to reduced operations where they work.
Legislators also spent much of the session on criminal justice issues. A measure aimed at clarifying Maine’s marijuana laws will make possession of up to 2½ ounces, double the amount under current law, a civil violation. The law also creates an offense of criminal possession of marijuana for possession of at least 4 ounces.
Communities that pass ordinances regulating where registered sex offenders may live will have to abide by a newly enacted state standard. The standard prohibits offenders from living within 750 feet of schools or playgrounds.
Registered sex offenders can be removed from the state’s online list, upon request, if they have completed their sentence, commit no additional crimes and meet other state standards.
Maine school bus drivers and attendants were added to the list of those who must report suspected child abuse. The law also applies to others whose jobs bring them in contact with children, such as teachers and child care workers.
New legislation also prohibits crates and cages that virtually immobilize breeding pigs and veal calves for much of their lives. And creation of a “Support Animal Welfare” registration plate got the go-ahead. Money raised from the special plates is to be divided between the state’s animal welfare and sterilization funds.
Military members and veterans will get free admission to state parks and historic sites through June 2014.
And Maine will recognize and regulate the sport of mixed martial arts, which combines boxing, wrestling and martial arts, as dozens of other states have done.