John, where's the meeting being held? If it's close by, I'll join you; if
not, I don't think my chair will fit in your car. Maybe it can be towed
behind you? lol kidding
On Sat, Feb 9, 2019 at 11:00 AM John Brooking <johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I've decided to attend Wednesday's hearing in person, about the traffic
safety education. I can offer rides to others. If you want a ride, please
let me know ASAP before I make other arrangements to ride with someone
else. I do plan to email written testimony about the other bills, before
Tuesday's hearings on them.
For the bills I've listed, the traffic safety education bill is in the
Education and Cultural Affairs committee, and you can send email testimony
to EDU@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. The others are in the Transportation
committee, and you can send email testimony to TRA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Here's some more general information regarding testifying for bills. The
links for each of these bills brings you to a page about that bill. On that
page:
- If you know the bill number, you can see information for it by
typing the number into the LD # box in the top left, and click "Retrieve
Data".
- Click "Status in Committee" along the left side to see what
committee is responsible for that bill, and if any public hearings are
scheduled.
- You can send email testimony to the committee responsible for that
bill.
- To find the email address for that committee, click "Committee
Information & Schedule" in the "Committee Work" section along the left side
of the page. On the new page, select the committee you want to know about
from the dropdown. After you do that, the page displays the committee name
across the top, with the name of the clerk, the meeting room in the Cross
building in Augusta, and the email address. Below that are listed the names
of the legislators on the committee on the left, and the schedule of work
sessions and public hearings on the right.
On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 1:35 PM Carson Wood <cwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I’ve sent a letter to the clerk of the committee for distribution to all
the committee members in the past.
*From:* wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
Behalf Of *John Brooking
*Sent:* Sunday, February 03, 2019 9:23 PM
*To:* wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [wsmac] New bills before the state legislature
Hi, WSMAC,
We are at the start of a new 2-year state legislative cycle. A lot of
new bills have been introduced. At this point, they are still "in
committee", with the next step being a public hearing. A few have hearings
scheduled for them, starting in February.
Here is a list of bills that I think are of interest to this committee:
- LD165 - An Act To Prohibit the Use of Handheld Phones and Devices
While Driving
<http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=165&snum=129&fbclid=IwAR1Jhrpr8j-7UdbwRUyVmEK4OTKDKRbqsqgVWSY2hlBhoW3P90TT2AzdnhY>
- LD166 - An Act To Protect Schoolchildren by Increasing the Penalty
for Unlawful Passing of a School Bus
<http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=166&snum=129&fbclid=IwAR3MivIUtrlV0rw0Zk_3RN1NsIzMcc0BknI9X9OVGsJSq2dywoohD-1GUGE>
- LD344 - An Act To Increase the Penalties for Illegally Passing a
School Bus
<http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?paper=HP0270&snum=129&fbclid=IwAR2E_YbQ8V6RzyeubuvvRbGB7mGi9BSuE8ehIDg9FH-cuT0RRimKtmbWEts>
- LD470 - An Act To Provide Traffic Safety Education in Schools
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mainelegislature.org%2Flegis%2Fbills%2Fdisplay_ps.asp%3Fpaper%3DHP0354%26snum%3D129%26fbclid%3DIwAR25ICjkYylI-IMlnh63YAZuv5mQ9Le3zMAXGxL4ldXbpE-kCrQ1HjlIbbA&h=AT17vsbLt7ivKGVjtnUSI0uVNtZQ29dO6PFv82xfNNLY7TL0mNuunvBeoxaGx6_QNr9YueJqD09WlLpQ_m7T6zn_UD6fzP80C1Fq0-COk54Jl7V2kgNHGLdyH8mFyQsG6xoLXA>
There will also be one to clarify the status and regulation of
electric-assist bicycles in Maine, but I don't think that one has been
officially made available yet.
I created a public Facebook note here
<https://www.facebook.com/notes/john-brooking/2019-20-maine-legislative-bill-watch/10158169345204951/?hc_ref=ARSgeR2bf3_vwizc2QUztpNmR8Yn5azcSHVfe37UPpuR_U3dZSkaxFMh-d_oInwVks8>,
with a description and other notes about each of these. I'll try to keep on
top of any other bills that haven't come out yet, and add them to the list.
Of most immediate priority are two public hearings that are coming up
this month.
- *Tuesday, Feb. 12, 1:00 PM* - The two bills about passing a school
bus (LD 166 and 344), among others. Basically, both of these bills
increase
the penalties. They seem to be pretty much identical, and I would think
that the Transportation Committee would recommend just combining them into
one.
- *Wednesday, Feb. 13, 1:00 PM* - The act to provide traffic safety
education in school (LD470), among others. This bill is being
re-introduced
from the last session, 2017-18, in which it was approved by committee
after
public comment, but didn't progress.past the point of funding. The
note
<https://www.facebook.com/notes/john-brooking/2019-20-maine-legislative-bill-watch/10158169345204951/?hc_ref=ARSgeR2bf3_vwizc2QUztpNmR8Yn5azcSHVfe37UPpuR_U3dZSkaxFMh-d_oInwVks8>
has links to talking points from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, along
with
some other interesting reading.
Public hearings are the public's chance to speak for or against a
proposed bill. (You can also just make comments while being "neither for
nor against".) Most people attend the hearing and speak in person, but your
comments also have to be written out, and a copy handed to the clerk when
you testify. I believe there is also a way to submit testimony by email,
without being there in person, but I don't remember the details. Maybe Ann
can tell us.
I hope to be able to travel up to Augusta on 2/13 to testify for the
Traffic Safety Education bill. Anyone else who is interested in testifying
or just attending and listening is invited to carpool with me. I probably
will not go up on the 12th, so as to not have to take two days in a row off
work.
I'm promoting this and prioritizing it in my schedule because the
legislative process is one of the most powerful mechanisms we have to
change things. This is democracy in action. Let's make use of it!
- John
