The past two weeks have been busy. We are really getting into the swing of things in Augusta. Session is lasting longer and committee’s are meeting more frequently. This week is April break. I will be spending the week catching up on other work, attending local meetings, and spending time with the kids.

Many committees will be meeting this week and the debate on LD 1020, the gay marriage bill, will be held at the Augusta Civic Center on Wednesday. I am receiving many e-mails, letters and calls on this bill. Most of the people I am hearing from are for the bill and I am inclined to vote for it because as written it does protect religious marriage.

My proposed bill to reduce special ed funding for minimum receivers to 25% was voted ought not to pass. The discussion at the public hearing did create a lot of debate on the current EPS formula though. There are quite a few EPS formula bills being seen by the education committee. This may be a sign that it is time for the committee to take a close look at the formula to see if it is still a good fit for these economic times.

Many of you may have received my Constant Contact e-mail newsletter. In the newsletter, I mentioned that Sabattus and Greene would each lose approximately $60,000 each if the excise tax referendum passes in November. That number was incorrect. The ramifications are much worse than that. The negative impact on Greene’s excise tax could be more than $200,000 per year. For Sabattus the negative impact could be more than $300,000 per year. On April 7th, LD 974 was unanimously voted ought not to pass by the Taxation committee. LD 974 is a citizens initiative so it will be on the ballot in November. Please think carefully before voting. $200,000 to $300,000 from our towns budgets is quite a large hit.

On April 30th, the public hearing for LD 1300 An Act to Establish Head Injury Safety Requirements for School Athletic Programs will be held at 1 pm in Education. I am excited about this bill and I think it will be a step in the right direction. All coaches need to be trained on how to recognize and treat a head concussion. Research shows that head concussions can cause dementia, Parkinson’s, among other things. It is so important that we know how to protect our kids on the sports field.

This certainly has been an interesting week! The Tax Reform package public hearing was on Thursday, April 2nd. Reading the media reports this morning was certainly interesting. The media is reporting that the Governor is unhappy with the bill. I think the bill has it’s merit. It lowers the income tax and brings our hospitality taxes closer but still far below the rest of the nation. The place where it needs work is around the transportation taxes. Here is a link to a website that was created to help explain the bill, www.mainetaxreform.org.

Boy, are those Senate chairs comfy. This week I visited Senator John Nutting in the Senate to discuss the Dairy Tier Program and someone took our photo. The chairs are much more comfortable than the chairs in the House!

My political sign restriction bill was killed in Legal and Veterans Affairs this week. It was voted Ought Not to Pass because sign restriction on vehicles is already covered by the Obstruction of View laws on vehicles. You know, I just wish that they would be enforced. During campaign season, I see so many people with banners, plywood signs, etc. covering their vehicles, they are a danger to themselves and others on the road.

I was disappointed to see that the food stamp bills did not pass this week. One bill restricted food stamp recipients from purchasing soda and the other restricted recipients from purchasing taxable foods. With 2 out of 3 people either obese or overweight in our great country, I thought that these were important bills.

This upcoming week, we will start having session and committee three days a week. I will have session and be in committee on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Talk at you soon!