From: skipgreenlaw <skipg@hypernet.com>

Date: Jan 31, 2008 2:30 PM

Good afternoon everyone,

Judy Sproule and I took another trip to Augusta to meet with the legislative rural caucus at 8 AM.  More information to impart in a minute.

I need to make a significant correction to my last e-mail about the meeting that the Bucksport people had with Jim Rier had last Friday.

Before I wrote that paragraph, I debated with myself about deleting it, which I should have done.  The figures were not all correct; so please disregard them.  The 3.5 mils applied to state valuation to determine the penalty was not correct.  That was part of the formula for calculating the penalty, but not something new.  The point, actually two points, which I was correct about was that Jim Rier had a different take on the law

in terms of calculation of the penalty which resulted in a higher penalty

for Bucksport.  The second point was that the 281 data which will be published soon is not the final product.  There will be more reductions in subsidy depending on what the legislature does.  No more cases studies!!!!!!!

So, what happened in Augusta this morning?  Sen. Dennis Damon had three of his constituents from Mount Desert Island at the rural caucus meeting to discuss the so-called regional school union amendment, which Dick Spencer was hired to draft by the MDI people.  It solves MDI's problem with the law, which they thought they had successfully

negotiated last Spring.  Dick explained the draft to the members of the rural caucus.  Lots of questions and answers going back and forth.

You can access a copy of the amendment on www.mdischools.net.

It is listed as regional school union amendment. 

It was explained that the phantom fiscal note of $40 million was to be applied against the minority report to LD 1932 and to the regional school union amendment, maybe $20 million each.  There seemed

to be lots of questions by everyone about the reasons for a fiscal note.  No one could fathom the logic.  We think that the idea originated in the DoE.  There is a legislative policy committee called the Office of Policy Review and Analysis, which Dick Spencer believes to be non-partisan and on the up and up, which makes these determinations.  At least it is the legislative branch of government which is making these decisions.

We were told that the majority report to LD 1932 was out of the revisor's office, but the minority report was not.  The hold-up was perhaps the fiscal note to the minority report.  It is anyone's guess

when LD 1932 will reach the Senate floor.  My guess is the week of the 11th at the earliest, but maybe not until after the February vacation week.

The reductions in subsidy to the urban communities are beginning to become known.  At least one city has a meeting scheduled with the governor already about reduction of  $500,000 in subsidy.  Wait till

the subsidy projections are published.  We may have an additional

group of Maine citizens to sign the petition.  Let's hope!!!!!!!!

There is another very explosive issue which is contained in the majority report to LD 1932.  The majority report signers added in a provision to

exempt permanently the cities with charters from the provisions of the budget validation referendum.  First issue, LD 1932 must get 2/3 vote in each house and be signed into law by the governor to become effective immediately for the cities to be exempt this budget year.  If the bill only passes by a majority in each house and the governor signs it,

that law will not be effective until approximately July 16, 2008, which is 90 days after the legislature is scheduled to adjourn.  In this case, the cities would have to use the referendum procedure this budget year.

I believe that the proposal violates the equal protection clause of the Maine Constitution.  That is just common sense.  What justification can

there be for exempting cities with charters, but requiring municipalities

without charters to use the referendum?  If the constitutional argument does not prevail, then politics will take over.  The rural members will out-

vote the urban members.

More light has been shed upon the possibility of having a vote by the legislature to repeal the law.  As Judy and I were leaving the State House this morning, we ran into Sen. Libby Mitchell of Kennebec County.  I asked her about the possibility of a bill to repeal the law this session.  She said that it would depend on the supporters of repeal who sit on the Education Committee, for example Rep. Peter Edgecomb of

Caribou.  Repeal was one of the 70+ bills which were not allowed into the session by the leadership.  However, members of the Education Committee could consider any of those ideas and report out bills.  Judy told me that the committee was dividing issues into two bills-  easy issues and harder issues. 

We must continue to collect signatures as quickly as possible.  It becomes more and more obvious to me every day that we need to file the petition as soon as possible.  Republican caucuses are this Sunday.  In some counties, they are county-wide caucus.  So, please take your petitions to the caucuses and collect signatures.  The democratic caucuses are Sunday, the 10th.  Please be active and aggressive.  In an e-mail to me last night, Lynne Williams suggested that the legislature would never have become so involved in school consolidation this year were it not for the petition.  I think Lynne is 100%

correct.  Let's finish the job.

Thanks,

Skip