The Second Regular Session of the 131st Legislature reconvenes in January 2024. Between now and then, our citizen legislature is focused on constituent work and committee meetings. Since our break in July, legislators have had committee meetings on a number of important topics.
These include:
- Government Oversight Committee review of Maine’s Child protection laws and department oversight.
- Consideration of legislation to enhance online privacy protections.
- A Maine Department of Environmental Protection update to lawmakers on efforts to create rules around Maine’s first-in-nation poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting law.
- An Education Department report on Maine’s School Funding Formula.
I serve on the Marine Resources and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) Committees. We have been considering issues relating to Maine aquaculture and Sunday hunting respectively. The IFW Committee has also been receiving feedback on the expansion of our youth deer hunting law from Saturday to Friday and Saturday.
Those are just a few of the topics that legislators have considered in advance of the Second Regular Session which begins in January. That session will take up several hundred bills that were held-over from last session. Fewer new bills will be considered since the second session is limited, by statute, to consideration of “emergency” bills. In my experience, that can be a subjective criteria that depends on who is in charge of the legislature.
I am interested in your thoughts on these and any other topics of concern to you. Please feel free to contact me at Jim.Thorne@legislature.maine.gov or call 207 287-1440 to share them, or if I can be of assistance with state matters.
Thank you for the opportunity to represent you in the Maine House. I love hearing your thoughts and concerns, and appreciate your input!
Sincerely, Rep. Jim Thorne
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