What awaits Maine lawmakers when they return for a special session

The Legislature’s to-do list when it returns to the State House on Monday for a special session is short but that doesn’t mean the decisions — or politics — will be easy.

They are returning to Augusta ostensibly to fix two problems. They all seem to agree that one problem — federal objections to Maine’s first-in-the-nation food sovereignty law passed earlier this year — is pressing. There has been disagreement between some legislators, notably Senate President Mike Thibodeau, and Gov. Paul LePage over the urgency of the other — funding a state data agency. But the Senate chairman of the Appropriations Committee has introduced a bill to address LePage’s concerns, and his committee was scheduled to discuss the proposal Thursday in hopes of having a recommendation for the full Legislature on Monday.

But there will be elephants in the room. And they will not just be Republicans. Perhaps the largest is the ranked-choice voting law enacted last year during a statewide referendum. An advisory opinion by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court found the law at odds with the Maine Constitution, which specifically states that a plurality wins legislative and gubernatorial elections. Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree whether to repeal the law or try to fix it. One proposal that has surfaced recently would apply ranked-choice voting to primaries and federal elections. Leaving the situation unresolved until the next regular session starts in January would push Maine closer to chaos and the threat of legal challenges after the June primaries.

And there are people waiting for their legal marijuana. Pot is already legal to possess in Maine, but we’re still waiting for the system to tax and regulate it. A special legislative committee has been working on a comprehensive bill for most of this year and hopes to see it enacted Monday so state agencies can begin a rulemaking process that could put marijuana on store shelves sometime in 2018. There could be problems. Some legalization advocates have already said they oppose the law and lawmakers on the pot committee say they have heard nothing about whether LePage supports the bill or not.

Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/10/19/the-point/what-awaits-maine-lawmakers-when-they-return-for-a-special-session/