A short addition to our list of bills we’re working on…

The proposals outlined in LD 220 to allow holders of farm winery licenses to sell wine at farmers’ markets and to display up to 25 bottles of wine in a shop window are common sense ideas which will empower local farmers while at the same time supporting local businesses. These proposed changes to Maine law are small but significant examples of how the Legislature can act to continue to support and promote local agriculture and small businesses within the State of Maine.

The intent of the IGA is to provide a process by which a municipality would gather data for careful consideration of potential economic impacts of a proposed large scale retail development on the host municipality. The IGA came about because many municipalities simply did not have existing municipal ordinances in place to adequately deal with the broad impacts of large scale retail developments.

As a part of our commitment to strengthening Maine’s economy, GrowSmart Maine is particularly enthusiastic about well grounded, thoughtful and creative proposals which seek to grow the economy in a sustainable manner while at the same time preserving our state’s unique character and quality of place.

Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our government is a key component of this effort. GrowSmart Maine commissioned Charting Maine’s Future in 2006, and in 2010, sponsored Reinventing Maine Government as a companion report, expanding on the recommendation within Charting Maine’s Future to trim government.

On February 9, 2011 GrowSmart Maine signed on to a letter, referenced below, endorsing President Obama's budget for High Speed Rail. "On behalf of a diverse coalition of regional and national organizations and businesses, we are writing to urge you to support at least $3.5 billion in the FY 2011 budget for the construction of…

While as drafted, LD 192 is a concept draft, it is our understanding from talking to the sponsor Representative Dill, that this proposal emanates from a similar bill in the State of Washington which proposed to create a sales tax break to businesses that install computers and provide energy source(s) to help create new data centers to be located in rural areas of the state.

Rebuilding Maine’s economy is the most important issue of our time. It can be done while continuing to protect and enhance our natural and built environments. Maine’s history is in the asset-based economies of farming, fisheries, and forestry. This heritage, still important in today’s economy, has become “the Maine brand” and is vital to other economic sectors as diverse as tourism and information technology.

Monday we shared with you the issues that GrowSmart Maine considers to be the priorities in protecting Maine’s quality of place and promoting sustainable prosperity in Maine. Here we list the specific bills that we are targeting within these issues. This list will evolve. Not all of the bills that will come before the Legislature are printed yet. As more bills are released, we will update them here. Click on the bill title to read the full text of the bill. We also plan to post the Public Hearings and Work Sessions for these bills on our calendar. For more information on the Legislative process in general, go to http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/path/path.htm .

The proposal outlined in LD 61 to establish a permit bank of Federal fishing permits and to allow the Department of Marine Resources to lease fishing allocations to members of the Maine fishing industry both sustains local fisheries levels and maximizes the ability of Maine fisherman to land additional catch in allowable numbers. This common sense proposal represented by Senator Rector will sustain and grow Maine’s fishing heritage and coastal economy with no significant additional costs.