Laws championed by Sen. Bailey take effect

AUGUSTA — A series of non-emergency laws sponsored and championed by Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, that support Maine children, seniors, families and small businesses went into effect on Monday, Oct. 18. Highlights include new laws to provide access to lifesaving insulin and property tax relief, expand access to quality child care and ban corporate contributions to political candidates.

“Although the last year and a half has been truly unprecedented, I’m proud to see the hard work that my colleagues and I put in during that unusual session take effect this week,” said Sen. Bailey. “Now more than ever, Mainers are looking to their representatives to take action and get things done while we try to overcome the pandemic and rebuild our economy. This week we are one step closing to showing exactly how we worked to do that.”

As a member of the Legislature’s Committees on Appropriations and Financial Affairs, Sen. Bailey spent much of this session working to pass new laws, including the Back to Basics Budget, the biennial budget and LD 1733, the last of which allocated nearly $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funds from the federal government.

This year, other laws championed by Sen. Bailey, who also serves on the Government Oversight Committee, included proposals to help Maine seniors stay in their homes and provide property tax relief for Maine veterans. In the federal spending package, Maine lawmakers revived a program – prompted by a bill sponsored by Sen. Bailey – that would allow the state to pay the property taxes of eligible Mainers while also taking a lien on their homes. Seniors who qualify can stay in their homes, and the state can recoup those costs later. For veterans, a new law – also sponsored by Sen. Bailey – allows municipalities to opt into a program that benefits veterans by keeping their property tax rate credits at a steady rate, unaffected by the change in a town or city’s valuation. It would also provide veterans who rent a $100 annual benefit.

This year, lawmakers made good on longstanding commitments to Maine people and municipalities. Lawmakers funded K-12 education at 55 percent for the first time since Maine voters mandated it at the ballot box in 2004 and signed off on a plan to fully restore revenue sharing by 2023. Maine lawmakers also voted to send $300 as a “hazard bonus” to eligible Maine workers who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All non-emergency laws take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die unless otherwise specified. 

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