MAP members are invited to a General Membership Meeting on Friday, January 8th starting at noon in the Maine DOT headquarters in Augusta, immediately following the Board of Directors January meeting, which starts at 10:30.
At the General Membership Meeting, the Legislative Policy Committee (LPC) will review pending bills and present a short list of those bills that area potentially of most relevance to MAP. Members in attendance will be asked to add to the short list of bills, offer thoughts about bills on the short list, and define MAP’s legislative priorities for 2010.
Attached is a Short List of Bills to watch (highlighted in gray). The list was prepared by Jamie Francomano, Rich Roedner, and me after reviewing the list of bill titles accepted by Leadership for the upcoming short legislative session. Also attached is a description of all bills originally submitted to help folks understand the bills that are being brought forward. In addition, I've attached the list of 88 held over bills and the article about the upcoming General Meeting/Legislative Tutorial, which reviews the preliminary legislative priorities that were established at the Annual Meeting last June. Because amendment of the Site Law is still under discussion, I’ve also attached the testimony MAP delivered last year on proposed changes to the Site Law. David Heidiger has been spear-heading our efforts on this bill and will be at the meeting to discuss the latest news.
Also, please remember that the LPC is hosting its second annual 2 hour Legislative Tutorial, immediately following the General Membership Meeting on Friday (estimated start time is 2 pm). The Tutorial will include four twenty minute presentations, followed by ten minutes of questions, with a brief general discussion to follow at the end of all the presentations. We are seeking AICP credit for the session. Paul Giguere of MDOT will once again tape the Tutorial so we will have DVDs available through our lending library at a later date.
The agenda for the day, including the Legislative Tutorial, includes:
• 10:30 – 12:00 Board Meeting
• 12:00 – 2:00 General Membership Meeting (lunch provided)
• 2:00 – 4:10 Legislative Tutorial
• 2:00 – 2:30 How the Legislature Works
David Elliot, Maine Office of Policy & Legal Analysis
• 2:30 – 3:30 How Legislators Collaborate/
John Piotti, Majority Floor Leader, House District 45
Patrick Flood, House District 82 (invited)
• 3:30 – 4:00 How to Collaborate/
Ted Koffman, Executive Director, Maine Audubon Society
• 4:00 – 4:10 General Discussion
To help us better plan for lunch and accommodations, please RSVP by end of day on Wednesday, January 6th. If you miss this deadline and would like to attend, please do. Just try to drop me an email, if possible, so we can adjust our counts.
In addition, if you cannot make the meeting and would like to be on MAP’s Legislative Policy Committee (LPC) this year, please, let me know and I’ll add you to the membership list. Remember, we generally meet via conference call (about 1.5 hours) every two weeks while the Legislature is in session.
The MAP Board and Legislative Policy Committee hopes you will join us on the 8th and get involved in helping guide MAP’s work this year!
Beth Della Valle, Chair, MAP LPC
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