Dear John, 

Masked-up and socially-distanced, legislators met together in-person in Augusta this week and moved forward important legislation.

Two bills in particular — LD 102 and LD 2  — that we support and testified in favor of during their public hearings are on their way to becoming law. Both were passed by Maine’s House and Senate last night.

LD 102 would extend the time frame for processing absentee ballots. This is a common-sense change that was implemented by Executive Order for the 2020 General Election and we believe it should be made permanent. Because of this small but important change, almost every town in Maine was able to report its unofficial election results on election night. 

This helped build trust and faith in the amazing work of the Secretary of State’s staff and by town clerks across the state. Timely reporting of results allowed Maine to avoid the misinformation and doubt associated with prolonged vote counts experienced by and stoked within other states. Here’s our full testimony if you want to learn more.

LD 2 would require the inclusion of racial impact statements in the legislative process. These statements would inform legislators about the impacts a bill could have on different racial and ethnic populations. This would allow lawmakers to edit bills accordingly or to decide whether or not to pass them into law. Using impact statements to inform legislation is not new and would be quite similar to the practice of using environmental impact statements and fiscal notes. 

Why is MCV weighing in on this bill? Because there is no environmental justice without racial justice. As you know, MCV works to address environmental degradation and the climate crisis in order to create a healthy and safe future for all of us. But, even if we sufficiently protect and heal our environment, safe and healthy lives won’t be possible for all of us until we also address systemic racism. Healing the traumas and biases of our shared history, and untangling the systems they’ve created is going to take immense work. This is a great first step for the Maine legislature to take. Here’s our full testimony if you want to learn more.

We applaud our lawmakers for moving both of these bills forward yesterday. Next, they head to the Governor’s desk for approval. 

There’s a lot happening over Zoom and in Augusta these days and you can count on MCV to keep you informed every step of the way.

Stay tuned,
Ches