Down to the wire: A glimpse at what's up and down in Augusta
Lawmakers OK spending bill
- Funds shifted to cover DHHS shortfall
- Rainy day fund tapped for $30M
As Congress reached an 11th-hour budget deal to avert a government shutdown, the state Legislature’s appropriations committee unanimously approved the second emergency spending measure of this session for the budget year ending June 30.
“We made a few changes from what the governor proposed,” said Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, the committee co-chairman.
The measure reallocates existing state funds to pay nearly $70 million in bills, mostly in the Department of Health and Human Services. The largest allocation pays for $29.7 million owed to the federal government for overbilling for MaineCare services, followed by funds to pay for increased costs in the MaineCare system. Lawmakers shifted funds to make up an estimated $35 million due for various programs, including $5 million to make an expected payment to the claims management system provider that was not in the original budget proposal.
Several lawmakers worried whether all of the budget problems at DHHS for the current budget year have been identified. “We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that [DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew] has identified the areas where spending was occurring at a more rapid rate than was budgeted,” said Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett. “Can’t promise this is the last supplemental budget, but I can promise if there is another problem, we will move aggressively to address it.”
While most of the budget was funded by shifting funds from ongoing programs throughout state government, it also uses $29.7 million from state reserves, often called the rainy day fund. Once the money is taken from the fund, only between $6 million and $7 million will remain for any additional emergencies. “That was a bipartisan concern,” Rosen said. The panel adopted language that will take the first $25 million from any state surplus in July to partially restore the reserves.
The panel rejected taking $777,738 from the fund that covers accident, sickness and health insurance for some firefighters and law enforcement personnel. Instead, they voted to take another $900,000 from salary savings from unfilled positions across state government. They also rejected taking $4.3 million from a fund that pays health insurance claims of state workers, instead borrowing $2.4 million from the fund to provide the cash needed to pay this year’s bills.
Building code repeal effort fizzles
- Several changes proposed to law
- Certifying inspectors a top concern
When the state’s new building code for residential and commercial construction took effect last December, opponents pledged to repeal the law this session. Now, Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, has introduced the repeal measure, telling the legislature’s Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee that the code is far too expensive to implement and will impede development.
But Harvell was in the distinct minority as dozens of people, some representing large groups of builders and architects, argued that the code should remain, although some argued for changes.
Kathleen Newman, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Paul LePage, told the panel that the governor does not support repealing the legislation. The administration has convened a group that will make recommendations for improving the law.
The Senate co-chair, Sen. Chris Rector, R-Thomaston, said after the hearing that it is clear the panel will not support outright repeal of the law. A number of those who testified had specific recommendations for changes. “The preponderance of testimony that we heard was that the building code was a positive development for the state,” he said. “It was not ready for prime time, perhaps, in the way it was rolled out and I think that will be the focus of the committee.”
The 175-member Maine Contractors and Builders Alliance argued having the same minimum standards statewide protects both consumers and contractors.
Several groups took no position on repeal but offered suggestions to improve the law. Barbara Berry of the Maine Realtors Association said her members are concerned that there are not enough inspectors trained and certified to handle the increased volume of inspections. Rector said that is the most serious problem he heard during the hearing. “The issue that rose the highest in my mind was the certificate of occupancy,” he said, “and whether you can get financing if you can’t get the certificate.”
Movie distribution targeted
- Bill would boost second-run theaters
- Studios balk at state regulation
If cookie distribution worked the same way film distribution works, customers could only buy a new cookie at one store, and not necessarily the store offering the best price. This dynamic has sparked legislation to set parameters on movie distribution in Maine.
“We are a poor state and movies are getting way too expensive, at least in the first-run theaters,” said Sen. Nichi Farnham, R-Bangor, sponsor of the measure. Many families, including hers, depend on second-run theaters to watch movies on a big screen, but those theaters are at a large competitive disadvantage, she said. Don Simpson, owner of Magic Cinema, a second-run theater in Bangor, convinced Farnham that the state needs to get involved to make sure small theaters survive and provide inexpensive options for Mainers to watch movies on a big screen.
The typical movie spends weeks at a first-run theater before his theater, or the dozens of other second-run theaters across the state, get a chance to show it, Simpson said. The measure would limit a first-run theater’s exclusive rights to show a movie to 14 weeks. “The way the movies are distributed, we will all go out of business,” he said. “The deals allow the big theaters to have exclusive runs with no guarantee the small theater will ever get a movie, particularly a blockbuster, say like ‘Avatar.’”
Greg Melick, a film booker who used to own a theater in Brunswick, said the way movies are distributed reduces competition. “Current distribution practices encourage high movie ticket prices because they eliminate local competition for film,” he said. “This is good for distributors because they earn a percentage of all the tickets sold, but it’s very bad for you if you want to take your family to the movies.”
Complicating the issue is a change in the distribution medium, Simpson said. The traditional 35 millimeter film is now undergoing a switch to more expensive digital distribution and projection. “That’s about $70,000 a screen, and if we can’t make enough now, how are we going to pay for the new equipment to stay in business?” he said.
But the Motion Picture Association of America, the group that represents the major studios, argues that federal law prevents the state from regulating the terms of move distribution deals. “The bottom line to this is that federal law prohibits this kind of regulation of business practices and contractual relationships between theatre owners and distributors, “ said Vans Stevenson, senior vice president of state government relations for the MPAA . “ If you are the copyright owner, which our companies are of these movies, we can license to whomever we want and the states are preempted.”
Mal Leary runs Capitol News Service in Augusta. He can be reached at editorial@mainebiz.biz. Read more of Mal’s columns here.
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