Welcome restraint

As of last Friday’s deadline, 2,340 bill titles were submitted for consideration by the 120th Maine Legislature when it convenes in January. That’s a lot of legislation, but it is considerably less than the record-breaking 3,000 the 119th started with and it is a welcome sign that incoming lawmakers recognize that the extraordinary challenges they face call for focus and restraint.

The next two years will be extraordinary for several reasons. State House power is in delicate balance – a split Senate, a lopsided House, an independent governor. With the governor’s office open in 2002, and with the possibility of two open congressional seats as well, the temptation to jockey for position instead of tending to business will be considerable.

Of most immediate importance is that this Legislature will be the first in years that will not have the luxury of working with a generous revenue surplus. The gap between committed expenditures and anticipated revenues did not, as in recent years, evaporate during the summer. The estimated $200 million shortfall the 119th left behind last spring remains for the 120th to deal with; the choices to be made will be difficult and they will require the Legislature’s full attention.

The subject matter of the 2,340 bills will not be known until the Office of the Revisor of Statutes begins publication early next month. This much is known – a reduction of some 22 percent is commendable. According to Revisor Meg Matheson, the reduction is not just a fluke – legislators submitted more complete bills and fewer concept bills, they seemed more aware of what previous legislators had considered and rejected, more bills of similar intent were combined into one. In several instances, Ms. Matheson said, legislators, after further reflection, withdrew bill titles they had submitted just a day or two earlier. It is important to note as well that not all of the 2,340 are the work of legislators – many come from the governor’s office, from the departments and from the various task forces and study commissions.

Much credit for this paring down must go to legislative leadership. As Rep. Joseph Bruno, the House Republican minority leader, recently observed, the reality of term limits has put veteran lawmakers in the position of having to be thoughtful mentors to newcomers who are eager to make their marks, who have every right to further the interests of their constituents, but who, at the same time, must put the broader interests of the state first. It’s a learning process and it seems one this Legislature has well under way.