Pending bills may delay Legislature’s adjournment

AUGUSTA – Their final paychecks are written and many are eager to adjourn for the year, but lawmakers still have a lot of work ahead of them as they return from a four-day Passover-Easter break.

“We’re lucky if we’re out by Friday,” House Minority Leader Joe Bruno said Sunday.

Leaders hoping to complete the 2002 session this week promised to push hard for final action on a diverse agenda of bills ranging from tax reform and revised fish and game fees to a term limits referendum and tightening up the state’s severance pay law.

But Bruno, R-Raymond, said even more thorny matters looming in the State House threaten to tie things up for days.

About 50 bills that have received tentative final approval have been set aside in the Senate to await decisions on whether they’ll receive funding. Bruno said $1 million is available for an estimated $3 million to $4 million in requests.

Still in committee is a Workers’ Compensation bill submitted late in the session by Gov. Angus King. The bill seeks to overturn a state supreme court decision that said nonwork-related injuries must be taken into account if a combination of old injuries and newer on-the-job injuries prevents a return to work.

Democrats have questioned whether there’s enough time to deal with a bill King submitted in the session’s eleventh hour, but Republicans say the matter is so important it must be addressed now.

“We have to deal with it,” said Bruno.

While lawmakers took care of the state budget last week by enacting a supplemental spending plan that plugged a $160 million revenue hole, they still are wrangling over a bond issue package.

Late last week, the Appropriations Committee was focusing on a three-part package designed to raise around $80 million, but a final agreement continued to elude negotiators.

The House and Senate remained at odds on a bill prompted by Vishay Sprague’s plan to close its electronic components plant in Sanford and lay off hundreds of workers.

The House has adopted a bill to plug loopholes in Maine’s severance pay law, while the Senate had voted in opposition to the bill.

A final Senate vote is pending on a bill to control Internet “spam” by requiring those sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to provide a valid return e-mail address or Internet Web site through which the recipient may decline further communications.

Final action also is pending on a bill requiring the state to seek a Medicaid waiver that would enhance benefits for Mainers who qualify for the elderly low-cost drug program.

Numerous other bills also await action while pay has run out for the part-time lawmakers, who received their final paychecks last week.

It gave many lawmakers an incentive to finish up their work and get back to their regular jobs.

“If we start holding people’s expenses checks, you’ll see things moving,” said Bruno.