AUGUSTA – Unfinished work on tax relief tops the agenda as the Maine Legislature returns Wednesday for its 2004 session, but issues ranging from racino regulation to snowmobile insurance also will liven up the State House.

A major departmental reorganization and a Medicaid budget shortfall also confront lawmakers in an election-year session.

With so much at stake, “there’s sure to be a political spin on everything that needs to be accomplished this session,” says the National Conference of State Legislatures in a preview that counts 44 state legislatures holding sessions in 2004.

An issue with partisan ties to the presidential race – the No Child Left Behind Act – is due to be debated in 2004.

Democrats have been sharply critical of President Bush’s prescription to improve public schools. Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, is sponsoring a bill to bar the use of state money for the law and to broach the idea of Maine opting out.

Democratic leaders acknowledge that partisanship will play a role in some issues, but “I don’t think that overrides us trying to do what’s necessary,” said Senate President Beverly Daggett. “I do think they take what they’re doing very seriously.”

Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, said that with a demanding agenda and an April 7 adjournment date hanging over them, lawmakers won’t have an abundance of time to make political mischief.

“We’ve got to do the people’s business,” said Davis.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations on property-tax relief have been in progress since a Nov. 4 referendum on whether the state should increase its share of school aid from 44 percent to 55 percent.

The 55 percent proposal fell short of being enacted immediately in November, so it faces another statewide vote no later than June 8.

That gives Gov. John Baldacci, lawmakers and municipal and teachers’ groups that have been involved in the issue limited time to fashion an alternative that avoids the $250 million cost of increasing the subsidy all at once.

Meanwhile, Daggett, of Augusta, and House Speaker Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner, are standing by with a bill to increase reimbursements under existing state property-tax relief programs and make them payable directly to taxpayers rather than sending them to municipalities.

Adding to the pressure to pass meaningful legislation to hold down property taxes are prospects of another initiated referendum to cap property taxes at 1 percent of assessed valuation, plus each taxpayer’s share of town debt.

Passage of that 1 percent initiative would punch giant holes in municipal and school budgets, municipal officials warn.

Another issue that has roots in a November referendum – racetrack slot machines – is expected to get the early attention of legislators.

With a harness-racing license pending that could bring slots to the Bangor Raceway, Baldacci is hoping for quick State House action on his bill to bolster Maine’s gaming regulations.

Voters decided Nov. 4 to allow slots at commercial tracks provided local voters also gave their OK by Dec. 31, 2003. Baldacci contends the law becomes operative 45 days after the Legislature convenes Jan. 7, which gives lawmakers time to deliberate and pass tougher new regulations.

A pair of bills dealing with the increasingly popular sport of snowmobiling are due for review. One seeks to help snowmobile clubs secure affordable liability insurance by giving them the same liability exemptions as private landowners already have.

The other seeks to require all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile owners to carry liability insurance to protect landowners and operators who suffer damage caused by uninsured operators.

Davis believed the former bill, which calls for exemptions, is positioned for early passage given its strong committee support.

As Medicaid and other health care programs continue to exert enormous pressure on state budgets across the nation, Maine faces its own struggle in the form of an unfunded state liability to the Medicaid program totaling up to $42.5 million.

That’s in addition to a prospective Medicaid funding shortfall that could exceed $100 million unless the Legislature adjusts the budget.

With cuts already made last session compounded by new budget pressures, “there’s no meat left on the bone,” said Assistant House Majority Leader Robert Duplessie, D-Westbrook.

Tied closely to the Medicaid problem is Baldacci’s proposed merger of the Human Services Department and the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services. Both departments depend heavily on Medicaid for their services. Prescription drug pricing, which has become a perennial issue in the State House, will be debated again. One bill seeks to eliminate a Catch-22 that keeps some Mainers eligible for the state’s low-cost drugs for the elderly program from getting needed medicines.

The issue has strong political overtones, since Democratic candidates have made a tradition of joining Maine senior citizens on bus rides to Canada to get cut-rate prescriptions filled.

Senate Majority Leader Sharon Treat, D-Farmingdale, also wants to pass more reporting requirements for drug companies to make sure the prices the state pays for drugs under Medicaid are the lowest possible.

More than 140 bills have been carried over from last year’s session, which ran from January to June, to this year’s follow-up session.

It should move into gear quickly because hearings have already been held on many of the carried-over bills. In addition, more than 100 new measures have been admitted for 2004, fewer than leaders customarily allow in.

Among them are bills dealing with severance pay for former Great Northern Paper workers, to exempt unemployment benefits from the state income tax, and to strengthen the sex-offender registration and notification law.

A bill seeks to introduce imported grass carp in some lakes where invasive plant species are choking the water. The prohibited fish eat plants and have been used in other states to get rid of milfoil.

Other legislation would commission a portrait of former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine to hang in the State House.

On the Net: Maine Legislature: http:///janus.state.me.us/legis/National Conference of State Legislatures: http:///www.ncsl.org/index.htm