AUGUSTA, Maine (Thursday, October 24, 2024) -- The Maine State Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement recognizing the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting tragedy that took place on October 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine:

​​“On the one-year anniversary of the mass shootings in Lewiston, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce joins Mainers across our state in remembering, honoring, and mourning the 18 lives lost and all those injured and impacted by the violence of that tragic day. We also honor the extraordinary resilience of Lewiston-Auburn, and the individuals, businesses, and organizations whose leadership has illustrated how to build community strength in the aftermath of a tragedy.” -- Maine State Chamber of Commerce

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​AUGUSTA, Maine (Friday, October 18, 2024) -- The Maine Economic Research Institute (MERI), today released its 2024 Roll Call publication, a scorecard and analysis of the 131st Maine State Legislature’s performance and individual state legislators’ votes on bills and initiatives impacting Maine’s businesses and economy. The 131st Legislature received an overall performance ranking, or average of every individual legislator’s score, of 44.5 percent, while individual legislators’ scores ranged from a high score of 98 and a low of zero. Of the 101 bills MERI tracked, only three of the 33 bills MERI supported were enacted through Roll Call votes.
 
“MERI is a crucial tool for holding our state legislators accountable for their votes on business and economic issues,” said MERI President Simon West. “MERI’s latest Roll Call analysis portends a challenging business and economic environment. Significantly stronger support for legislation and initiatives that will grow, not hinder, Maine’s economy must increase for Maine’s economy to compete and succeed.”
 
“Legislator voting records and MERI scores matter,” said Maine State Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Patrick Woodcock. “For Maine and Maine people to reach our full economic potential, it is critical to support candidates who are committed to shifting Maine to an environment where businesses add employees, make capital investments, and ultimately expand their businesses here in Maine. MERI is key to helping all Maine voters make informed decisions this election season that are based on candidates’ voting records on the issues critical to Maine’s business and economic future.”
 
During each legislative session, MERI tracks legislators’ votes on a set of “Watch List” bills. After each session concludes, MERI analyzes legislator votes and publishes their scores and rankings in Roll Call. A vote supporting MERI’s position on a bill is a positive mark on a legislator’s score.
 
This year, MERI recognized Senate President Troy Jackson (Aroostook) as its “Policy Champ” for being the top sponsor of pro-MERI bills in the 131st Legislature. Senator Michael Tipping (Penobscot) earned MERI’s “Policy Flop” designation for sponsoring the most bills MERI opposed. Representative Timothy Guerrette of House District 4 (Caribou) earned MERI’s highest score (98 percent). Representative Laura Supica of House District 22 (Bangor) earned the lowest score (0 percent).
 
Since 1999, MERI has provided objective, research-based analyses of state legislator votes that impact Maine’s business community, economy, and economic competitiveness. Legislation selected for tracking is driven by what Maine employers of all sizes and sectors across Maine indicate will be critical to their success and growing Maine’s economy.
 
MERI uses criteria from Maine’s 10-year Economic Development Strategy and the Making Maine Work and Measures of Growth reports and takes into account Maine’s current and future needs in areas including education attainment, energy costs, wage growth, tax burden, R&D investment, talent attraction, housing, and more to provide objective and transparent ratings about legislators’ support for efforts to meet Maine’s future goals and keep Maine competitive. MERI’s Roll Call provides Maine voters with an understanding of where their legislators stand with the business community.
 
For MERI’s full Roll Call report of legislator scores and rankings, please click here or visit www.me-ri.org/roll-call. MERI’s “Watch List” of bills in both the first and second regular sessions of the 131st Legislature covered taxation, innovation, research and development, energy, the environment, labor, and education. The full “Watch List” can be found here or at www.me-ri.org/watch-list.

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​AUGUSTA, Maine (Tuesday, October 8, 2024) - The Maine State Chamber of Commerce today announced responses to a questionnaire asking all candidates for the Maine House and Senate where they stand on transparency in the legislative process. The Maine State Chamber, a longtime advocate for greater transparency at the Maine State Legislature, is encouraged by state legislative candidates’ broad support for and commitment to greater transparency and consistency in the legislative process, with 95% of respondents indicating they would support legislative rule changes to increase public participation in lawmaking.
 
In late July 2024, the Maine State Chamber sent a questionnaire to 347 candidates for the Maine State Legislature seeking to measure candidates’ commitment to transparency and increasing the public’s ability to participate in lawmaking. More than half (177) of the 347 recipients responded to the questionnaire.
 
“The Maine Legislature should be a transparent legislative body where the public can follow the process and understand the public policy implications of proposals prior to hearings, work sessions, and votes,” said Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. “As we approach the start of the next legislative session, these questionnaire responses illustrate that the majority of those running for office believe it is time for a new model for the Legislature. As I have said before, the Maine State Legislature has developed a transparency problem that must be addressed prior to the convening of the next Legislature. The Maine State Chamber looks forward to partnering with lawmakers to take action.”
 
Of the 177 candidates who responded to the Maine State Chamber’s questionnaire:

• 95% responded they believe it is important that the legislative process is consistent and transparent to members of the public.
• 95% responded they would support a legislative rule change requiring that legislation and amendments be publicly available at least 24 hours prior to a public hearing and/or work session. (Please click here for a list of the candidates who responded they would support this rule change.)
• 92% responded they would support legislative rules requiring that the legislative committee process be consistent across all legislative committees.
• 54% of respondents are Republican, 40% are Democrats, and 6% are Unenrolled.
• 37 respondents (21%) are candidates for the Maine State Senate.
• 140 (79%) respondents are candidates for the Maine House of Representatives.

 
The Maine State Chamber has raised concerns over the last several years about the increasing erosion of transparency in the legislative process, particularly the increasing number of “concept drafts,” which are vague placeholder bill proposals absent of detailed language, and the lack of advance language on bill amendments as they go before legislative committees.
 
The Maine State Chamber recently testified on the need for greater transparency at the Maine State Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee hearing on July 18, 2024. During the 131st Legislature, in an April 3, 2024, letter to legislative leaders, the Maine State Chamber urged reforms to the legislative rules to make public policymaking more transparent to and inclusive of the public.
 
Please click here to read the Maine State Chamber’s July 31, 2024, press release announcing the transparency questionnaire for 2024 legislative candidates.
 
Please click here for links to the Maine State Chamber’s transparency questionnaire, candidate 

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