Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislative Procedures topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Votes at a glance: Maine House refers bills, adopts tax conformity measures and passes protection-from-abuse authority bill
Summary
During the April 1, 2025 special session, the Maine House voted to refer multiple bills to standing committees, adopted a tax conformity measure and passed a bill authorizing courts to issue proximity restrictions and protection-from-abuse orders.
The Maine House of Representatives on April 1, 2025, took a series of procedural and substantive actions during its first special session, including committee referrals for dozens of bills, adoption of tax-conformity language and final passage of a bill granting courts authority to issue proximity restrictions and protection-from-abuse orders.
Votes at a glance
- Senate Paper 269 (LD 586), “An Act to provide a court authority to issue proximity restrictions and protection from abuse orders,” was passed to be enacted by the House and will be signed by the Speaker and transmitted to the Senate.
- An act updating references to the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 contained in the Maine Revised Statutes advanced after the House adopted Committee Amendment A; the bill was passed to be engrossed in concurrence and sent to the Senate.
- The House accepted unanimous committee reports and moved numerous bills by suspension of the rules and referral. Examples recorded in the transcript include: • Items 3-1 through 3-6 — referred to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs (mover on the floor: Representative Murphy). • Items 3-7 and 3-8 — referred to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. • Items 3-10 through 3-15 — referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services. • Multiple other grouped items were referred to committees including Housing and Economic Development; Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Judiciary; State and Local Government; Taxation; Transportation; Veterans and Legal Affairs; and others as listed on the session calendar.
- The taxation committee’s conformity measure was reported out and the House recorded a roll-call announcement of 42 affirmative and 0 negative votes on the acceptance of the unanimous committee report.
Procedural notes and context
Many items were moved under suspension of the rules, a common floor practice to expedite referral and printing of bills for committee consideration. Where the transcript listed bills without debate, the House consistently ordered them printed and sent them to the named committees for further consideration. The clerk’s entries and chair rulings in the transcript repeatedly note that items were “referred,” “ordered printed” and “sent for concurrence.”
What the House has not recorded in the session transcript are detailed committee-level debates or final Senate actions on the referred bills. The only item recorded as passed to be enacted in the House during this session is Senate Paper 269 (LD 586) giving courts expressed authority over proximity restrictions and protection-from-abuse orders; the text for that bill is not contained in the floor transcript except for the bill title and the engrossment action.
A detailed list of all items referred and their committee assignments appears on the House calendar and committee reports; the transcript records the referral motions and the chair’s announcement that the items were referred and printed.
