Maine Senate dispenses readings, refers bills to standing committees and adjourns to Jan. 14

The Maine Senate on Dec. 4, 2024, by unanimous consent dispensed with the reading of multiple bills and joint orders and referred them to standing committees, set several items aside for later consideration and adjourned until Jan. 14, 2025.

The actions were largely procedural: senators moved to dispense with the formal reading of grouped House and Senate papers and to refer those matters to appropriate standing committees for study and concurrence. Items referred included bills and joint orders assigned to Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Appropriations and Financial Affairs; Criminal Justice and Public Safety; Health and Human Services; Judiciary; Environment and Natural Resources; Transportation; Taxation; Housing and Economic Development; Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Labor; Veterans and Legal Affairs; and State and Local Government. Several items were set aside for later floor consideration.

Why it matters: these procedural steps move bills into committee for substantive review, hearings and potential amendment. Referral determines which subject-matter committee will conduct the next stage of consideration and can affect scheduling, stakeholder input and timing for any eventual floor vote.

Most referrals were handled by unanimous consent. Examples recorded on the floor include:

- Senator Perce moved that the readings of items 3-1 through 3-3 be dispensed with and that those matters be referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

- Senator Rotundo moved that item 3-4 (described on the floor as “an act to increase storm preparedness for Maine’s community”) be referred to the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs and sent down for concurrence.

- Senator Beebe Center moved that items 3-5 and 3-6 be referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety; later the senator moved to set aside item 3-7 and then to refer it to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIF).

- Senator Tepler moved that item 3-8 be referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

- Senator Angerson moved that items 3-9 and 3-10 be referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.

- Senator Bailey moved that items 1-13 and 1-14 (supplement references) be referred to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services.

The chair frequently asked, “Is this the pleasure of the Senate?” and in multiple instances the floor responded with no objection; on at least one occasion the chair announced, “Hearing none, so ordered.” The record contains no roll-call tallies for these referrals; outcomes are recorded on the transcript as referred, printed and sent down for concurrence or set aside, as noted.

Other floor business and announcements: the Senate received communications and joint orders from the House and from executive departments (many disposed with the reading and placed on file). Senators used the opportunity for brief announcements: Senator Tepler reminded members of an environmental coalition priorities launch scheduled for Jan. 14, and Senator Moore and others announced plans for the legislative scholarship fundraising auction in April. The Senate also approved a motion to allow members to remove jackets on the floor.

The Senate concluded business when Senator Purse moved, and the body agreed, to stand adjourned until Jan. 14, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., or until the call of the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House.

Votes at a glance: floor transcript records the following formal referrals and procedural outcomes (no roll-call vote recorded unless noted):

- Items 3-1 through 3-3 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Mover: Senator Perce. Outcome: referred (no roll-call recorded).

- Item 3-4 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs. Mover: Senator Rotundo. Outcome: referred.

- Items 3-5 and 3-6 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. Mover: Senator Beebe Center. Outcome: referred.

- Item 3-7 — set aside (moved by Senator Beebe Center) and subsequently moved to be referred to HCIF (mover recorded as Senator Beebe Center). Outcome: set aside; referred (transcript shows both actions).

- Item 3-8 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Mover: Senator Tepler. Outcome: referred.

- Items 3-9 and 3-10 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Health and Human Services. Mover: Senator Angerson. Outcome: referred.

- Items 3-14 through 3-16 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on Judiciary. Mover: Senator Carney. Outcome: referred.

- Items 3-19 through 3-22 — reading dispensed; referred to Committee on State and Local Government. Mover: Senator Baldacci. Outcome: referred.

- Item 3-23 — referred to Committee on Taxation. Mover: Senator Grochowski. Outcome: referred.

- Item 3-24 — referred to Committee on Transportation. Mover: Senator Nangle. Outcome: referred.

- Items 3-25 and 3-26 — referred to Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. Mover: Senator Hickman. Outcome: referred.

- Supplement number 1 and Supplement number 2 included multiple items (1-1 through 1-22 across supplements) that were dispensed with and referred to the committees named on the floor (examples: items to Agriculture, Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Education and Cultural Affairs, Energy, Environment, Health and Human Services, Judiciary, Labor, Taxation, Veterans and Legal Affairs). Movers for supplement referrals included Senators Talbot Ross, Beebe Center, Rafferty, Grahowski, Tepler, Angerson, Bailey, Baldacci, Hickman and others. Outcome: referred.

Limits of this report: the transcript records procedural motions, referrals and unanimous-consent dispositions but does not include roll-call vote tallies for the matters listed. Where the transcript records an item as “set aside,” this article reports that procedural status; it does not infer subsequent committee or floor action beyond what is recorded on the transcript.

Ending: The Senate’s actions on Dec. 4 were primarily organizational and procedural, moving many introduced matters into committee for the next stage of consideration and setting the chamber’s schedule through mid-January.