Maine committee deadlocks on LD 19 after heated debate over raising oversized ATV weight
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Summary
Lawmakers, dealers, landowners and state officials debated LD 19 — a bill to raise the oversized ATV minimum weight from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds. After hours of testimony and competing motions (including a handicapped exemption), the committee produced a 6‑6 split on the primary motion and deferred final language review and next steps.
A work session on LD 19 — an act that would increase the minimum weight for an "oversized" all‑terrain vehicle from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds — produced sharp differences on enforcement, landowner access and dealer impacts, and ended without a prevailing motion after a 6‑6 roll call.
Committee staff summarized the bill as a carryover and noted similar proposals in past sessions. "This bill increases the minimum weight of an oversized ATV from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds," the analyst said. The bill was drafted as an emergency and would require a two‑thirds vote if advanced with that preamble.
Maine Warden Service landowner‑relations representative Chris McCabe told the panel that, in practice, dealer and town registration processes are inconsistent: "The way it's supposed to be done is if someone does purchase an oversized machine, they're supposed to be presented with this form," he said, but wardens have found varied or missing forms in the field.
Matt Foster of the Bureau of Parks and Lands described a four‑year grant program for trails, with what he said was roughly $7.5 million per year available to support trail systems and multiuse projects.
Stakeholder witnesses offered sharply different perspectives. Doug Dickinson, president of the Maine ATV Coalition, warned that private landowners who permit club trails could close those trails if the weight limit is raised without additional time and resources: "We're seeing more and more landowners who are ready to cut ties with the ATV community," he said. Jared Bornstein, representing manufacturer BRP, said floor models indicate a popular model is about 60 pounds over current limits and flagged business and inventory concerns.
Several lawmakers proposed alternatives. Representative Clucci moved "ought to pass as amended" but limited the change to create a handicap exemption that would allow registration of oversized ATVs for disabled users while leaving the statewide weight limit intact; she signaled interest in an associated stakeholder study. Debate ranged across enforcement, signage, dealer notification and whether to reconvene the 2019 task force. The motion carried a 6‑6 vote and did not prevail. A minority report proposing a new threshold of 2,950 pounds was lodged by members on the other side of the split.
Next steps: The committee did not report a final majority vote on the core weight increase; chairs indicated language review and possible further motions, and members discussed sending concepts to a stakeholder convening or drafting minority and majority reports for further consideration.
