Friday marks 90 days since the end of the last legislative session in Maine, which means new laws take effect.

Maine Morning Star asked legislative leaders to weigh in on which new laws they think have the potential to impact everyday life for Mainers. There were some common themes, particularly changes to guns, housing and healthcare policy. 

In addition to the individual bills that were approved to become law, the supplemental budget will also take effect Friday. The budget includes sweeping changes that Assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier (D-Lewiston) said “will make life easier for families in Maine.” She pointed specifically to investments in housing and child care as well as lowering prescription drug costs for older Mainers. 

“The budget really allowed us to do things for folks at every life stage, which I think is really important,” Cloutier said. 

New gun laws

Gun reform rose to the top for leaders of both parties when asked about how individual lives will be shaped by new laws. 

Though there were many pieces of gun legislation considered during the last session, only two will become law Friday. This includes the 72-hour-waiting period after certain purchases, which passed by a narrow margin, with some legislative Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition. Gov. Janet Mills said she was “deeply conflicted” about the reform but allowed it to become law without her signature. 

Cloutier, who represents Lewiston, which was the site of the state’s deadliest mass shooting last October that killed 18 people and injured 13 more, said the new law will make communities safer. 

But Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart of Aroostook County said, “Any right delayed is a right denied.” 

So while he agrees it will be one of the most impactful laws to come from the last legislative session, especially for the many Mainers who own or possess at least one firearm, he doesn’t see it as a positive one. 

While Cloutier said she is proud of the progress that was made to reform the state’s relatively lax gun laws, she also highlighted the Maine Mass Violence Care Fund that was created last session in response to the Lewiston shooting. 

The $5 million fund created through the supplemental budget will support victims by covering out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance that are connected to a mass violence event. While the gun legislation often dominated conversations, Cloutier said she thinks this fund “will be of equal benefit, maybe greater.”

Helping people stay housed

Friday will unlock the $18 million earmarked in the supplemental budget for the rent relief pilot program, which was considered a win for advocates who have long pushed for some form of rental assistance. 

Over the past several weeks, the Maine State Housing Authority has been developing the program based on the specifications spelled out in the budget, explained Director of Communications Scott Thistle. The program — which MaineHousing has dubbed an “Eviction Prevention Program” — is scheduled to open to applicants in October.

The law specifies that the program will provide eligible people with up to $800 per month in rental assistance paid directly to a person’s landlord for up to two years. To be eligible, a household must be at risk of eviction, fall below 60% of area median income and not owe more than $19,200 in back rent, among other criteria. 

Cloutier also highlighted a new law to provide more transparency around the fees that a landlord can impose on a renter prior to tenancy. Those protections will also apply to residents of mobile home parks.

Students without adult family members or guardians to help secure housing for them will benefit from a housing subsidy program also created with the supplemental budget, an initiative that was highlighted by Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) as well as the Senate Majority Office.

Accessing healthcare 

Jackson and the Senate Majority Office also pointed to multiple new laws that will make healthcare more accessible and affordable. 

For example, a new law that was sponsored by the Senate president will collect data on prescription drug coverage of generic drugs, which will give a sense of whether insurance companies are pushing patients to brand-name drugs when cheaper options are available. 

Likewise, another new law will help the 80 community health centers across the state provide affordable prescription drugs to more people. Those centers already provide primary care to one in six Mainers. 

There will also be better price transparency for patients now that healthcare providers will be required to give good faith cost estimates to uninsured patients and insurers will have to provide out-of-pocket estimates for insured patients. 

And patients who are sent to collection agencies will be protected from additional fees or costly litigation with debt collectors thanks to a new law originally sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), which prohibits unfair practices related to medical debt.

PORTLAND, Maine – With eleventh hour guidance from the state, Maine gun retailers on Friday began requiring a three-day wait period for gun purchases under one of the new safety laws adopted following the state’s deadliest mass shooting.

Maine joins a dozen other states with similar laws, requiring that buyers wait 72 hours to complete a purchase and retrieve a weapon. The law is among several gun-related bills adopted after an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others on Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston.

The new law wouldn’t have prevented the tragedy — the gunman bought his guns legally months earlier — but Friday’s milestone was celebrated by gun safety advocates who believe it will prevent gun deaths by providing a cooling-off period for people intent on buying a gun to do harm to others or themselves.

“These new laws will certainly save lives, both here in Maine and throughout the nation,” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.

Gun store owners complained about the guidance, released just Tuesday, and the loss of sales to out-of-state visitors during Maine’s busy summer tourism season. They also said the waiting period will take a toll on gun shows.

In Kittery, Dave Labbe from the Kittery Trading Post said there would be close to zero completed rifle sales at its main store beginning Friday as customers subject to the waiting period will have to return to pick up their firearms. He is worried shoppers won’t buy guns because the waiting period requires them to make an extra trip to the store.

“You can imagine how I feel,” he said.

Unlike other Maine dealers, Kittery Trading Post’s out-of-state buyers of rifles and shotguns have the option to move those sales to its New Hampshire facility to complete a same-day purchase. But that increases business costs and inconveniences customers. In some cases, the customer may prefer to ship the firearm to a dealer in their home state, Labbe said.

Some retailers claimed the guidance was late, and vague.

“It’s as clear as mud,” said Laura Whitcomb from Gun Owners of Maine. She noted gray areas include the legal definition for the “agreement” that must be reached to trigger the waiting period.

Critics of the law have vowed to sue. They contend it harms only law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to stop criminals from accessing weapons illegally. They also contend people who intend to harm themselves will simply find another way to do so if they are unable to purchase a gun on the spot.

The waiting period law went into effect without the signature of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. It was one of a series of bills adopted after the mass killings at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston.

Mills told lawmakers during her State of the State address that doing nothing was not an option after the tragedy.

The laws bolstered the state’s “yellow flag” law allowing weapons to be taken from someone in a psychiatric crisis, criminalized the transfer of guns to prohibited people and required background checks for people who advertise a gun for sale on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or elsewhere.

Maine is a state with a long hunting tradition and the bills drew opposition from Republicans who accused Democrats, who control both legislative chambers, of using the tragedy to advance proposals, some of which had previously been defeated.

NEWCASTLE, Maine (AP) — Maine leaders want to honor Frances Perkins — the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet-level position and a driving force behind the New Deal — by encouraging the president to make her home a national monument.

Perkins served as labor secretary under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and played a key role in shaping his programs that helped Americans recover from the Great Depression, including advocating for Social Security, a 40-hour work week and the minimum wage. She died in 1965.

“She was a trailblazer, the first female presidential Cabinet member, the mother of the modern labor movement, and a pioneering advocate for social justice, economic security, and workers’ rights,” Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree said.

The initiative announced by a group of leaders on Thursday came months after President Joe Biden signed an executive order bolstering the National Park Service’s recognition of women’s history. The order directed the Department of the Interior to do more to recognize and honor the contributions of women in the U.S.

The home where Perkins lived in Newcastle, Maine, is already designated as the Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark and the 57-acre (23-hectare) property along the Damariscotta River is run by a nonprofit.

The proposal asks the president to use his executive authority to elevate the property to a national monument, meaning it would be operated and staffed by the National Park Service. The nonprofit Frances Perkins Center would donate the 1837 brick house, barn and adjacent property, while retaining the surrounding woods and fields as the site of a privately constructed education center.

“President Biden has an extraordinary opportunity to create a national park site that will honor her life, and will help carry her work forward so future generations can better appreciate how this remarkable woman helped shape our nation,” said Kristen Brengel, from the National Parks Conservation Association.

Other supporters of the proposal include Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, independent Sen. Angus King and Republican former Sen. Olympia Snowe, along with Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman, UMaine President Jacqueline Edmondson and University of Maine System Chair Trish Riley.

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This story has been updated to correct that the house was built in 1837, not 1887.