Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0543
Sponsors: COLWELL, BRENNAN, DAVIS, TREAT, WOODCOCK, BRUNO, DUPLESSIE, RICHARDSON

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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Senator Beverly C. Daggett 
Senate President 
Joy J. O'Brien 
Secretary of the Senate 
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40th Legislative Day 
In Senate Chamber, Monday, April 28, 2003. 
Senate called to Order by President Beverly C. Daggett of Kennebec County. 
Prayer by Father Paul Plante, St. John the Baptist Church in Winslow. 
Pledge of Allegiance led by Senator Betheda G. Edmonds of Cumberland County. 
National Anthem performed by Timothy Cilley of St. James School in Biddeford. 
Doctor of the day, Richard Dillihunt, M.D. of Portland. 
Reading of the Journal of Wednesday, April 16, 2003. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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Monday, April 28, 2003 
Joint Resolution 
( 4-9) On motion by Senator TREAT under unanimous consent on behalf of President 
DAGGETT of Kennebec (Cosponsored by Speaker COLWELL of Gardiner and Senators: 
BRENNAN of Cumberland, DAVIS of Piscataquis, GAGNON ofKennebec, TREAT of 
Kennebec, WOODCOCK of Franklin, Representatives: BRUNO of Raymond, DUPLESSIE of 
Westbrook, RICHARDSON of Brunswick), the following Joint Resolution: 
S.P. 543 
JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE PRESIDENT OF 
THE UNITED STATES AND THE CONGRESS OF 
THE UNITED STATES TO ENACT THE AMERICA RX ACT 
WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Legislature of the 
petition the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States, as follows: 
WHEREAS, each day, 65,000,000 Americans have to choose between life-saving medicines and 
putting food on the table because they lack coverage for prescription drugs; and 
WHEREAS, the costs of prescription drugs have risen at an alarmingly rapid rate and in the year 
2000 Americans spent $116,000,000,000 on their prescriptions, a figure expected to triple by the 
year 2010; and 
WHEREAS, prescription drugs provide essential treatment to all our citizens and are the most 
rapidly growing component of health care in the nation; and 
WHEREAS, in the United States, in the absence of any form of national regulation of prices of 
patented drugs, pharmaceutical manufacturers can and do charge ordinary Americans prices that 
exceed those charged in any other country in the world; and 
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the people of Maine, in good faith and with the best of intentions, 
created a program that would help the people who needed it most and passed a bill that was the 
first in the nation to allow the negotiation of prescription drug prices through the use of existing 
discounts and rebates with drug companies; and 
WHEREAS, other states, including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, 
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington and 
West Virgima, have taken steps to support or emulate the program crafted by the State of Maine; 
and 
WHEREAS, the prescription drug companies, in a concerted effort to discredit this law and to 
continue to reap billions of dollars in profits, have brought suit against the State of Maine in the 
courts to have this law declared void; and 
WHEREAS, the America Rx Act, based on Maine's program, has been designed to provide 
access to lower-cost prescription drugs for all Americans who lack adequate coverage; and 
Monday, April 28, 2003 
WHEREAS, under the America Rx Act, the Federal Government would act as a pharmacy 
benefits manager to negotiate for lower prescription prices. This approach uses the power of the 
free market to allow the millions of American citizens with no access to discounts to pool 
together and negotiate as one block; and 
WHEREAS, under the America Rx Act, there is an incentive to ensure that manufacturers 
negotiate in good faith. If pharmaceutical manufacturers refuse to negotiate, they would no 
longer be eligible for federal tax deductions for advertising and marketing expenses; now, 
therefore, be it 
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, on behalf of the people we represent and in joining 
the expressed desire of other states, reaffirm our support for establishing fairer pricing for 
prescription drugs for all individuals without access to prescription drugs at discount prices by 
respectfully urging and requesting that the President of the United States and the Congress of the 
United States take positive steps to enact the America Rx Act; and be it further 
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of 
State, be transmitted to the President of the United States, to the President of the United States 
Senate, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States and to each member 
of the Maine Congressional Delegation. 
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 
House 
Divided Report 
(5-1) The Majority of the Committee on LEGAL AND VETERANS AFFAIRS on Bill "An 
Act to Change the Name of the Maine Clean Election Act to the 'Publicly Funded Election Act"' 
H.P. 198 L.D. 243 
Reported that the same Ought Not to Pass. 
Signed: 
Senator: 
GAGNON of Kennebec 
Representatives: 
CLARK of Millinocket 
PATRICK of Rumford 
BLANCHETTE of Bangor 
CANAVAN of Waterville 
JENNINGS of Leeds 
LANDRY of Sanford 
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