An Act to Ensure That~ffective Dates of First Regular Sess10n Direct Imtiative~ of Legislation Will Occur After the November 2023 Election
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0764
Committee Amendment CA_A_SA_B_S428 (Senate)

SENATE AMENDMENT "a_" to COlv.fMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to SP 323 
L D 764, "An Act to Ensure That~ffective Dates of First Regular Sess10n Direct Imtiative~ 
of Legislation Will Occur After the November 2023 Election" 
Amend the amendment by stnkmg out the first to 5th mdented paragraphs after the 
substitute title (page 1, Imes 15 to 27 m amendment) and msertmg the followmg 
'Amend the bill m the emergency preamble by stnkmg out all of the 3rd, 4th and 5th 
paragraphs after the title (page 1, Imes 7 to 14 m L D ) and msertmg the followmg 
'Whereas, 4 direct imtiatives were mtroduced durmg the First Special Sess10n of the 
st Legislature, and 
Whereas, 3 of those direct lllltlatives concern participation m the political process, 
and 
Whereas, unless enacted by the Legislature without change, those direct lllltiatives 
will be presented to voters on the general election to be held on November 7, 2023, and 
Whereas, participation m electlons may entail "core political speech" protected by the 
First Amendment to the Umted States Constitution, and 
Whereas, the Legislature desires to consider enactlng one or more of the direct 
lllltiatives without change durmg the First Special Session of the 131st Legislature without 
affectmg participation m the November general election, and 
Whereas, the effective date of any direct lllltiative enacted durmg the First Special 
Session of the 131 st Legislature, which is 90 days after adJ ournment, may occur durmg the 
November election cycle, which may result ma change to the election rules m the middle 
of an election and thereby affect partic1patlon m the November general election, and 
Whereas, this Act seeks to delay the effective date of any direct lllltlative enacted 
durmg the First Special Session until after the November 2023 election m order to not affect 
partic1pat10n m this election, but not to otherwise change the direct m1tiatives as proposed 
to the Legislature by the electors, and' 
Amend the bill by stnkmg out everythmg after the enactmg clause and before the 
emergency clause and msertmg the followmg 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
.. 
ROS 
SENATE AMENDMENT "S "to COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "A" to SP 323, L D 764 (s.. LU) 
'Sec. 1. Effective date. Notwithstandmg any provision of law to the contrary, bills 
enacted du.ring the First Special Session of the 131st Legislature that are direct mitiatives 
of legislation pursuant to the Constitut10n of Mame, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18 and 
are identrfied as L D 1610, "An Act to Prohibit Campaign Spendmg by Foreign 
Governments and Promote an Anticorruption Amendment to the Umted States 
Constitut10n," L D 1611, "An Act to Create the Pme Tree Power Company, a Nonprofit, 
Customer-owned Utihty," and L D 1772, "An Act to Require Voter Approval of Certam 
Borrowmg by Government-controlled Entities and Utilities and to Provide Voters More 
Informat10n Regardmg That Borrowmg," have an effective date of January 1, 2024, unless 
the direct mitiative provides for an effective date later than J anu.ary 1, 2024, m which case 
the effective date m that direct imtiative applies ' ' 
Amend the amendment by relettermg or renu.mbermg any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively 
SUMMARY 
This amendment amends the committee amendment to clarify the nature of the 
emergency m the bill and to provide details of the direct mitiatives to which this legislation 
apphes It retams the substance of the committee amendment by specifymg the legislation's 
apphcat10n to direct lllltiatives nae d du.rmg the First Special Session of the 131st 
Legislature 
SPONSORED BY -----==--......... =--------
(Senator STEWART, T.) 
COUNTY Aroostook 
SENATE AMENDMENT