Rep. Morgan Rielly

Maddy summaryLD 1245 creates the Working Waterfront Information Campaign Fund to educate tourists and new residents in Maine's coastal and island communities about working waterfronts. The fund, administered by the Maine Office of Community Affairs, will support online and direct mail campaigns designed to explain what working waterfronts are (land used for commercial fishing/marine activities), who uses them, and how to protect them. The office must collaborate with the Department of Economic and Community Development, tourism office, coastal governments, and waterfront advocacy groups to develop these campaigns. The fund accepts private and public donations and must use all money for these awareness efforts, with balances carried forward annually.

Maddy summaryLD 1708 creates the Commercial Fishing Safety Fund within Maine's Department of Marine Resources. The fund will support safety training for commercial fishermen and provide equipment for search and rescue operations, including recovering vessels and people in distress at sea. Funding can come from donations, and unspent money will carry over to the next fiscal year without lapsing. The department must consult the Commercial Fishing Safety Council before using fund resources for safety or recovery activities.

Maddy summaryLD 1620 modifies Maine's cannabis testing rules for adult-use products. It sets a specific limit of 100,000 colony-forming units per gram for yeast and mold contamination in cannabis products, requiring testing for harmful microbes like E. coli and salmonella. The bill also creates "audit testing," allowing licensed businesses that pass 10 consecutive mandatory tests without contamination to skip future pre-sale testing - after verifying results with the office. This directly affects cannabis businesses selling adult-use products in Maine.

Maddy summaryLD 1595 amends Maine law (17 MRSA §2807) to explicitly protect aquaculture businesses from private nuisance lawsuits. It expands the definition of "commercial fishing activity" to include aquaculture operations and related commercial activities like equipment manufacturing or seafood processing. The bill repeals a previous section that excluded aquaculture, ensuring these businesses receive the same legal protection as traditional commercial fishing operations. This change directly affects Maine aquaculture businesses operating on working waterfronts, shielding them from nuisance complaints related to their operations.

Maddy summaryThis bill (LD 1568) allows municipalities to authorize harbor masters or deputy harbor masters to use a siren in their vehicles when responding to watercraft emergencies. It amends existing law, which previously only permitted flashing lights, to include siren authorization for emergency response. The siren use is restricted to active watercraft emergencies and requires municipal approval, with the municipality retaining the right to revoke authorization. This change aims to improve emergency response capabilities for harbor personnel during boating season.

Maddy summaryLD 1576 extends Maine's existing one-year prohibition on compensated lobbying for former state employees to include staff who worked in the legislature. Specifically, it applies to former partisan and nonpartisan legislative employees, committee clerks, and staff of the Senate Secretary or House Clerk. The law, effective January 1, 2026, requires these individuals to wait one year after leaving their legislative positions before engaging in lobbying. This change aligns legislative staff with the current rule already covering former executive branch employees.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new $50 "green crab only" wholesale dealer license for businesses that exclusively handle green crabs (Carcinus maenas). It allows license holders to buy, sell, process, ship, or transport green crabs directly from licensed harvesters in Maine, offering a lower-cost alternative to the existing $192.75 wholesale seafood license. The license requires dealers to verify harvesters have valid green crab harvesting permits and subjects violators to penalties or license suspension. The law includes a sunset provision, repealing the license on January 1, 2031, and mandates a department review and report to the 2030 Legislature on its effectiveness and potential changes.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows Maine's Bureau of Veterans' Services to share deceased veterans' military records with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner upon request. It directly affects veterans' families and the medical examiner's office, enabling them to access military service information. The key provision authorizes the release of military status details for official suicide reporting and prevention efforts. The law amends state statute to specifically permit this data sharing for suicide prevention purposes, not for other uses. This is a procedural change to improve suicide prevention data collection, not a new benefit or service for living veterans.

Maddy summaryThis bill defines a "military protective order" as a protection order issued by a military commanding officer against a service member under their command. It allows such military orders to be used as evidence of immediate danger in Maine's protection from abuse and harassment court cases. Courts can now consider a military protective order to satisfy the requirement for "immediate and present danger" when issuing temporary protection orders. This change recognizes military protections in civil court, helping service members and their families avoid duplicative legal processes.

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits the use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), a fire suppressant containing fluorinated chemicals that contaminate water, on property owned or leased by the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (which manages the former Brunswick Naval Air Station) starting January 1, 2026. The ban applies to discharge, testing, storage, or use of AFFF, except during cleanup or remediation efforts. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will enforce this prohibition. The law directly affects the authority managing the former naval air station site, aiming to prevent further environmental contamination.