Maddy summaryLD 1108 requires Maine's Department of Health and Human Services to create detailed reunification plans for children in foster care, outlining specific services for parents (like transportation, housing assistance, and visitation schedules) and including a 6-month minimum wait before seeking to return a child to a parent. The bill mandates random drug screening for parents in substance use treatment and requires the department to make good-faith efforts to involve parents in planning, including scheduling meetings to accommodate their attendance. Parents must also cooperate by attending required meetings and participating in the plan. The plans must cover reasons for removal, necessary safety changes, and financial responsibilities during reunification.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryLD 1409 requires Maine's child welfare department to grant foster parents who have cared for a child continuously for one year or more the same legal rights as family relatives in placement decisions. This directly affects non-relative foster parents with long-term placements, ensuring they are treated equally with kinship caregivers under state law. The bill amends existing statutes to establish this one-year threshold as the key mechanism for granting these rights. It does not change overall placement preferences but ensures foster parents meeting the duration requirement have equivalent standing to relatives during placement reviews.
Maddy summaryThis bill (LD 712) requires Maine's Palliative Care and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary Advisory Council to develop recommendations by January 1, 2026, about whether hospitals should defer to palliative care physicians and patients when making treatment decisions for patients under palliative care. It directs the council to include these recommendations in its annual report to the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee. The bill itself does not change current law but sets a process for future legislative action based on the council's findings. It directly affects hospitals treating patients with palliative care physicians and the advisory council's reporting obligations.
Maddy summaryLD 1155 requires each Maine county to appoint two county employees and one sheriff's department employee as "dedimus justices" to administer oaths for civil officers. This directly affects county governments (through the two appointees) and county sheriffs (through the one appointee). The bill mandates the Secretary of State maintain a public online roster of all appointed dedimus justices, updated annually with verification of their continued eligibility. If an appointee cannot be verified for two consecutive years, their name is removed from the roster. The law modifies existing appointment rules without changing the core duties of the position.
Maddy summaryLD 580 prohibits Maine financial institutions and credit card issuers from charging customers an extra fee for choosing to receive paper account statements instead of digital ones. It directly affects all Maine consumers who use bank accounts or credit cards issued by entities authorized to operate in the state. The bill allows institutions to offer incentives (like rewards or discounts) for selecting digital statements but bans fees specifically tied to paper statement delivery. This policy change applies immediately to all covered financial institutions and credit card issuers operating within Maine.
Maddy summaryLD 658 increases Maine's homestead property tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 of a home's assessed value for property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025. This directly affects homeowners who live in their primary residence (homestead) and pay property taxes in Maine. The bill reduces the taxable value of a home by $25,000 more than current law, lowering property tax bills for eligible homeowners. The exemption applies to the home's assessed value, meaning taxes are calculated on the value above the $50,000 threshold.
Maddy summaryLD 642 requires the University of Maine System to give enrolled parents or pregnant students priority in course registration to help them schedule classes around child care needs. The bill mandates that university trustees distribute informational flyers and posters about this priority to all students, with posters displayed in campus locations and on each campus website. This policy directly affects parents and pregnant individuals enrolled in the University of Maine System's colleges and universities. The law creates a concrete administrative requirement for the university system to implement and communicate this registration priority.
Maddy summaryLD 234 would repeal all Maine statutes enabling ranked-choice voting (RCV) in elections. It eliminates RCV by removing legal provisions that currently allow its use, including ballot instructions, counting methods, and election reporting requirements specific to RCV. The bill changes ballot design rules to separate RCV contests from other elections and modifies instructions to no longer include RCV guidance. This would prevent future use of RCV in Maine state elections, directly affecting voters, election officials, and candidates who rely on the current RCV framework. The bill does not change current election methods but removes the legal basis for RCV in Maine's election code.
Maddy summaryThis bill requires healthcare facilities (like hospitals and nursing homes) to obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian before withholding life-sustaining measures or creating a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order for an unemancipated minor under 18. It prohibits facilities from hindering parents seeking second opinions or transferring their child to another provider, and mandates they continue life-sustaining care during transfers. The bill establishes a presumption that continuing life is in the minor’s best interest, meaning courts cannot override parental objections to life-sustaining care unless there is complete destruction of the minor’s brain, circulatory, and respiratory systems. It applies directly to minors under 18 who are not emancipated, under state supervision, or in military service.
Maddy summaryThis bill allocates $250,000 for each of the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support the operational costs of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Tick Laboratory. The funds are designated for research, education, and outreach related to arthropod management and Lyme disease testing. In exchange for this funding, the laboratory must submit a report on how the money is used to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry by February 1, 2024. The committee retains the option to introduce additional legislation based on the findings in that report.