Rep. Margaret Craven

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new commission in Maine dedicated to improving relationships between landlords and tenants who use rental assistance programs like housing vouchers. The commission will consist of 14 appointed members representing diverse groups, including legislators, advocates for tenants and landlords, legal experts, and individuals with direct experience using rental assistance. Its primary duties involve investigating discrimination against renters based on their income source, reviewing existing incentives for landlords, and exploring ways to increase the availability of housing for assisted tenants. The commission is required to submit a final report with its findings and legislative recommendations by November 2024.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes an Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Advisory Council within Maine's Department of Health and Human Services to create and oversee a state plan addressing these conditions. The council will include staff members and two new voting members with expertise in biomedical research and primary care, and it must meet at least four times a year with a quorum of nine members. The legislation requires the council to submit annual and five-year reports to the legislature by January 2nd and recommends specific resources and services, including those for essential support workers. Additionally, the bill allocates funding for a new health planner position to support the council's operations.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends an existing proposal to change it from a direct law into a study task force. Instead of immediately allowing people to voluntarily give up their right to own firearms, the bill creates a 13-member committee to investigate whether such a system is feasible for Maine. The task force will examine various aspects like implementation methods, costs, and safety safeguards, and must submit its findings and recommendations by November 6, 2024. This approach delays any actual policy change until the committee completes its review and proposes new legislation for the next legislative session.

Maddy summaryLD 2237 allocates $17.3 million to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to expand mental health crisis intervention services available around the clock. The funding specifically supports mobile response teams by hiring peer support specialists, recovery coaches, and behavioral health liaisons, while also covering travel costs and critical incident response. Additionally, the bill amends the text to ensure the Public Utilities Commission coordinates with relevant agencies in the implementation of these safety measures. These changes aim to provide more immediate and accessible mental health support to individuals in crisis situations across the state.

Maddy summaryThis bill directs the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to provide emergency funding to two organizations to prevent the loss of behavioral health services in Androscoggin County and surrounding areas. The legislation allocates $8.9 million to St. Mary's Regional Medical Center to cover operating losses and sustain acute care services, as well as $1.9 million to Spurwink Services to help it acquire Tri-County Mental Health Services. All funds must be disbursed by July 1, 2024, ensuring that critical mental health resources remain available to the community.

Maddy summaryThis bill directs state funding to the judicial branch specifically for hiring guardians ad litem to represent children in family court cases. The money must be used to pay for these legal representatives when at least one parent lacks a lawyer and the family qualifies as financially indigent. Additionally, the bill requires the courts to submit an annual report to the legislature detailing how the funds were spent and estimating future financial needs.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends state law to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to pay hospitals for days when MaineCare-eligible patients wait in the hospital before being moved to a nursing facility. The law requires these payments to start on the eleventh day of a patient's stay and sets a yearly spending cap of $500,000 using a specific calculation based on average nursing facility rates. The bill also includes a section that authorizes specific amounts of state and federal money to fund these payments for the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Maddy summaryThis bill directs the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to increase the number of reimbursable behavioral and psychological consultation hours for adults with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorder under the MaineCare program. Specifically, it raises the limit from the current amount to 120 hours for individuals who have approved behavior plans, aiming to provide more support services. The legislation also requires the department to seek necessary federal waivers to implement these changes and allocates approximately $1.18 million in funding across various state and federal sources to cover the increased costs.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a Public Art Fund within the Maine Arts Commission to provide one-time grants for installing or performing publicly accessible art. The legislation authorizes a $5,000,000 appropriation from the state's General Fund for the 2023-24 fiscal year, with funds that are not used in that year carried forward to the next fiscal year. This change specifically reduces the originally proposed funding amount from $6,000,000 to $5,000,000.

Maddy summaryThis bill is a procedural amendment that adds a fiscal note to an existing proposal aimed at providing integrated behavioral health services to sexual violence survivors in Maine. The text itself does not introduce new policy changes or describe specific mechanisms, as its sole purpose is to include financial information required for the legislative process. Consequently, the bill does not directly affect survivors or alter service delivery beyond what is already outlined in the original legislation.