This afternoon, the Maine House of Representatives voted to pass LD1333, a 42 page bill that would dramatically change health insurance laws in Maine. The vote was along party lines, with all 76 Republicans present voting aye, to 72 nays (two Republicans and one Dem were absent).
Legislators were not given the latest markup of the bill until they arrived for today's session, which began at 10:00 a.m. Early yesterday evening, the blog Dirigo Blue posted the previous version of the bill marked up by hand (the version that was printed and voted on today).
Members of Maine People's Alliance (MPA), a progressive advocacy group, approached Republican lawmakers as they arrived at the State House this morning, to ask them questions about what was specifically in the bill. Here's what they learned:
Amazing.
But even more shocking is how the Republican leadership in the Maine Legislature is using tactics never before seen here.
This bill, for example, began as a four page document that you can see here. Last Friday, 29 April 2011, a new 29 page version was introduced at the beginning of the work session of the Insurance and Financial Services Committee, and members were told by the two Republican chairs that they would be voting on it 5 hours later.
This bill has been revised to its current form by two special interest groups: the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC), a conservative advocacy group closely tied to Maine Gov. Paul LePage, and insurance industry representatives.
In Maine, a bill is read twice and voted on twice. Today's vote was taken after the 1st reading. The Speaker of the House, Bob Nutting, then tried to waive the House rules and have the 2nd reading immediately.
A longtime legislator, Rep. John Martin (D-Eagle Lake), who is well versed in the rules, objected to this, and after a call to vote against his objection was raised and then withdrawn, the humbled Speaker ruled that the 2nd reading would occur on the next Legislative Day - next Tuesday, 10 May.
Between readings amendments are allowed to be offered. Martin's tactic to force the 2nd reading until next week will allow opponents the entire weekend to read the bill and craft measures to change it.