Policy Action 2025 Update

I attended a conference in downtown Dallas this spring; the American Farmland Trust conference on Saving America’s Working Lands. Flying into DFW over the warehouse farms and jigsaw puzzles of subdivisions adds a fresh perspective to the work we are committed to here in Maine. Even while walking the city streets to find a place for dinner, I missed the walkable sidewalks of many Maine cities. Nothing boosts your appreciation for the work we all do like having to walk through mud under a highway overpass to get from your hotel to great BBQ.

While GrowSmart is supporting seventeen bills within Policy Action 2025 (PA25), we also weigh in on bills that are related to those proposals. To achieve the Policy Action goal of directing growth where it makes sense in the long term, we also support or oppose bills that come from other sources.

Subdivision: PA25 bill LD 161 was heard by the Housing and Economic Development (HED) committee in February, and would charge the Housing Opportunity Program with convening a stakeholder group to update Maine’s subdivisions rules. This is essential to reducing barriers to growth within developed areas, while continuing to regulate subdivisions in areas where a community does not want to see more growth. Since then, several additional bills have been proposed that would make it easier to put in subdivisions everywhere, running counter to the very intent of smart growth. People need housing that is accessible and located where it makes sense. They also need access to affordable and healthful food. LD 161 would advance this focus, while other bills would not. This bill has been Carried Over to next session.

Statewide Appeals Board: PA25 bill LD 2140 has been developed within a Policy Action Working group, whose members are still working with the sponsor to ensure the bill provides an avenue of redress for developers of housing where it makes sense in the long term, when their proposal aligns with an accepted comprehensive plan. Speaker Fecteau removed a section on a statewide resolutions board from his LD 1829. This bill has been Carried Over to next session.

Growth Management Law: As MAP is well aware, there are two bills to update the Growth Management Law. MAP endorses LD 1751, while the Policy Action bill, LD 1940 has been endorsed as an Environmental Priorities Coalition, Maine Realtors Association, MEREDA, Quality Housing Coalition, Build Maine and GrowSmart Maine. Both bills were amended between the public hearing and the work session, each an attempt to address concerns of those supporting the other bill. There are additional language changes pending for LD 1940, and bill amendments are due to “hit the floor” any time now. Given the efforts on both sides to bridge the divide, there is a lot of similarity, yet some key difference. it is unfortunate that an agreement could not be reached before the work session. Amended language of both bills are expected at any time.

Transportation Policy and Investments: Five PA25 bills originated with the Transportation working group, with much of the work grounded in Mainers for Smarter Transportation. These bills will prompt necessary and difficult discussions with the Transportation committee and beyond. They call for implementing recommendations of the PTAC for smarter transit, the prioritization process for selecting and funding of road projects, and question the need for Maine Turnpike Authority as separate from MaineDOT. These bills may not be popular among the traditional transportation groups, but the discussions are essential to the viability and value of Maine’s transportation systems.

LD 1020, which would have repealed legislative authority to build the Gorham bypass, came out of committee with a small minority report to pass, and yet, the bill passed in the Senate last week with a one point margin, and then was voted on again where it lost with a one point margin. It was then voted down in the House and is now dead.

LD 1359 to implement recommendations of the Public Transit Advisory Council, has been renamed as a “Resolve, To Direct the Department of Transportation to Report Progress Made Toward Implementing Recommendations Based on the 2025 Public Transit Advisory Council Report,” with that report due Dec 3, 2025. The resolve is awaiting funding on the Special Highway Table.

LD 1292 would have made changes in the Maine Turnpike Authority’s contributions to Maine’s Highway Fund to support the state’s Sensible Transportation Policy. It died in committee, along with concepts of LR 1890 that were incorporated into the bill.

LD 1756 to establish a statewide transportation project selection process left the committee with just one vote of support and has been voted “ought not to pass” in the House; a fate likely facing it in the Senate.

Modernizing zoning and ordinances: There are several bills that address regulations sometimes used to limit growth even where it does make sense for the long term, such as requiring sprinklers in one or two family residential structures, requiring large lot sizes and setbacks, or requiring an unnecessary number of parking spaces per dwelling unit. While we are hesitant to limit what a municipality can do, there are some regulations that are simply out of date, or serve to keep the cost of housing unnecessarily high. While some of these PA25 bills have been voted “ought not to pass” in the Housing and Economic Development Committee, discussions raised in the public hearings translated to committee work on LD 1829, Speaker Fecteau’s bill.

LD 427 began as a bill to ban all municipal parking requirements for new developments, while allowing for parking recommendations. The bill was softened in committee, and again through a Senate amendment sponsored by HED Senate Chair Chip Curry. This amended version has received affirmative actions in the House and Senate, and is awaiting further action.

LD 1829 is the Speaker’s omnibus housing bill. It received unanimous approval from the committee as amended. In part, it incorporates policy changes related to PA25 bills related to reducing municipal requirements for sprinkler systems in small scale residential buildings, allowing up to four dwelling units within a structure without triggering subdivision standards, and several other smart growth provisions we support. GrowSmart supports the amended version, per our notes from the work session. The amended language has not yet been printed.

Updating Tax Policy: One Policy Action bill updates Maine’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit, while another allows for split property tax valuation.

LD 1464 is one of two bills this session that propose a mechanism for municipalities to adjust property taxes in order to incentivize redevelopment of derelict properties. The Constitutionality of such a strategy will be determined when a test case moves forward. This bill was one of many related to property tax relief that were killed in committee, with their concepts to be included in a study on property tax relief in LD 1770, which is not yet out of committee.

LD 435 expands Maine’s tax credit for historic structures by boosting the credit for “small projects” as well as creating an incentive for homeowners that includes weatherization costs This is one of three bills that expand the tax credit in very different ways, and all will be on the Appropriations Table at the end of session, vying for funding.

Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program: One bill of note for planners outside PA25 is LD 1450. This proposal offers improvements to the VMFSP both in the municipal process and in what is required of farmers interested in using the program. With these changes, farmland protection advocates hope the program will be adopted in more than the two towns currently using it (Winslow and Monmouth) and then used by more farmers to reduce their operating costs while they provide vital economic, environmental, and community benefits to their neighbors and fellow Mainers. This bill was signed by the Governor on June 9th.

It’s healthy to visit other places and see the impact of their decisions related to how they manage growth. This spring’s trip to Dallas is well-time for both engaging with other land policy allies, and to see what we DON’T want in Maine. I always look forward to the views when I return to Maine, and not simply because it is familiar and pretty, but because we are demonstrating that with thoughtful policies and dedicated planners, developers, and allied professionals, we can accommodate and even welcome growth while ensuring our communities are places where people can feel safe, that they belong, and that they can thrive.

You can track Policy Action 2025 bills and review GrowSmart Maine testimony, subscribe to our Fast Democracy List HERE.

You can learn more about Environmental Priorities Coalition bills HERE.