2022 ME Legislative Scorecard 2021-
The following scorecard lists several key votes in the Maine Legislature in 2021 and 2022 and ranks state representatives and senators based on their fidelity to (U.S.) constitutional and limited-government principles.
This is our first state-level Scorecard; the selected votes may not be reflective of legislators' overall records. Their cumulative scores will change as we add more votes. Please check regularly for updates.
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LD2 requires, upon the request of a legislative committee, the preparation of a “racial impact statement,” which assesses the potential impact that legislation could have on “historically disadvantaged” racial populations.
The Senate passed LD2 on March 11, 2021, by a vote of 25 to 7. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill divides and targets citizens on account of race, which makes it unconstitutional as well as immoral. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment guarantee that no state shall deprive “any person” of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny them the “equal protection” of the laws.
HP348 would apply to Congress to call an “Article V constitutional convention to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution to impose congressional term limits.”
The Senate passed a motion to defeat HP348 on June 2, 2021, by a vote of 21 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because term limits conflict with the right of the American people to choose their representatives. Moreover, states should act immediately to nullify all unconstitutional federal laws, rather than risk an Article V convention. Article V of the U.S. Constitution was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution, not the failure of elected officials to uphold their oath of office.
LD980 would place several limitations on the powers of the Governor to issue and maintain an emergency proclamation, and specify that a violation by the Governor of the exercise of emergency powers is an impeachable offense.
The Senate passed a motion to defeat LD980 on June 8, 2021, by a vote of 21 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the nays because Article IV, Section 1, of the Maine Constitution vests legislative power in the House of Representatives and the Senate, not the Governor. Each state, under Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, is guaranteed a republican form of government, which requires a limitation and separation of powers.
LD1138 would permit the use of deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily injury in self-defense, or in defense of a 3rd person, or to prevent a kidnapping, robbery, or gross sexual assault.
The Senate passed a motion to defeat LD1138 on June 14, 2021, by a vote of 20 to 15. We have assigned pluses to the nays because government has a duty to secure the natural, individual, and unalienable right to self-defense — of one’s life, liberty, and property. This fundamental right belongs to the people and is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.
LD1045 establishes the Maine Health Care Plan, which provides universal health care coverage to all residents of the state.
The Senate passed LD1045 on June 16, 2021, by a vote of 21 to 13. We have pluses to the nays because health care is not the legitimate object of government, nor should be under federal, state, or local jurisdiction in the United States. No state should compel its citizens to furnish taxpayer money for a government-run health care system or any other unconstitutional project in violation of the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.
LD811 reimburses MaineCare providers engaged primarily in the delivery of “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services.”
The Senate passed LD811 on April 25, 2022, by a vote of 18 to 12. We have assigned pluses to the nays because states should act to ban abortion and secure the right to life for all persons. The right to life is the most fundamental, God-given, and unalienable right asserted in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
