Clear heads prevail in Augusta
To the editor:
As a follow up to my prior letter to the editor, published on April 22, I am pleased to report that on April 29, the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee of the Maine State Legislature voted that the proposed legislation to change the Maine State Constitution by removing certain constitutional rights of the citizens of Maine, LD 1084, ought not to pass. Similarly, the committee voted ought not to pass on LD 754, a second bill to change the Maine Constitution, on April 22.
The two essentially identical bills, LD 703 and LD 753, were tabled by the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee on April 21.
There was nearly no support for these bills other than from one sponsor, and from the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, along with an individual from Vermont. Most others, including the Maine Municipal Association, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Independence, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife urged the committee to “use caution” in evaluating these bills, the ramifications of which, they explained, could potentially be detrimental to Mainers in quite a number of different ways.
And, yes, Mrs. Sandelier, we both agree that it is perfectly legal to amend the Constitution of the State of Maine, and the legislative process to do so is also perfectly legal. Contrary to your assertion in your letter to the editor published on April 29, I made no claim whatsoever that the process was illegal in any way. My expressed concern was not with the process, nor the legality of the process (as you asserted). In fact, I made none of the claims you assert that I did. Rather, I expressed concern about the specific proposals – as I outlined in my original letter to the editor, which would have amended the Constitution ways that would have had a serious negative impact on every citizen of the State of Maine.
I am thankful that clear heads have prevailed in Augusta and that these misguided and ill-conceived proposals have been effectively rejected by our representatives, and every Mainer’s Constitutional rights remain unscathed – for now.
Dr. Dena L. Winslow
Presque Isle
