Abandoned Roads: Not Abandoned Yet

This week, the Legislature will hold a public hearing on LD 1415, “An Act to Improve the Laws Regarding Discontinued and Abandoned Roads.” The status of formerly maintained public roads has been (and almost certainly will continue to be) perennially and vociferously debated at the Statehouse. Few issues coming before the State and Local Government Committee raise emotions like former public roads do. Nor are few issues so repeatedly and substantively revisited by the Committee.

Under current law, a presumption of abandonment exists if a municipality fails for a period of 30 or more years to keep a way passable for the use of motor vehicles at the expense of the municipality. LD 1415 eliminates that presumption for ways that have not met that statutory requirement by January 1, 2020, and instead specifies that the only process that a municipality may use to terminate its interests in a public way is through the discontinuance process established in 23 M.R.S.A. section 3026-A.

The public hearing on this bill is scheduled for 11:00 am on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, in the State and Local Government Committee Room.

Bill to Allow Public Sector Strikes Meets Opposition in the Legislature

LD 900, which was introduced in February 2019, and carried over to the short 2020 session of the 129th Maine Legislature, would allow public employees the right to strike. Strikes by public sector employees are illegal by statute in Maine. All that would be necessary is for a majority of the membership of the union to vote in favor within three days prior to the date upon which the strike is intended to start. The bill does not set forth any standards which must be met in order to call a strike. The only exception to the bill is that employees whose duties include public safety would not be allowed to strike. 

If this bill was enacted, it would be a major change in public sector labor law and would dramatically affect the balance of power in Maine between municipalities and other governmental bodies and labor unions. 

It is apparent that the bill will not have an easy time passing at the Legislature. A work session scheduled for January 15, 2020, was cancelled. All indications are that Governor Mills would veto the bill if it somehow passed both the House and Senate. 

To be blunt, this legislation would be devastating for municipalities and would have a detrimental effect on employee relations. You are urged to let your Legislative representatives know that you as a municipality or other public sector employer are opposed to this potential legislation.

An Introduction to Green Bonds

For starters, “green bonds” are not issued pursuant to any governmental program like, for example, the federal program for Qualified School Construction Bonds. Rather, the issuer of a bond requests a non-governmental organization to evaluate (there is a fee involved) the project being financed to determine if those bonds are eligible for a green bond designation. 

Green bonds are attracting investors with an appetite or need to invest in projects that have positive environmental effects. There is no subsidy or credit associated with a green bond designation, but there is potentially a marketing advantage that could lead to lower costs – in particular, lower interest costs. 

Over time, the process for attaining green bond status is becoming more uniform. For example, Climate Bonds Initiative (www.climatebonds.net) and S&P Global Ratings (www.spglobal.com) have programs for evaluating eco-friendly projects. Just last year, the City of Portland obtained a green evaluation score from S&P Global Ratings in connection with refunding certain of its 2010 bonds. The bonds were issued in connection with a U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) Gold Certified Jetport terminal expansion project. While the “green bond” designation was related to the LEED certification, S&P Global Ratings evaluated and scored the environmental benefits. 

Next time your municipality is considering financing or refinancing an eco-friendly project, including a green construction, transportation, water, waste, or energy-efficient project, it might be worthwhile investigating the benefits of a green bond designation.