The Maine Legislature finished its work for this year on Friday, April 18.  The last week of the session saw a flurry of activity and the passage and defeat of numerous bills.

Earlier in the year the Legislature passed a supplemental budget that closed a $190 million budget short- fall. Because of the insistence of legislative Republicans, the supple-mental budget was crafted without the inclusion of a broad-based tax increase, despite the fact that some lawmakers were calling for an in-crease in the sales tax. The   no-new-tax pledge fell through the cracks during the last few days of the ses-sion as the majority pushed through a bill to fund the controversial Dirigo Health program. That bill will raise taxes on beer, wine and soda, as well as levy a surcharge on health insurance claims.

The issues revolving around school consolidation also sparked debate in the waning hours of the 123 rd . After the Governor vetoed the original bill that was meant to lift barriers for school districts in order to re-organize, a new bill was presented for passage. The final piece of legis-lation will remove some of the financial barriers school districts have run into, but will give the Com-missioner of Education the ability to approve or disapprove reorganization plans that may not fulfill all of the consolidation law's requirements.

The Legislature also enacted a jail consolidation plan that will overhaul the county and state correctional systems. The legislation will create an oversight board that will manage and coordinate operations. The state will have the ability to use free bed space in the county jails and all facilities will save money by agree-ing to a joint drug purchasing plan. 

For those counties needing new jails, this plan will help.  Counties such as Lincoln,  Sagadahoc and Somerset may find themselves on the losing end.  Time will tell.

Due to pressure from federal officials at the Department of Home-land Security, the Legislature also took quick action to secure state driver's licenses and identification cards. The two bills that were passed will require an applicant to be a resident of Maine and be in the United States legally in order to ob-tain state credentials.  The stringent guidelines contained in the original bills, however, were somewhat watered down.

  During one of the last days of the legislative session, the Maine House and Senate passed a controversial measure to raise taxes on beer, wine and soda to fund the Dirigo Health program. In addition, the proposal will repeal the Savings Offset Payment (SOP) tax and replace it with a 1.8 percent tax on all health insurance claims. The bill narrowly passed in both chambers, with the vote splitting along party lines.

The tax on soda, beer and wine replaced the original proposal to increase the cigarette tax by 50-cents a pack. The new taxes will bring in $9.2 million from soda next year and $7.5 million from beer and wine. In addition to the new taxes and the surcharge on paid claims the legis-lation will also transfer $5 million from the state's Fund for Healthy Maine and make a $3.6 million loan from the General Fund to the Dirigo Health program.

The new Dirigo funding bill was passed by slim margins in both the House and Senate. The House ap-proved the amendment that increased the taxes on beer, wine and soda by a vote of 72-69. The Senate enacted the bill 18-17.

The Dirigo Health program pro-vides subsidized health insurance policies to less than 14,000 Maine residents and has an annual budget of $57 million. When first approved, the Dirigo Health Agency estimated that they would be able to cover Maine's 130,000 uninsured residents by 2009.

  Before adjourning, the 123 rd Maine Legislature passed two bills that will put Maine into  compliance with federal demands to tighten the state's driver's license security.

One new law will require that an applicant for a driver's license or non-driver identification card show valid evidence of legal presence in the United States. The bill also states that a legal non-resident's license must expire when the person's visa expires. In addition, the bill directs the Secretary of State to participate in the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program by December 1, 2009. This program allows federal, state and local government agencies and licensing bureaus to obtain immigration status information.

The bill requiring legal presence as a condition to obtain a Maine license received a lengthy debate in the Legislature. The final vote in the House was 79-58 with all Repub-lican legislators present voting in favor of the measure. The Senate enacted the bill 19-15.

Another bill requiring individuals to prove their residency in the state to obtain a license was approved. Prior to the new law, there were no residency requirements in place to receive a Maine driver's license.

The new rules went into effect on April 22 and require an applicant to show two documents with proof of state residency in order to qualify for a license. Acceptable documents for a first-time applicant will include a tax return, W-2 form, paycheck stub, utility bill, college ID or school transcript.

The legislative changes recently enacted will ensure that Maine residents are able to board airplanes and enter federal buildings with a state issued driver's license or ID card under the new rules adopted by the Department of Homeland Sec-urity.