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LD1645 • 2025

An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information

An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Senator Michael Tipping
Last action
2025-05-28
Official status
Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information

An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information Sponsor: Senator Michael Tipping Reference committee: Judiciary Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information Sponsor: Senator Michael Tipping Reference committee: Judiciary Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-28 Senate

    Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)

  2. 2025-05-27 Committee

    Reported Out; ONTP

  3. 2025-05-06 Committee

    Work Session Held

  4. 2025-05-06 Committee

    Voted; ONTP

  5. 2025-04-11 Committee

    Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

  6. House

    None

Official Summary Text

An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information
Sponsor:
Senator Michael Tipping
Reference committee:
Judiciary
Latest committee action:
Reported Out; ONTP

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Printed on recycled paper
132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1645
S.P. 653 In Senate, April 15, 2025
An Act to Improve Legislative Access to Public Information
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on April 11, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot.
Cosponsored by Representative SAYRE of Kennebunk and
Representative: FRIEDMANN of Bar Harbor.

Page 1 - 132LR2181(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§13 is enacted to read:
313. Request from Legislators; expedited process. Notwithstanding subsection 3, if
4 a request for a public record is submitted pursuant to this section by at least 3 Legislators,
5 the agency or official having custody or control of the public record shall comply with the
6 request within 20 working days after the request is received, as determined pursuant to
7 subsection 3. For purposes of this subsection, at least 3 of the Legislators submitting the
8 request must be members of the Legislature's government oversight committee and at least
9 one of those 3 members is the Senate or House of Representatives chair.
10SUMMARY
11 This bill amends the Freedom of Access Act by requiring a request submitted by 3 or
12 more Legislators to be complied with within 20 working days as long as at least 3 of the
13 Legislators are members of the Legislature's government oversight committee and one of
14 those 3 members is one of the chairs of that committee. Current law requires the agency
15 or official receiving the request to make a good faith effort to comply with the request
16 within a nonbinding estimate of time provided by the agency or official.
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