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2024 Maine legislative session

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2024 Maine legislative session
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General information
Scheduled session start:    Jan. 3, 2024

Scheduled session end:    April 17, 2024

Leadership
Senate President
Troy Dale Jackson (D)

House Speaker
Rachel Ross (D)
Majority Leader
Senate: Eloise Vitelli (D)
House: Maureen Terry (D)
Minority Leader
Senate: Harold Stewart (R)
House: Billy Bob Faulkingham (R)

Elections
Next Election:    November 5, 2024

Last Election:    November 8, 2022

Previous legislative sessions
2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2024 legislative sessions


In 2024, the Maine State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 3, and adjourn on April 17.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Democrats won a 22-13 majority in the Senate and a 80-69 majority with two independent members in the House. Democrats also controlled the governorship, creating a Democrat state government trifecta. At the start of the 2024 session, Maine was one of nine state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

At the beginning of the 2024 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the Maine state House and state Senate.
  • Maine was one of 17 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Maine's governor was Democrat Janet T. Mills.

    • Leadership in 2024

    Maine State Senate

    Maine House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2024

    See also: State government trifectas

    Maine was one of 17 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2024 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Maine was also one of nine state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Maine State Legislature in the 2024 legislative session.

    Maine State Senate

    Party As of January 2024
         Democratic Party 22
         Republican Party 13
    Total 40

    Maine House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2024
         Democratic Party 81
         Republican Party 68
         Independent 1
         Independent for Maine Party 1
    Total 151

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Maine state government

    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2024 legislative session, there were 28 standing committees in Maine's state government, including 17 joint legislative committees, five state Senate committees, and six state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    • Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee
    • Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee
    • Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
    • Education and Cultural Affairs Committee
    • Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee
    • Environment and Natural Resources Committee
    • Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee
    • Health and Human Services Committee
    • Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee
    • Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee
    • Judiciary Committee
    • Labor and Housing Committee
    • Marine Resources Committee
    • State and Local Government Committee
    • Taxation Committee
    • Transportation Committee
    • Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee

    Senate committees

    • Bills in the Second Reading Committee
    • Engrossed Bills Committee
    • Conduct and Ethics Committee
    • Senate Rules Committee
    • Senatorial Vote Committee

    House committees

    • Bills in the Second Reading Committee
    • Elections Committee
    • Engrossed Bills Committee
    • Ethics Committee
    • Leaves of Absence Committee
    • Rules and Business of the House Committee

    Legislation

    Enacted legislation

    The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2024 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2024. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Election administration legislation

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    State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job. Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.

    Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments, translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language, and, because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.

    The table below lists 2024 election-related legislation in Maine. The following information is included for each bill:

    • Bill number
    • Official name or caption
    • Most recent action date
    • Legislative status
    • Topics dealt with by the bill

    Bills are organized by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Maine Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Part III of Article IV and Article X of Maine Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Maine
    687px-Flag of Maine.svg.png

    The Maine Constitution may be amended in two ways—through the legislative process, or a state constitutional convention. Maine residents cannot put a constitutional amendment on the ballot through the power of initiative. Maine does feature the power of initiative for initiated state statutes.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A two-thirds majority (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the Maine State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 101 votes in the Maine House of Representatives and 24 votes in the Maine State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 15 of Part III of Article IV, the legislature can, by a two-thirds concurrent vote of both branches, call a constitutional convention. Maine has never called such a convention; however, two "constitutional commissions" were impaneled, one in 1876 and one in 1962, but neither led to significant changes.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Maine.

    Maine Party Control: 1992-2025
    Fifteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R R R I I I I I I I I D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D
    Senate D D D R R D D D D S S D D D D D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D D D D
    House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D

    Historical Senate control

    Democrats won control of the Maine State Senate in 2018. In 2022, they won a 22-13 majority.

    The table below shows the partisan history of the Maine Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Maine State Senate election results: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22
    Democrats 20 16 19 20 17* 18 18 18 20 14 21 15 17 21 22 22
    Republicans 15 18 15 14 17 17 17 17 15 20 13 20 18 14 13 13
    Other 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

    *Chamber controlled by power-sharing agreement

    Historical House control

    Democrats won control of the Maine House of Representatives in 2012. In 2022, they won an 82-67-2 majority.

    The table below shows the partisan history of the Maine House following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Maine House of Representatives election results: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22
    Democrats 90 77 81 79 88 80 76 89 96 72 86 79 77 89 80 82
    Republicans 61 74 69 71 63 67 73 60 54 78 61 68 72 57 67 67
    Other 0 0 1 1 1 4 2 2 1 1 4 4 2 5 4 2

    See also

    Elections Maine State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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