Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 1 to 3 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §1466, sub-§9, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 678, Pt. J, §1, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1466, sub-§9-A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 678, Pt. J, §2, is amended to read:
Amend the bill in section 5 in paragraph B in the last line (page 3, line 18 in L.D.) by striking out the following: " 50%" and inserting the following: ' 45%'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 6 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §1466, sub-§10-A is enacted to read:
Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §1466, sub-§13, as amended by PL 2013, c. 167, Pt. A, §2, is further amended to read:
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
summary
The bill proposes changes to the laws regarding voting requirements for the withdrawal of a municipality from a regional school unit and the withdrawal of a member municipality from a school administrative district that was reformulated as a regional school unit pursuant to the school consolidation laws. This amendment changes the bill to remove its time limits for negotiations between the withdrawal committee and the regional school unit. The amendment retains the provisions in the bill striking the provisions in current law that repeal the existing voting requirements on January 1, 2015 and that provide that a 2/3 majority of the voters voting on a withdrawal agreement is required for the withdrawal of a municipality from a regional school unit and retains the provision in the bill changing the percentage of votes required when determining whether a municipality may petition to withdraw within 2 years of the vote on a previous withdrawal agreement that was not approved by the voters, but changes the bill's 50% of votes cast to 45%. The bill proposes to eliminate the provisions of current law that require that the total number of votes cast for and against withdrawal at the municipal vote must equal or exceed 50% of the total number of votes cast in the municipality for Governor at the last gubernatorial election. The amendment retains those provisions of current law.
The amendment also adds a distinct provision to the bill that restricts a withdrawal petition for a period of 2 years for a municipality that seeks to withdraw from a school administrative district that was reformulated as a regional school unit pursuant to the school consolidation laws if the municipal vote on a petition for withdrawal received less than 45% of the votes cast or if the withdrawal agreement received less than 60% of the votes cast during the municipal vote.