Maine 2017 ballot measures

2017 Maine Ballot Measures
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In 2017, five statewide ballot measures were certified for the ballot in the state of Maine. Voters approved one measure at the election on June 13, 2017, and voted on two ballot initiatives, one referred amendment, and one referred bond issue at the election on November 7, 2017. All together in 2017, four measures were approved and one was defeated.

HIGHLIGHTS

Initiatives: Voters considered two ballot initiatives at the election on November 7, 2017. Question 1 was designed to authorize a casino in York County, Maine. It was defeated. Question 2 was designed to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to cover people with incomes equal to or below 138 percent of the federal poverty line. It was approved.

Bonds: $155 million in bonds were on the ballot as two bond issues in Maine in 2017. Voters approved one bond measure on June 13, 2017, which authorized $50 million in bonds for business loans and investment. The second bond measure, which authorized issuing $105 million in bonds for transportation infrastructure projects, was on the ballot on November 7. It was also approved.

Amendments: Voters also considered a constitutional amendment increasing the amount of time that the Public Employees Retirement System's unfunded liabilities from experience losses need to be paid off. It was approved.

2017 legislative session: Members of the 128th Maine State Legislature addressed bills to amend or repeal each of the ballot initiatives approved in 2016. Conflict over Question 2, a tax surcharge on household incomes above $200,000, led to a government shutdown and was repealed as part of the deal struck between legislators and Gov. LePage.

On the ballot

See also: 2017 ballot measures

June 13:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
BI	Question 1	Bonds	$50 million in bonds for investment in tech sectors and businesses	a

November 7:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Question 1	Gambling	Casino or slot machines in York County	d
IndISS	Question 2	Healthcare	Expand Medicaid under the ACA	a
BI	Question 3	Bonds	$105 million in bonds for highways, bridges, ports, railroads, aviation, transit, and trails	a
LRCA	Question 4	Pension	Time to pay off unfunded liabilities from experience losses	a

Getting measures on the ballot

Maine allows citizen initiatives in the form of indirect initiated state statutes and veto referendums. The deadline for submitting signatures to qualify ballot initiatives for the election on November 7, 2017, in Maine was January 26, 2017. A certified measure is sent to the state Legislature, where officials have the option to approve the measure or take no action. Taking no action would allow the initiative to appear on the ballot for a popular vote.

Signatures for veto referendums were due 90 days after the legislature's adjournment. The first part of the legislative session ran until July 4, 2017. The second part convened to address bond issues, vetoes, and unfunded legislation, including some constitutional amendments, and adjourned on August 2, 2017. The 90-day period began at the end of the second part of the session. To make the 2017 ballot, initiatives and veto referendums required 98,492 valid signatures.

The state legislative session ran from December 7, 2016, through August 2, 2017, during which time the Maine State Legislature could have placed referred constitutional amendments and referred state statutes on the ballot. The state Legislature can put a proposed amendment or bond issue on the ballot upon a two-thirds majority vote in both the legislative chambers. The measure must then be approved by a simple majority of voters.

Summary of campaign contributions

See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2017

As of March 22, 2025, around $13.38 million had been raised for three ballot measures, including two initiatives, in Maine. Over 75 percent of the statewide total was contributed to the campaigns surrounding one initiative—the Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative.

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees had amassed in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
Maine Question 1, Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative (2017)	$	$	d
Maine Question 1, Technology Sectors Funds and Business Loans Bond Issue (June 2017)	$119,750.00	$0.00	a
Maine Question 2, Medicaid Expansion Initiative (2017)	$	$	a
Maine Question 4, Public Pension Unfunded Liabilities from Experience Losses Amendment (2017)	$0.00	$0.00	a
Maine Question 3, Transportation Bond Issue (2017)	$0.00	$0.00	a

Cost per required signature

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2017

The cost-per-required-signatures (CPRS) is a comparison of the amount of money spent on the petition drive to the number of signatures the state requires for an initiative to make the ballot. The CPRS for the Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative was $43.97, the highest of 2017 and the highest in Maine since Ballotpedia started tracking CPRS in 2010. Supporters of the Medicaid Expansion Initiative used volunteers and $966 worth of in-kind services to collect signatures, totaling $0.02 per signature.

Ballot Measure:	Topic:	Petition company	Cost	Signatures	CPRS
Maine Question 1	Gambling	Olympic Consulting, Silver Bullet Group Inc., Labor Ready, Encore Political Services, and J.E.F. Associates	$2,687,826.38	61,123	$43.97
Maine Question 2	Healthcare	Maine Center for Economic Policy	$965.74	61,123	$0.02
Averages:	N/A		$1,344,396.06	N/A	$22.00

2017 legislative session

The 128th Maine State Legislature convened on December 7, 2016. The first part of the legislative session was expected to adjourn on June 21, 2017. However, legislators voted twice to extend the session to work on the state budget. The first part of the 2017 legislative session ended on July 4, 2017. However, the legislature reconvened to consider bond issues, vetoes, and unfunded legislation on July 20, 2017, and August 2, 2017.

2016 state legislative elections

See also: Maine State Legislature

In the Maine State Senate, Republicans lost two seats at the election on November 8, 2016, but were able to maintain 18 of 35 (51.4 percent) seats. Democrats held 17 of 35 (48.6 percent) seats in 2017. In the Maine House of Representatives, Democrats lost one seat at the election in 2016, but were able to maintain 77 of 151 (51.0 percent) seats. On May 26, 2017, two Democratic representatives became independent members of the House, reducing the number of Democratic seats to 75 (49.7 percent). Republicans held 72 (47.7 percent) seats following the election, but that number decreased to 71 (47.0 percent) following one member declaring himself an independent on January 4, 2017.

2017 indirect initiatives

See also: Initiatives on the 2017 ballot

The state Legislature received two indirect initiated state statutes in 2017. In Maine, the legislature has the entire length of the regular legislative session to act on indirect initiatives. The Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative, which cost around $2.687 million to put before legislators, was introduced on February 28, 2017. Sen. Garrett Mason (R-22) and Rep. Louis Luchini (D-132) said the proposal was an abuse of the state's initiative process and discussed options to stop the measure from appearing on the ballot. Lisa Scott, one of the sponsors of the initiative, said sponsors did not intend to violate campaign rules if any were violated. The Medicaid Expansion Initiative, which cost around $966 to put before legislators, was introduced on March 14, 2017. The Senate voted 19-15 to indefinitely postpone a vote on the initiative. Gov. Paul LePage (R) vetoed similar bills in the past. As the state Legislature did not take action on the initiatives, both were certified to appear on the ballot in 2017.

Changes to voter-approved 2016 initiatives

See also: Maine 2016 ballot measures and legislative alteration

During the 2017 regular and special legislative sessions, the state legislature voted to amend or repeal each of the four ballot initiatives passed in 2016. Question 1, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana, was amended to delay the licensing of retail marijuana facilities until February 2018. Question 2, which was designed to place an additional 3 percent surcharge on the portion of household incomes above $200,000 and earmark revenue for public education, was repealed as part of the budget deal struck between legislators and Gov. LePage. Question 4, an initiative to increase the minimum to $12 an hour, was amended to restore the state's tip credit that allowed employers to count 50 percent of employees' tips toward wages. Question 5, which enacted ranked-choice voting statewide, was amended to repeal Question 5 on December 1, 2021, unless the legislature referred and voters approved a constitutional amending allowing for ranked-choice voting.

As of 2017, Maine was one of 11 states with no restrictions on how or when the state legislature can repeal or amend a voter-approved initiated statute.

Proposals to change ballot initiative process

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Maine

There were two bills designed to change how the state constitution governs the initiative process in Maine that received floor votes in the state Legislature in 2017. Both would have required voters to approve the proposed changes at the ballot. Legislative Document 53 would have banned the practice of paying initiative and referendum circulators based on the number of signatures collected. While the state House voted to engross the measure, the state Senate rejected engrossment 27-8.

Legislature Document 31 was designed to create a distribution requirement for signatures for initiatives and veto referendums. The state House gave final approval the amendment on June 16, 2017. Republicans, 39 (of 75) Democrats, and two (of three) independents supported the amendment in the House. On July 20, 2017, the state Senate failed to pass the amendment by the two-thirds vote requirement. The House voted to reintroduce LD 31 during the 2018 legislative session.

Conflicts over bond issues

See also: Bond issues on the 2017 ballot

On July 20, 2017, the state Legislature considered three bond issues: (1) a $105 million transportation infrastructure bond; (2) a $55 million business and research bond; and (3) a $40 million student-loan debt relief bond. Legislators approved the $105 million transportation bond, which Gov. LePage allowed to be certified without his signature. The two other bonds were also considered on August 2. Unable to meet the two-thirds legislative vote to pass in 2017, the Maine House of Representatives voted to reintroduce them during the 2018 legislative session. Gov. LePage, a Republican, and legislative Democrats supported the student-loan debt relief bond. He criticized members of his own party for opposing the bond, saying, "I can’t believe that they’re so narrow-minded." Rep. Heather Sirocki (R-28) explained her opposition, stating, "I think this is bad public policy for the state to borrow money it does not have, to give to students who borrowed money they don’t have, to pay off their student loans, to which they made the commitment, not the state of Maine taxpayer." Gov. LePage said that during the next legislative session he planned to "take it out on the streets, and I’m going to campaign very hard for it."

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in Maine and List of Maine ballot measures

• A total of 130 measures appeared on statewide ballots in Maine from 1995 to 2016.
• From 1995 to 2016, the number of measures on statewide ballots ranged from two to nine.
• Between 1995 and 2016, an average of six measures appeared on the ballot in Maine annually.
• Between 1995 and 2016, about 78 percent (101 of 130) of the total number of measures that appeared on statewide ballots were approved, and about 22 percent (29 of 130) were defeated.

Maine statewide ballot measures, 1995-2016
Years	Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual median	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
Even years	61	47	77.15%	14	22.95%	5.6	6.0	2	9
Odd years	69	54	78.26%	15	21.74%	6.3	7.0	3	9
All years	130	101	77.69%	29	22.31%	5.9	6.0	2	9

Not on the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Public Funding of Religious Private Schools Initiative	Education	Repeal requirement that private schools cannot be religious to receive public funds
IndISS	Income Tax Abolishment Initiative	Taxes	Eliminate the state income tax by 2020
IndISS	Removal of Protections Based on Sexual Orientation Initiative	LGBT issues	Remove protections based on sexual orientation from state law
IndISS	Positive Reentry Program Initiative	Law enforcement	Create a Positive Reentry Program for persons convicted of a crime
LRCA	Payment of Petition Circulators Amendment	Direct Democracy	Ban the payment of petition circulators on a per-signature basis
LRCA	Changes to Implement Ranked Choice Voting Amendment	Elections	Requires state candidates to be elected by a majority vote
LRCA	Signature Distribution Requirement for Initiatives and Referendums Amendment	Direct Democracy	Require that signatures be collected from the state's two congressional districts
BI	Business Investment, Loans, and Infrastructure and Biomedical Research Bond Issue	Bonds	$55 million in bonds for business investment, loans, and infrastructure and biomedical research

State profile

Demographic data for Maine
	Maine	U.S.
Total population:	1,329,453	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	30,843	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	95%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.1%	5.1%
Native American:	0.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	1.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.6%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	29%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,331	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	16.6%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Maine. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Maine

Maine voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, eight are located in Maine, accounting for 3.88 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Maine had seven Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 4.42 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Maine coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Maine
• United States congressional delegations from Maine
• Public policy in Maine
• Endorsers in Maine
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• More...

See also

• 2017 ballot measures
• List of Maine ballot measures
• Maine State Legislature
• Laws governing the initiative process in Maine
• History of Initiative & Referendum in Maine
• Campaign finance requirements for Maine ballot measures

External links

• Maine Secretary of State