What You Need to Know About Maine’s “Office of New Americans”

The following article was produced by the Maine Issues & Action PAC, a political advocacy committee formed by Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips). The opinions expressed below are those of the author.

The Office of New Americans State Network is a project of the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Council and the New York City-based World Education Services. Both parent organizations are 501(c)(3) nonprofits that work with the ONA State Network to develop ONAs in states across the country.

The Maine Office of New Americans says its goals are aligned with Governor Janet Mills’ 10-year economic plan to bring 75,000 new people to Maine. 75,000 “New Mainers” is closer to 300,000 people when you consider a spouse and an average of two children for every person recruited by Governor Mills and her administration in Maine. The population of Maine at the 2020 census was 1,362,359 people.

Maine does not have the infrastructure or tax revenue to support this Mills administration mandate of a nearly 25 percent increase in existing population by 2020. Ultimately, these higher costs will largely fall on the shoulders of the municipalities for the necessary general social assistance, school and energy costs. Health care costs will also rise, both for public health care and the private sector, to compensate for the demand for services. Moving so many people to Maine will also affect housing availability and, through LD 2003, opens the door to municipalities being forced to adhere to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s density requirements for low-income housing.

All these drastic changes and there was no bill to create a Maine Office of New Americans that was voted on by the House of Representatives and the Senate. No bill to do this has gone through the full legislative process with a public hearing, committee vote, House debate, Senate debate, House vote, Senate vote, and required concurrence of those votes in both legislative chambers.

So how did we get here?

On Wednesday August 2^i.eIn 2023, Mills signed an Executive Order directing the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation, and the Future (GOPIF) to participate in the Office of New Americans State Network. In addition to participating, the GOPIF was tasked with developing a plan to create a new state agency for immigration and immigrant resettlement. Hannah Pingree, former Democratic speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, is in charge of GOPIF. She is also the daughter of Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree.

The GOPIF plan to develop a Maine Office of New Americans would be delivered to Mills by January 19, 2024. The plan was delivered on time and was accompanied by a bill titled LD 2167 “An Act to Develop Maine’s Economy and Strengthen Its Workforce.” through Rep. Deqa Dhalac’s (D-South Portland) creation of an Office for New Americans. LD 2167 was referred to the Committee on State and Local Government for a public hearing and vote in committee before advancing to the full House and Senate for debate and subsequent vote.

LD 2167 would have established the Office of New American within the confines of the executive branch and retained it in the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future. It would also have created an advisory board of nineteen people, ten of whom must be immigrants. The governor and the elected Democratic legislative leadership would appoint the council members. The bill made no provision for confirmation by a larger elected body of these councilors. The newly created Maine Office of New American also granted itself regulatory authority.

LD 2167 received a controversial public hearing and a partisan committee vote. However, the bill itself never left the State and Local Government Committee, which is strange for such a large bill with passionate voices both for and against. The bill to create the Maine Office of New Americans never followed the required legislative process of debate in both chambers, followed by a vote. To reach agreement, both chambers must agree to pass the exact same bill and head to the governor’s desk to become law. This did not happen at the Maine Office of New Americans.

Instead, the Maine Office of New Americans was created as part of a 246-page amendment to Maine’s most recent supplemental budget LD 2214. LD 2167, the bill to properly establish the ONA, stalled in the State and Local Government Committee, where it should have been. died after adjournment of the legislature. Instead, the bill was cut and pasted into the supplementary state budget to push it through the legislative process, with deliberate disregard for transparency, advocacy and debate.

This entire requirement of the legislative process was even stated in the actual GOPIF plan to create the new Maine Office of New Americans:

“E: Timeline of Next Steps – Maine’s ONA should be signed into law during the 2024 legislative session, with associated staff proposed in the supplemental budget. If the legislature agrees and the establishment of the agency is approved, the staff and advisory council should be able to start their work by the end of 2024.”

The Mills administration, as well as the Democratic legislative leadership, ignored this directive that was included in the plan to implement the ONA with legislative approval. Instead, LD 2214, the supplemental budget, was used as a Trojan horse to secure a vote in both chambers to create the Maine Office of New Americans.

The vote to approve the supplemental budget was entirely partisan. All Democrats present in the House of Representatives voted in favor, and all Republicans voted against. In the Senate, there was again a total split between the parties, except that progressive Senator Nicole Grohoski (D-Hancock) voted no, which can be explained as a protest vote against Mills not spending more money on the progressive wish list.

Currently, the Maine Office of New Americans exists within the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future, under the control of Hannah Pingree. ONA has had taxpayer dollars allocated to a Public Services Coordinator, Public Services Executive, and there is currently an active vacancy for the position of “Director” – although this is likely a formality as leadership of the new office is likely already behind the scenes chosen. closed doors.

The 132^i.e The Legislature convenes in January and expansion and permanent funding for the Office of New American is expected to be on the legislative docket. There is also a chance that the 131^st The Legislature will convene in a special session after Election Day on Nov. 5^e and before January to secure ONA funding and expansion with current Democratic legislative majorities in both chambers.

MiaPAC will monitor this situation for any changes and will notify the public.

Maine Issues and Action PAC Summary Brief:

Problem:

• Maine now has an Office of New Americans in the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future, which is committed to bringing 75,000 people (with families, this is likely closer to 300,000 new Americans) to Maine to work. Maine does not have the jobs, housing, tax revenue, or infrastructure at the state and local level to support this new mandate.

• Maine’s Office of New Americans was established in the supplemental budget (LD 2214). It creates a new bureaucracy. The legislation to create this (LD2167) never left the State and Local Government Committee for a full debate and vote in the House and Senate. LD 2167 was simply cut and pasted into 2214, the supplemental budget.

• Maine citizens were denied representation by voting directly on the bill, where they could contact their representative and senator to influence their vote. This did not follow the required legislative process and may be illegal. This is a clear example of taxation without representation.

• There is a chance a special legislative session could be called after the Nov. 5 election and before the 132nd Legislature is sworn in in January. This special session can be used to iron out the illegalities in how ONA was created and to increase funding for it to make it a permanent part of Maine’s government bureaucracy.

Action:

• Municipalities can enact local ordinances to prevent the Mills administration from resettling asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and illegal aliens in their jurisdictions. Select Boards can contact their attorneys and have these ordinances drafted, citing the need to protect their taxpayers, municipal budgets, schools, health care infrastructure and police departments. Once the regulations are drafted, the templates can be shared among municipalities. This is not legal advice, but an example of what municipalities could do if they are willing to do so.
• The ONA plan lists many companies, NGOs and lobby groups on page 26 as supporters of the ONA. Citizens of Maine can contact the businesses and organizations listed as supporting ONA and tell them they will boycott their businesses.
• The 132nd Legislature can zero-fund the Office of New Americans in the next state budget.
• Ask your House and Senate candidates in the Maine State Legislature if they support the Office of New American. Vote accordingly. You can let legislative candidates know that you do not support the creation of the Maine Office of New American through an executive order!