NPV Fails in Augusta

Good arguments triumph over paid lobbyists

Maine’s National Popular Vote bill (LD 56) was brought to the House floor and solidly defeated on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. The vote was 95 against and only 50 for the bill. The floor action came just two weeks after the Save Our States visit to Augusta.

Rep. Herb Adams

Much of the credit for this victory goes to Rep. Herb Adams of Portland. An instructor in government and civics at the University of Southern Maine, Rep. Adams bucked his Democratic Party leadership but brought nearly half his caucus with him after two and a half hours of floor debate. No Republicans voted for the NPV bill.

The measure has been introduced at least once in the last five years in all fifty states, but has been enacted in only five. Efforts to repeal the measure are underway in at least two of those states.

Preliminary reports indicated that NPV hired at least three lobbyists in Augusta and may have spent as much as $45,000 lobbying Maine legislators. (almost $1,000 per vote).

Save Our States visited Maine for one day, educating legislators, reporters, and citizen activists about the importance of preserving federalism and the risks inherent in NPV. With the great help of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, Senator Carol Weston, and Eagle Forum’s Wendy Pelletier, Save Our States was able to put the right information into the right hands in Augusta.

Up against a team of NPV hired guns, good arguments won the day.

Tags: Chris Pearson, defeated, Electoral College, Herb Adams, legislation, legislators, lobbyists, Maine, National Popular Vote, NPV