Please Pass the Smelling Salts

Officials in ME were displeased by the constant submission of fiscal notes for new crim just legislation which basically said “no impact” so they held a bunch of bills over until next year in order to do the study to see what the real impact would be. As someone who’s done plenty of those impacts, I can sympathize with staff who argue lack of time and data to do the job during a legis session. I’m just amazed that the policymakers are both cognizant of the problems (like how one bill may be absorbable within an agency’s budget but not all 16 that individually get “no impact”) and ready to step back and reevaluate both the bills and how they do things. Folks in ME may just get their money’s worth in more ways than one.