Today is the deadline for cloture at the Maine State Legislature, which means it's the deadline for bills to be submitted by legislators for this year.  There are likely to be hundreds of bills this session, and we can be sure that dozens of them will affect the civil liberties and civil rights of Mainers.

The ACLU of Maine legislative team -- Zach, Oami, Jill and I -- have been working with several legislators over the past two weeks to secure the introduction of bills that will expand and improve the civil liberties and civil rights of Mainers. This year our priorities include privacy, criminal justice, voting rights, and transparency.  Below is a partial list of the bills we will be supporting this year.

Privacy:
"An Act to Protect Mobile Location Data"  -Senator Roger Katz (R-Augusta)
"An Act to Protect Cell Phone Privacy" -Senator Roger Katz (R-Augusta) and Rep. Mike Carey (D-Lewiston)
"An Act to Limit Domestic Drone Surveillance" -Senator John Patrick (D-Rumford)
"The Maine Online Privacy Protection Act" -Representative Diane Russell (D-Portland)
"An Act to Protect Social Media Privacy in the Workplace" -Representative Mike McClellan (R-Raymond)

Voting Rights:
Resolve to Amend the Constitution to Allow Early Voting -Rep. Mike Shaw (D-Standish)
Restoration of In-Person Absentee Voting on the 3 days before the Election - Rep. Henry Beck (D-Waterville)

Criminal Justice:
Elimination of mandatory minimum sentences in Maine statute (multiple bills) -Senator Roger Katz (R-Augusta) and Rep. Craig Hickman (D-Winthrop)

Transparency:
Elimination of broad secrecy exceptions that hide records about public private partnerships of $25 million under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation -Rep. Jeff McCabe (D-Skowhegan)
Broad Freedom of Information Act reforms -Rep. Mike Carey (D-Lewiston)

Our overarching goal with these initiatives is to restore trust and participation in our democracy.  The major policy wins of the last few years – same day voter registration and marriage equality for example – are a testament to grassroots organizing and powerful communications combined to persuade and activate the public.  Positive social change will depend upon continuing to expand voter trust in government and ability to participate.

Advocating for privacy and transparency are important to building public trust in our systems of government.  Reducing incarceration through justice reform and expanding voting rights will ensure that more people can participate fully in the democratic process.  We are excited to work on these initiatives to strengthen democracy and justice here in our state.