AUGUSTA, Maine — April 8, 2014 — The Legislature on Tuesday overturned a veto by Gov. Paul LePage of a bill that aims to protect delicate fish spawning habitats from motorized mining operations.
After a unanimous vote in the Senate on Tuesday morning, the House voted 119-23 Tuesday evening to override the veto.
The bill, LD 1671, prohibits motorized recreational gold prospecting in certain Maine waterways that contain brook trout and Atlantic salmon spawning habitats. It calls for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Marine Resources to conduct a study before Dec. 1, 2015, aimed at determining to what degree the waterways in question are still critical spawning habitats.
In his veto letter, LePage said the Legislature shouldn’t have the authority to order work for the executive branch.
“When the Legislature gives detailed instructions to executive departments on what work they should do, how and when, it is an overreach of their authority and a clear violation of the separation of powers,” wrote LePage.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News