One of the bills that I have been working on throughout this session is LD 280 “An Act To Include Tax-exempt, Nonprofit Regional Transportation Providers under the Maine Tort Claims Act.” A concern for the rising costs of insurances being born by these non-profit organizations was brought to my attention by our own York County Community Action organization.

Maine has three taxpayer funded transportation networks that accommodate our senior citizens, our disabled individuals, children with special needs, patients to medical care appointments, including cancer care and dialysis and our economically disadvantaged citizens to work or other social services. There are four regional transportation corporations serving the metropolitan areas of this state, (Metro in Portland, Community Connector in Bangor, LATC in Lewiston and South Portland Trans); there are two transit districts also serving the metropolitan areas of the state (Casco Bay Island Transit District and Greater Portland Transit District). The third transportation network is a hybrid created under Maine Statute Title 23 M.R.S.A. Section 4209.

In order to administer and distribute state and federal public transportation funds, the Maine Department of Transportation is required by this statute, to divide the state into geographic regions for the purposes of providing public transit services to the rural areas of the state not currently served by other public transportation organizations. Maine DOT has established eight transit districts divided into eight geographic regions.  They are not aligned within specific county or municipal boundary lines but are formed geographically as nonprofit, tax-exempt regional transportation agencies. These eight entities are, York County Community Action, ARTS ( Aroostook County Community Action), Penquis (serving Penobscot and Piscataquis counties), KV Cap (serving the Augusta/Waterville region), Waldo Cap, RTP (rural Cumberland County), and Western Maine Transport. Rural Maine citizens rely on these hybrid transportation networks to provide public transit services. 

The regional transportation corporations and the transit districts serving the metropolitan regions of our state are currently covered under the Maine Tort Claims Act, which limits their liability exposure to $400,000 per occurrence. The regional transportation networks serving the rural areas of our state are not and, as a result, must purchase and carry very expensive liability coverage. This directs taxpayer dollars away from the services provided by these entities to fund these policies making it more difficult to meet their ongoing obligations to the clients they provide services to. Eventually it will become too costly to purchase the insurance and these agencies will have to fold. It is estimated that with the protection provided under the Maine Tort Claims Act these networks would save approximately 40 percent on their premium, saving between $50,000 and $60,000 per year.

LD 280 simply asks that these hybrid transportation districts be provided the same protections under the Maine Tort Claims Act as the other transportation organizations receive. The original version of LD 280 suggested including these organizations with the Maine Tort Claims Statute. 

There were concerns expressed during the public hearing and work sessions that this might set a precedence for further nonprofits organizations to request similar protection. As a result an amendment was offered that clarified Maine Statute Title 23 M.R.S.A. Section 4209, which created these hybrid transit districts by the DOT, to simply state that; “A tax-exempt, nonprofit regional public transportation agency selected by the department under this section of the statute is deemed to be a transit district as defined in Title 30-A, section 3501, subsection 1 for the purposes of the Maine Tort Claims Act. “ 

This amendment was offered to overcome the objections of committee members concerned with opening up the Maine Tort Claims Statute to other nonprofits not specifically designed as transportation entities.

There were also concerns raised that allowing this protection under the Maine Tort Claims Act would disadvantage users who might be injured in an accident and not be fairly compensated. But if that is a concern for the rural transportation providers, why is it not true for the others that currently have those protections? There have been no recorded incidents involving any of the regional transportation agencies that even approached the limits provided under the Maine Tort Claims Act and if one ever did, whether it is in the rural transportation districts or the more metropolitan areas, individuals can seek further redress within the Legislature as has been done in the past, under certain circumstances.

 As I write this article the bill has still not made it to the floor of the House where I will debate the merits of this proposal in fairness to our rural transportation networks. 

Stay tuned!

— Rep. Robert Foley, R-Wells, represents House District 7, which includes part of Wells.