Maine residents will have three state referendum questions to vote on at the Tuesday, November 2, polls, with the referendum on the Central Maine Power (CMP) corridor garnering a great deal of attention and money, as spending by lobbying efforts topped $60 million as of October 1.

Transmission line construction ban
     Question 1 is a citizen's initiative that asks if voters want to ban the construction of high impact electric transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec Region and to require the legislature to approve all other such projects anywhere in Maine, both retroactively to 2020, and to require the legislature, retroactively to 2014, to approve by a two thirds vote such projects using public land. The "high impact electric transmission lines" is also known as the CMP corridor or the clean energy corridor.
     The language of the initiative may be confusing to voters. Voting yes means the voter wants to ban the construction and agrees with the rest of the provisions. Voting no means the voter wants the construction to proceed and does not want the rest of the provisions to stand.
     The CMP corridor would bring hydropower from Canada to Massachusetts. In 2020 Maine Governor Janet Mills brokered a $170 million deal with Hydro Quebec that would allow some of that electricity to come to Mainers at a discounted rate. Hydro Quebec would provide up to 500,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year to Maine based on a 1,200-megawatt capacity of the proposed New England Clean Energy Connect. If the transmission corridor's capacity is reduced, the megawatt amount could be reduced. The governor's office explains that energy hours would power 70,000 homes or 10,000 businesses.
     In terms of the retroactivity language in the initiative, the campaign Vote Yes on One to Reject the CMP Corridor states on its website that the "retroactivity danger" being promoted by the Vote No on One effort has no standing because the initiative actually enforces existing law. Their website states, "The Maine Constitution's intent is that projects such as this do substantially alter our public lands, therefore must be voted on and approved by a two third vote in both chambers of the Maine Legislature. The rest of the referendum is retroactive to the day our referendum was filed, at which time CMP did not have all of their permits and had not begun construction. Retroactivity is not something new being created by our referendum, it's already well established in Maine law and exists in Question 1 to enforce existing law and the Maine Constitution."
     The Natural Resources Council of Maine explains, "In November 1993, 72% of Mainers voted to amend the Maine Constitution to require that a substantial change of use on public lands be approved by a two thirds vote of the legislature. In 2014 and 2020, CMP ignored this constitutional requirement by securing illegal leases to cross public lands without legislative approval. Question 1 retroactively addresses CMP's past illegal leases and reasserts the requirement that the legislature must approve a substantial change in use on public lands. It does not grant any new power to Maine lawmakers."
     Vote No on One, a website paid for and authorized by the Hydro Quebec Maine Partnership, advocates for rejecting the initiative with a vote of no. The website states that the citizen's initiative "gives politicians the power to impose new laws and restrictions retroactively, undermining faith in Maine, its economy and drastically slowing job growth. Question 1 sets a dangerous precedent that puts the rights of individuals and businesses in Maine at risk."
     Also paid for and authorized by the Hydro Quebec Maine Partnership is Clean Energy Maine, which promotes information supporting the voting of no on Question 1. It states, "Along with creating jobs and upgrading Maine's power grid, the clean energy corridor keeps Maine on course for a clean energy future. By importing hydro electric power from its neighbor to the north, Maine can be less reliant on dirty fossil fuels, especially in winter. The clean energy corridor also protects Maine's valuable forests. Most of the transmission line runs along existing routes, and the project is designed for a small environmental footprint."
     However, the Natural Resources Council of Maine says, "The CMP corridor is not about reducing emissions, as CMP's own lawyers have admitted. In fact, the existing hydropower being used would not provide new reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. We can't trust CMP on climate. Their real record is obstructing progress on clean energy and delaying new solar projects across Maine because CMP doesn't profit from solar power. CMP and its parent companies make huge profits from building transmission lines."

Transportation bond issue
     The second referendum question asks voters to consider a $100 million bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to leverage an estimated $253 million in federal and other funds.
     The bond funding would be separated into parts. Roads and highways would receive $85 million to: construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, and preserve state highways that have been designated as Priority 1, 2 or 3 by the Department of Transportation; replace and rehabilitate bridges; and make improvements to state and state aid highways in partnership with municipalities through the existing Municipal Partnership Initiative program, and for associated activities.
     Multi modal improvements would receive $15 million to be used on facilities and equipment related to freight and passenger railroads, transit -- public transportation -- aviation, ports, harbors, marine transportation and active transportation projects and associated activities. These projects are expected to receive varying ratios of federal or local matching funds, totaling approximately $49.5 million.

Right to grow and raise food
     The third referendum question would ask voters to consider an amendment to the Maine Constitution to declare that "all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well being."
     The Office of the Attorney General explains that the amendment "would add a right to food to the Declaration of Rights in Article I of the Maine Constitution. The Declaration of Rights sets forth the natural, inherent and unalienable rights of the people of Maine. The proposed right to food would include the right of each individual to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well being. In addition to these features, the right to food may have other features not expressly described.
     "The proposed right would not protect trespassing, theft or poaching. The right would also exclude other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources in the harvesting, production or acquisition of food."