Maine lawmakers are again considering proposals to allow the State Police to require the use of an electronic inspection program for the state’s annual vehicle safety inspections.

If approved, this would create an electronic surveillance system to track vehicle inspections that mechanics around the state would be required to use, if directed to by the State Police.

More specifically, an “electronic inspection program” is defined in these proposals as a program designated by the Chief of the State Police “that uses electronically generated data as part of an inspection and permits the creation and exchange of an electronic record for maintaining inspection information.”

So far this session, two nearly identical bills have been introduced that would allow the State Police to adopt and mandate the use of such a program.

This, however, is not the first time that Maine lawmakers have attempted to institute a potentially mandatory surveillance program for annual vehicle safety inspections.

In 2023, legislators resoundingly rejected a Republican-sponsored bill seeking to implement a program identical to that which is included in the bills introduced so far this year.

After narrowly advancing in the House, Senate lawmakers shot the proposal down in a 30-2 roll call vote, with only Sen. Brad Farrin (R-Somerset) and Sen. Matthew Pouliot (R-Kennebec) voting in support of the measure.

Of the two bills introduced so far this year, the primary difference between them lies not in the guidelines for the electronic inspection program itself, but in how each piece of legislation seeks to alter the fees that may charged for these inspections.

Currently, state law caps inspection fees at $12.50, but this would be raised significantly under both proposals, albeit to different degrees.

LD 566, sponsored by Sen. Brad Farrin (R-Somerset), would raise this limit to $20, while LD 667, sponsored by Rep. Wayne R. Parry (R-Arundel), would cap fees at 2.5 times the state minimum wage.

Based on the current minimum wage of $14.65, this would mean that the cap would be initially set at $36.63.

These, however, are not the only changes to the state’s safety inspection requirements that have been introduced so far this session.

Another group of Republican lawmakers proposed legislation earlier this year that seeks to eliminate the annual safety inspection program entirely.

Similarly, Rep. Amy J. Roeder (D-Bangor) brought forward a bill that would exempt new cars from the annual safety inspection for the first three years after they are manufactured.

Both of the bills looking to implement an electronic inspection program and raise the limit on inspection fees have been referred to the Legislature’s Transportation Committee for further consideration, but a public hearing has not yet been scheduled for either one.