District: Part of Lewiston

Legislative service: First term

Committees: Natural Resources

Bill record: Three bills, one passed, two dead

Voting record

Budget: For

Tax reform: For

Bear trapping ban: For

Washington County slots at a tribal horse track: Against

Stiffer seat belt law: For

Increase term limits from 4 two-year terms to 6: For

When Richard Wagner was running for office last August, he said he was peeved by a situation in Lewiston where a landlord-tenant situation got out of control.

Wagner, a former court mediator, thought the case could have been resolved quicker if mediation was available sooner.

The first bill the new Democrat from Lewiston submitted gave courts the authority to order mediation prior to trial. The bill was passed, and will go into effect in about three months.

It was one of three bills he pushed this year; the two others didn’t make it.

Wagner said it wasn’t the legislation he put his name to, however, that represented his biggest impact. Wagner served on the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, which considered about 90 bills, including ones to ban the flame retardant known as deca, to establish the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, to promote recycling of old cell phones and coastal shoreline setback issues.

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