• 1. It makes the requirements of the bill apply only to recovery residences and not to other housing-based programs and expands the definition of "recovery residence."
• 2. It changes the requirement for on-site storage of naloxone hydrochloride from at least one unit for every 3 residents of a housing-based program to at least 2 units for each floor of a recovery residence.
• 3. It exempts from arrest or prosecution a person who in good faith administers naloxone hydrochloride to another person experiencing a drug-related overdose. The person may not be arrested or prosecuted for a violation of laws prohibiting the unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, acquiring drugs by deception, the illegal possession of hypodermic apparatuses or the use of drug paraphernalia or a violation of probation if the grounds for arrest or prosecution are obtained as a result of the person's administering naloxone hydrochloride.
• 4. It removes the requirement that full-time employees of a housing-based program receive training and provides instead that residents of a recovery residence, employees of a recovery residence and all other persons involved in the administration of a recovery residence are required to successfully complete training in the administration of naloxone hydrochloride that meets the protocols and criteria established by the Department of Health and Human Services.

This bill proposes to amend the laws governing the funding sources of the controlled moose hunt season in the State.

Amendment H-273
This amendment replaces the bill, which is a concept draft, and changes the title. It allows the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to accept monetary donations to support hunting opportunities for disabled veterans. It requires the commissioner to transfer those donations to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Bureau of Maine Veterans' Services to be deposited into the Hunting Opportunities for Disabled Veterans Fund, a nonlapsing fund to be used for the purpose of making funds available to organizations that provide disabled veterans with hunting opportunities. The fund may also receive any other monetary gifts, donations or other contributions from public or private sources. The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section.

LD 865 Chaptered Law
LD 865 Chaptered Law fiscal note

• 1. Expanding and clarifying the activity that constitutes hazing;
• 2. Making it explicit that the prohibition applies to public and private elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools;
• 3. Making hazing a Class E crime;
• 4. Disallowing defenses such as consent or willing participation of the subject of the hazing, that no injury or damage resulted from the hazing or that the hazing was not sanctioned by or part of an organization's membership requirements; and
• 5. Providing immunity from civil or criminal liability for reporting or attempting to prevent hazing.

• 1. Increases the income amounts that are disregarded when calculating benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF program, for recipients who have earnings from employment. It also replaces for a limited period food assistance lost as a result of increased earnings from employment and the increased income amounts that are disregarded;
• 2. Increases the transitional food benefits available under the TANF program from $50 per month per family to $100 per month per family;
• 3. Establishes a whole family economic security initiative as part of the TANF program to increase the economic security of the entire family; and
• 4. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to count the participation of a participant in the ASPIRE-TANF program in basic skills education, which includes programs to assist individuals in obtaining a high school equivalency diploma, toward the first 20 hours of the participant's weekly work participation requirements.

• 1. It clarifies that employment earnings in the months when earnings are subject to disregards do not affect special housing allowances.
• 2. It reduces the number of months that the Department of Health and Human Services disregards the earnings of a recipient of temporary assistance for needy families, or TANF, benefits and removes the requirement that the earnings be continuous for more than 2 months to be counted.
• 3. It stipulates that a month in which earnings are insufficient to change a benefit amount is not counted as a month in which earnings are disregarded.
• 4. It changes the requirement for food supplement assistance for a TANF recipient to be the same amount as prior to employment to a minimum of $50 in food supplement assistance.
• 5. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to approve an extension from the 60-month limit for TANF recipients who have employment earnings that are subject to disregards rather than not counting those months in the 60-month limit.
• 6. It changes the amount of TANF block grant funds that can be used for initiatives in the bill from $3,000,000 to $2,000,000.
• 7. It corrects the language for basic skills education to refer to a high school diploma or equivalent or comparable credential. It also states that basic skills education counting as work participation requirements may be suspended if the State no longer meets the work participation rates required by the Federal Government.

• 1. It moves the law relating to parental rights and responsibilities of active-duty parents from the laws pertaining to the Military Bureau to the laws governing domestic relations;
• 2. It limits the award, in any civil action brought under the laws regarding preservation of status and right to benefits of members of the Maine National Guard or the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces, of reasonable attorney's fees and costs to any prevailing member of the Maine National Guard or the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces;
• 3. It allows any federally recognized general officer currently serving in the Maine National Guard to be appointed Deputy Adjutant General;
• 4. It eliminates the requirement that a federally recognized officer must command the Joint Force Headquarters;
• 5. It moves the law relating to security at Maine National Guard military facilities and the real property of the department from the laws pertaining to the activation of state military forces to the laws governing the organization of state military forces. It also allows the provost marshal to receive confidential criminal history records and allows the Maine National Guard to use all means necessary to protect its assets that are inherently dangerous or vital to national security;
• 6. It repeals the law governing retired officers and the retired list and amends the laws governing the Governor's authority to activate state military forces to allow the Adjutant General or Deputy Adjutant General to call a member or retired member of the Maine National Guard, with that member's consent, to perform active state service;
• 7. It amends the law prohibiting any voluntary active state service without the express order of the Governor to specify that the active state service prohibited is service without pay. It also specifies that members and retired members of the Maine National Guard in active state service pursuant to a cooperative agreement with the Federal Government are entitled to the same pay as is received by persons from the United States Armed Forces, but that the pay may not be less than pay based upon a 12-hour day at the state minimum wage nor more than that allowed pursuant to the cooperative agreement;
• 8. It allows the Adjutant General to sell the South Portland Air National Guard Station; and
• 9. It adds violations under the motor vehicle laws prohibiting operating under the influence as violations under the Maine Code of Military Justice.

• 1. Removes the requirement in the bill that free tuition be provided to the child of a veteran for a master's degree program; and
• 2. Provides that the tuition waiver may not exceed the cost of 120 undergraduate credit hours at the in-state tuition rate at the University of Maine campus located at Orono.

• 1. It allows an eligible customer to elect net energy billing until December 31, 2019, after which time no new net energy billing arrangements may be allowed;
• 2. It allows net energy billing arrangements entered into prior to December 31, 2019 to remain in effect until December 31, 2034;
• 3. It prohibits a transmission and distribution utility from requiring a customer to meter the gross output of an eligible facility in order to participate in net energy billing; and
• 4. It limits to 50 the number of eligible customers that may participate in a single shared interest in an eligible facility or the number of meters associated with a single shared interest, except in the service territory of a transmission and distribution utility located in an area administered by the independent system administrator for northern Maine.

The bill establishes a market-based crediting system for energy generated by eligible facilities. It requires the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules to allow an eligible customer to receive a monetary credit for energy generated by an eligible facility in excess of the customer's usage and exported to the grid at the real-time wholesale market price of that energy. As in the provisions relating to net energy billing, a transmission and distribution utility is prohibited from requiring a customer to meter the gross output of an eligible facility in order to participate in the crediting system, and the number of eligible customers that may participate in a single shared interest in an eligible facility, or the number of meters associated with a single shared interest, is limited to 50. The bill exempts a transmission and distribution utility located in an area administered by the independent system administrator for northern Maine, or any successor of the independent system administrator for northern Maine, from using this crediting system until the Public Utilities Commission determines the utility's billing system can perform the necessary functions to implement the system. It requires the commission to consider whether an alternative system to the crediting system for northern Maine could be developed and utilized in the interim period before the utility's billing system is modified to allow a market-based crediting system.

It requires the Public Utilities Commission to procure, to the maximum extent possible, 20 megawatts of large-scale community solar distributed generation resources. It requires that the contract rate be calculated annually and that no contract may be for more than 6¢ per kilowatt-hour or the average wholesale electricity rate over the preceding 12 months, whichever is less.

Lastly, it requires the Public Utilities Commission to conduct an analysis of the costs and benefits to ratepayers for both net energy billing and the market-based crediting system in an adjudicatory proceeding and to report those findings to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters no later than January 1, 2021.

This bill also requires the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards to provide a poster or notice to employers that states that employees may be eligible for the earned income tax credit. This bill requires employers to post the poster or notice in a place that is accessible to the employers' employees.

Amendment S-297
This amendment, which is the majority report, replaces the provisions of the bill amending the earned income tax credit with the Maine work credit. The Maine work credit is similar to the federal earned income tax credit but uses different factors for calculating the credit that are intended to produce a state credit for individuals with qualifying children that is approximately 23% of the federal credit and for individuals with no qualifying children that is approximately 70% of the federal credit. The bill also provides eligibility for individuals who are at least 18 years of age but less than 25 years of age who have no qualifying children and creates a minimum credit for students and eligible caregivers.

The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section.

LD 104 Amendment S-297 fiscal note

This bill proposes to increase funding for civil legal services.

Amendment H-316
This amendment replaces the bill, which is a concept draft. The amendment improves funding for civil legal services by providing an appropriation from the General Fund to be distributed through the existing procedures of the Civil Legal Services Fund Commission. The amendment clarifies the qualifications for providers to be eligible for funding.

Amendment S-370
This amendment amends Committee Amendment H-316 by replacing the $5,000,000 General Fund appropriation in the committee amendment with Other Special Revenue Funds allocations of $715,010 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $953,346 in fiscal year 2020-21 as a result of increasing the percentage of judicial fees allocated to the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund and from revenues collected from a filing fee surcharge to be deposited in the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund.

LD 214 Chaptered Law
LD 214 Chaptered Law fiscal note

• 1. Removing the examination requirement;
• 2. Reducing the number of minimum hours of training in clinical supervision;
• 3. Clarifying that licensed pastoral counselors and licensed marriage and family therapists may be licensed as certified clinical supervisors; and
• 4. Adding an eligibility requirement that recognizes licensed mental health professionals with experience in treating co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders and at least 3 years of experience supervising clinicians in treatment programs for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

This bill also defines "recovery residence" as an alcohol-free and illegal substance-free shared living residence for persons recovering from substance use disorder that provides peer support and connects residents to support services and community resources.

Amendment H-577
This amendment replaces the bill and provides a new title. The amendment provides an exception to the rules for life safety code requirements for recovery residences that are certified by a nationally recognized organization that supports persons recovering from substance use disorder and that meet other listed criteria. The amendment defines a recovery residence as a shared living residence for persons recovering from substance use disorder that is focused on peer support, provides to its residents an environment free of alcohol and illegal drugs and assists its residents by connecting the residents to support services or resources in the community that are available to persons recovering from substance use disorder.

LD 353 Chaptered Law
LD 353 Chaptered Law fiscal note

This bill requires all school administrative units to provide at least one hour annually of age-appropriate traffic safety education to students in grades 2 to 12. The traffic safety education program must provide, at a minimum, instruction on the use of public and private ways by pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicle operators and on the laws and rules regarding that use. A school administrative unit may contract with a 3rd party to provide the traffic safety education.

Amendment H-83
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, modifies the requirements in the bill for age-appropriate traffic safety education in school administrative units. The amendment provides that the traffic safety education must be provided annually to at least 4 different grade levels from kindergarten to grade 8 instead of annually in grades 2 to 12. The amendment also strikes the requirement that the education be at least one hour in length.

This amendment also provides funding for 90% of the cost to school administrative units to implement the traffic safety education curriculum. The amendment also specifies that outside funding may be accepted by the Department of Education and expended for the purpose of traffic safety education annually.

LD 470 fiscal note
LD 470 Amendment H-83 fiscal note

• 1. It requires that the Secretary of State draft the ballot question for a people's veto or a direct initiative in a clear, concise and direct manner that describes the subject matter of the people's veto or direct initiative as simply as is possible.
• 2. It eliminates the requirement that questions for a people's veto referendum be phrased so that an affirmative vote is in favor of the people's veto.
• 3. It requires that an explanation of the effect of a "yes" vote and the effect of a "no" vote be printed on the ballot immediately below each referendum question, including each people's veto, direct initiative, bond issue, constitutional amendment and other legislatively proposed referendum question.

• 1. It extends eligibility to apply to individuals who are currently enrolled in master's or doctoral degree programs;
• 2. It specifies that applicants must indicate an intention to work as full-time nursing faculty in a nursing education program in the State, and increases the required commitment from 3 to 5 years after acceptance into the nursing education loan repayment program;
• 3. It increases the maximum amount of loans eligible for repayment under the program from $4,500 to $30,000 for a master's degree, and from $6,000 to $60,000 for a doctoral degree.

his bill would provide funding and enact measures based on recommendations of the President of the University of Maine at Machias in a strategic plan chartered by the Chancellor of the University of Maine System and due to the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System in March 2019. The bill would strengthen research and economic development efforts across the University of Maine System to support Maine industries and workforce development and to foster business formation and expansion, specifically in the 7 research and development sectors designated in statute: advanced technology for agriculture and forestry; aquaculture and marine technology; biotechnology; composite materials technology; environmental technology; information technology; and precision manufacturing technology.

This bill proposes to enact measures to ensure that the name of a deceased individual is not released publicly before the family of the deceased individual has been notified.

• 1. Work 20 hours a week;
• 2. Pay monthly premiums of up to $40; and
• 3. Contribute $10 if the individual goes to an emergency department for a nonemergency issue.

Additionally, the resolve provides funding to increase rates in rule Chapter 101: MaineCare Benefi\ts Manual, Chapter III, Section 65, Behavioral Health Services, Children's Home and Community Based Treatment and Section 97, Appendix D, Principles of Reimbursement for Child Care Facilities by 30% no later than October 1, 2019.

Amendment H-352
This amendment removes from the resolve the sections relating to psychiatric residential treatment facilities and increasing MaineCare reimbursement rates under rule Chapter 101: MaineCare Benefits Manual, Chapter III, Section 65 and Section 97, Appendix D. The amendment requires the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate reimbursement rates with providers to provide services to children returning to the State, including deviating from reimbursement rates established by department rules in order to access additional services.

LD 984 Chaptered Law
LD 984 Chaptered Law fiscal note

The amendment also provides that instruction in the required subjects may be provided through the current year-based requirements or through the equivalent in standards achievement.

• 1. It creates a position of student loan ombudsman under the Superintendent of Consumer Credit Protection within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection. The student loan ombudsman's duties include: receiving, reviewing and, if possible, resolving complaints from student loan borrowers; compiling and analyzing student loan borrower data; assisting student loan borrowers to understand their rights and responsibilities; providing information to the public, agencies and Legislators regarding concerns of student loan borrowers and making recommendations to resolve them; analyzing and monitoring the development and implementation of other legislation and policies that affect student loan borrowers and recommending necessary changes; reviewing student education loan history for borrowers who consent; disseminating information about the ombudsman's availability to assist others; seek the assistance of financial institutions or the Finance Authority of Maine in the resolution of student loan borrower complaints; and other necessary actions.
• 2. It requires the superintendent to submit an annual report by January 1st of each year in regard to the effectiveness of the student loan ombudsman and to recommend additional steps necessary to gain regulatory control over licensing and enforcement with respect to student loan servicers.
• 3. It establishes a licensing procedure for student loan servicers, which includes an investigation of an applicant, along with a license fee and an investigation fee and requires the costs of the investigation to be paid by the licensee or person being investigated.
• 4. It identifies prohibited acts for student loan servicers, including employing any scheme, device or artifice to defraud or mislead student loan borrowers.
• 5. It identifies duties of the superintendent in regard to investigations and examinations of student loan servicers.
• 6. It exempts from the student loan servicer requirements imposed by this legislation most financial institutions licensed by the State, including licensed banks and credit unions, supervised financial organizations, Maine financial institutions and mutual holding companies whose home state is Maine and the Finance Authority of Maine. Those exempt organizations are required to work with the student loan ombudsman to resolve student loan borrower complaints and provide information as requested by the ombudsman.
• 7. It requires student loan servicers to comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations related to student education loan servicing.
• 8. It requires the superintendent to adopt routine technical rules necessary to carry out the provisions in this bill.

• 1. It makes the requirements for the filing of financial statements with an application for licensure as a student loan servicer consistent with licensure requirements for mortgage loan servicers.
• 2. It clarifies that a license is required for each physical location where a student loan servicer does business.
• 3. It authorizes the Superintendent of Consumer Credit Protection within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection to require student loan servicers to file license applications electronically and to use the nationwide mortgage loan servicer licensing system and registry.
• 4. It adds a provision authorizing the automatic licensure of student loan servicers under contract with the federal Department of Education.
• 5. It provides that funding from license and investigation fees for student loan servicers may not be used for purposes other than to cover the costs of administering the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 9-A, Article 14.
• 6. It replaces language in the bill with language from laws in other states regulating student loan servicing to maintain consistency.
• 7. It adds an appropriations and allocations section.

The bill also freezes any scheduled increase in the current minimum wage or the new alternative minimum wage if there is in effect an extended benefit period for unemployment compensation benefits, as determined by the Commissioner of Labor. The scheduled increase or increases will resume once there is no longer an extended benefit period in effect as of January 1st of a given year. It also delays the cost-of-living adjustment for the current minimum wage to January 1, 2024, changes the calculation to be the average cost-of-living increase over the prior 3 years and changes the timing of the cost-of-living adjustment to be every 3 years instead of every year.

It also requires the Department of Labor to submit an annual report analyzing job creation and job loss trends in urban and nonurban areas since the initiation of minimum wage increases established by Initiated Bill 2015, chapter 2, section 1.

• 1. It removes the requirement that prior to the suspension, the Secretary of State notify any family of the victim and consider written or oral statements received from the family in response to the notice.
• 2. It requires the Secretary of State to find that the person whose license is to be suspended operated a motor vehicle with criminal negligence as described in the Maine Criminal Code.
• 3. It requires the Secretary of State to find that the person whose license is to be suspended caused the death of another person and to base that finding on the definition of "causation" in the Maine Criminal Code.

Under current law the Maine Health Data Organization, referred to as the "organization," is required to collect and report information with regard to the 25 prescription drugs that are the most frequently prescribed in the State, the 25 costliest as determined by the total amount spent on those drugs in the State and the 25 drugs that have the highest year-over-year cost increases in total spending in the State. This bill requires the organization to post online a list of the identified prescription drugs, along with the corresponding wholesale acquisition cost and the percentage of wholesale acquisition cost increase, if applicable, for each identified prescription drug.

The bill directs the organization to develop a plan to collect data from manufacturers that will help explain how prescription drug prices are established. The organization is required to work with other state and national agencies and organizations to determine how to conduct the data collection. The organization is required to submit the plan as well as any recommendations for legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters by April 1, 2020. That committee may report out legislation to the First or Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature.

Using the plan developed and reported to the Legislature, starting in 2021 the organization must require the manufacturer of each drug on the list to disclose drug production, research and development costs, marketing and advertising costs and actual costs paid by purchasers. The manufacturer must certify the accuracy of the information and provide it within 60 days after the information is requested by the organization. The organization is authorized to request additional information related to the required information.

The information that the manufacturers are directed to provide to the organization, unless the information is already publicly accessible or available or previously released in the public domain, must be held confidential at the request of the manufacturer. The organization may release information that was previously accessible or available or released in the public domain. The organization may release additional information as long as the information released is not a trade secret. The organization must treat the information as "Level II" information as required by rules that have already been adopted by the organization.

This amendment provides that the manufacturer may voluntarily provide any other information the manufacturer determines relevant to the increase in wholesale acquisition cost, including but not limited to information about all manufacturer-sponsored assistance programs for that drug in the previous year, including the terms of the programs, the total amount of financial assistance provided to residents of the State and the average amount of assistance per resident of the State for whom assistance was provided. This information is not considered confidential and the organization may release it, identifying both the manufacturer and the individual drug.

The organization is required to submit an annual report to the Legislature based on the list of up to 75 drugs and the wholesale acquisition cost information. The organization may include in the report recommendations for increasing prescription drug pricing transparency. Once the organization starts collecting information from manufacturers in 2021, the report must also include at least a summary of the manufacturer information. The organization is required to post the report online.

The bill provides that when a manufacturer violates the reporting requirements, the Board of Directors of the Maine Health Data Organization may impose a fine of not more than $10,000 per day after the deadline for reporting required information. If the manufacturer fails to pay a fine, or if an injunction is necessary, the board may refer the matter to the Attorney General. The Attorney General may bring an action in Superior Court for injunctive relief, enforcement of fines, costs, attorney's fees and any other appropriate remedy.

The legislation does not restrict the legal ability of a prescription drug manufacturer to change prices to the extent permitted under federal law.

Amendment S-252
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment does the following.

The amendment requires prescription drug manufacturers to report annually to the Maine Health Data Organization no later than January 30, 2020 and annually thereafter, on prescription drug prices when the manufacturer has during the prior calendar year increased the wholesale acquisition cost of a brand-name drug by more than 20% per pricing unit, increased the wholesale acquisition cost of a generic drug that costs at least $10 per pricing unit by more than 20% per pricing unit or introduced a new drug for distribution in this State when the wholesale acquisition cost is greater than the amount that would cause the drug to be considered a specialty drug under the Medicare Part D program.

The amendment also requires prescription drug manufacturers, wholesale drug distributors and pharmacy benefits managers to provide pricing component data per pricing unit of a drug within 60 days of a request by the Maine Health Data Organization. The amendment defines "pricing component data" as data unique to each manufacturer, wholesale drug distributor or pharmacy benefits manager that evidences the cost to make a prescription drug available to consumers and the payments received by each manufacturer, wholesale drug distributor or pharmacy benefits manager to make a prescription drug available to consumers, taking into account any price concessions, and that is measured uniformly among the entities, as determined by rules adopted by the organization.

The amendment provides that reported information is confidential, except that information may be shared in the aggregate and with the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Insurance for enforcement purposes.

• 1. A qualified individual must be a full-year Maine resident who has obtained an associate, bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited Maine or non-Maine community college, college or university after 2007 and who works at least part time in Maine or on a vessel at sea or is deployed for military service in the United States Armed Forces during the taxable year.
• 2. Loans obtained from related persons, such as family members and certain businesses, trusts and exempt organizations, do not qualify for the credit.
• 3. The credit may not reduce the tax due to less than zero.
• 4. The credit for qualified individuals is the lesser of the amount paid on eligible education loans during the taxable year and 15% of the outstanding eligible education loan debt on the date the first education loan payment is made after a degree is earned.
• 5. The credit for employers is the lesser of the amount paid by an employer on behalf of a qualified employee during the taxable year during the term of employment and 20% of the outstanding eligible education loan debt on the date the first education loan payment is made after December 31, 2019.
• 6. The credit is available to the spouse of an individual eligible for a credit even if the spouse is not employed.
• 7. Income tax deductions are provided for student loan payments made directly to a lender by an employer on behalf of a qualified employee and payments made directly to a lender on behalf of a taxpayer by a student loan repayment program funded by a nonprofit foundation and administered by the Finance Authority of Maine for residents of the State employed by a business located in the State.
• 8. The annual credit may include loan amounts paid in excess of the amount due during a taxable year. The amendment also provides that credits in excess of those that may be used during a taxable year may be carried over for the next succeeding 5 years.

• 1. Reducing from 50% to 40% the maximum credit available to individual investors and private venture capital funds for investments made after April 1, 2019;
• 2. Requiring that eligible exporting businesses retain in Maine a majority of their employees;
• 3. Reducing from $5,000,000 to $3,500,000 the total aggregate investment eligible for tax credits for any one business;
• 4. Limiting to $2,000,000 the total aggregate investment eligible for any one business in any calendar year; and
• 5. Increasing from $5,000,000 to $15,000,000 the overall annual limit on total authorized credits.

• 1. Increasing the amount of total value of all prizes for which the nonprofit organization is not required to register the raffle with the Gambling Control Unit from $2,500 to $10,000;
• 2. Allowing noncash raffle prizes to be in the alternate form of cash or to be exchanged for cash;
• 3. Removing the limitation allowing only one raffle with a noncash prize up to $75,000 and a cash prize up to $20,000 in a 12-month period; and
• 4. Clarifying that the nonprofit organization may conduct more than one raffle at a time.

• 1. It defines "conversion therapy" as any aversive practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity except for talk therapy; counseling or treatment intended to assist an individual undergoing a gender transition; counseling intended to provide acceptance, support and understanding to the individual; and counseling intended to facilitate the individual's coping, social support or identity exploration and development, including any therapeutic intervention that is neutral with regard to sexual orientation and that seeks to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as the counseling does not seek to change the individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 2. It defines "aversive practice or treatment" as any practice or treatment that is intended to induce changes in behavior through unpleasant stimuli or punishment and provides examples of aversive practices or treatments.
• 3. It provides that advertising, offering or administering conversion therapy to individuals under 18 years of age in the State is an unfair trade practice. Court actions involving conversion therapy brought against health care providers under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act are not governed by the specialized procedures set forth in the Maine Health Security Act for actions involving professional negligence.
• 4. It prohibits school psychologists and guidance counselors, nurses, doctors, physician assistants, psychologists, psychological examiners, alcohol and drug counselors and aides, social workers, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, pastoral counselors, speech-language pathologists and assistants and audiologists from administering conversion therapy to individuals under 18 years of age. Administration of conversion therapy to an individual under 18 years of age in violation of this prohibition is grounds for discipline of the professional by the department or board that issued the professional's license, certification or registration, including but not limited to suspension or revocation of the license, certification or registration.
• 5. It prohibits MaineCare reimbursement for conversion therapy administered to an individual who is under 18 years of age.

This bill, using the guidance developed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, enacts the Maine Pharmaceutical Drug Safety Act to allow an individual in Maine to import prescription drugs from Canada as long as specific criteria are met, including that the drug is imported for personal use, that the individual importing the drug has a valid prescription, that the drug does not present an unreasonable risk to the individual and that no more than a 90-day supply of the drug is imported. The prescription drug to be imported must also meet specific requirements. The importation of controlled substances and prescription drugs for sale or resale is specifically prohibited.

This bill recognizes that market forces that affect the marketing and bargaining position of individual farmers similarly affect the marketing and bargaining position of individual harvesters and haulers of forest products, and it expands application of the Maine Agricultural Marketing and Bargaining Act of 1973 to include harvesters and haulers of forest products.

Specifically, this bill amends the laws governing agricultural marketing and bargaining to:

• 1. Expand the definition of "independent agricultural contractor" to include a person who harvests or hauls forest products under contract;
• 2. Expand the legislative findings provision to include findings concerning independent agricultural contractors, which include harvesters and haulers of forest products; and
• 3. Include in the definition of "producer" a person engaged in the production of forest products.

In addition, the bill sets forth the Legislature's finding that, with respect to loggers and forest products haulers, the inequity of power in determining compensation and the lack of opportunity to join together in bargaining over compensation can result in unfair contract rates for their services and that it is in the public interest to expand application of the Maine Agricultural Marketing and Bargaining Act of 1973 to include harvesters and haulers of forest products.

LD 1459 Chaptered Law
LD 1459 Chaptered Law fiscal note

The resolve directs the department to provide a report on the strategic plan to the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs and the Joint Standing Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business by December 31, 2019. The joint standing committees are authorized to report out legislation based on the report to the Second Regular Session of the 129th Legislature.

• 1. Is, and has been for the 5 years prior to application, a corporation or limited liability company organized under the laws of the State;
• 2. Has been headquartered in this State for the 5 years prior to application;
• 3. Pays at least 75% of its employees a salary that exceeds the income threshold for the county in which the facility that is the subject of the application is located;
• 4. Agrees to make an investment of at least $35,000,000 in the construction or expansion in this State of a facility for that business; and
• 5. Adds a total of 40 new full-time employees by the end of the first year of qualifying for the tax credit, maintains that number for the next 2 years and then adds 20 more full-time employees, maintaining a total of 60 full-time employees for each year after the 3rd year of qualifying for the tax credit. The employees added must be based in the State.

• 1. It extends the length of time the credit is available by 4 years until December 31, 2028;
• 2. It reduces the total allocation from $20,000,000 to $10,000,000;
• 3. It reduces the amount of the total allocation, including amounts carried forward from prior calendar years, from $25,000,000 to $15,000,000;
• 4. It requires that, in allocating the credit for the construction or adaptive reuse of buildings for new rental units, the Maine State Housing Authority require or provide incentives to encourage that occupancy preference, for a defined number of units, be given to persons who qualify for supportive housing; and
• 5. It updates the statutory sections to reflect changes in the law that were enacted in the First Regular Session of the 129th Legislature.

• 1. It increases the membership of the Board of Osteopathic Licensure and the Board of Licensure in Medicine from 10 to 11 members by changing the number of members on each board who are physician assistants from 1 member to 2 members.
• 2. It establishes provisions for the scope of practice, insurance coverage of services and immunity from liability for providing volunteer medical services during emergencies or disasters and clarifies that physician assistants are primary care providers when practicing in a medical specialty required for a physician to be a primary care provider.
• 3. It removes registration and physician supervisory requirements.
• 4. It establishes requirements for physician assistant collaboration and consultation with physicians and other health care professionals.
• 5. It changes the initial licensing fee from $250 to $300.
• 6. It provides a transition provision for physician assistant licenses that are current and not subject to disciplinary action.

In Part A, the amendment requires health insurance carriers to allow physician assistants to serve as primary care providers under managed care plans. It also specifies that carriers are required to provide coverage for services provided by physician assistants if those services are within a physician assistant's scope of practice and are covered services under a health plan and makes that provision applicable to contracts issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2021.

• 1. It increases the membership of the Board of Osteopathic Licensure and the Board of Licensure in Medicine from 10 to 11 members by changing the number of members on each board who are physician assistants from one member to 2 members.
• 2. It establishes provisions for the scope of practice of physician assistants based on practice setting.
• 3. It removes registration and physician supervisory requirements and establishes requirements for physician assistants to have collaborative agreements and practice agreements with physicians and other health care professionals.
• 4. It clarifies that physician assistants are legally responsible for any medical services provided in accordance with collaborative and practice agreements and authorizes the licensing boards to adopt rules related to requirements for collaborative and practice agreements.
• 5. It changes the fee for an application for initial licensure from up to $250 to up to $300.
• 6. It provides a transition provision for physician assistant licenses that are current and not under investigation.

• 1. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to collect data to measure access to and the performance of certain programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and establish improvement targets on an annual basis to monitor year-to-year improvements related to program accessibility and participant well-being.
• 2. It reallocates the provisions relating to transitional Medicaid from the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, chapter 1053-B, which pertains to temporary assistance for needy families, to Title 22, chapter 855, which pertains to aid to needy persons, to reflect that the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 no longer just applies to families losing eligibility for Medicaid as a result of losing eligibility for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program but instead applies to all parents who lose eligibility for Medicaid.
• 3. It removes the requirement that a family must have received Medicaid assistance for at least 3 of the last 6 months in order for that family to receive transitional Medicaid.
• 4. It requires that the Department of Health and Human Services provide transitional Medicaid for a 12-month extension period pursuant to the state option provided in 42 United States Code, Section 1396r-6, Subsection (a), Paragraph (5) when a person's eligibility was terminated because of an increase in earned income or hours of employment or a loss of a time-limited earnings disregard.
• 5. It eliminates the TANF gross income test for applicants to conform the eligibility methodology for both applicants and recipients.
• 6. It establishes a procedure by which the Department of Health and Human Services must consider referrals made in accordance with department rule from educational institutions and similar programs as applications for the Parents as Scholars Program under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 3790.
• 7. It provides funds from the TANF block grant to provide personalized professional guidance, support and navigation services for participants in the Parents as Scholars Program in order to promote program completion and student success and requires the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to convene a working group to make recommendations related to the most effective way to achieve this goal, along with other suggestions to improve the program.
• 8. It requires the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to convene a working group to review and make recommendations to improve the operations of systems and programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services providing services to people in need.
• 9. It provides that additional costs to the State resulting from implementation of this legislation must be paid from funds provided to the Department of Health and Human Services under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant or from resources representing the State's maintenance of effort to qualify for federal funds.

• 1. It removes the requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to establish annual improvement targets to ensure access to public assistance programs.
• 2. It clarifies that sources of information to compile data measures of child and family economic security are not limited to the data sources in the bill and specifies that data from other state agencies including the Department of Labor and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services must be compiled.
• 3. It includes a data requirement that includes families earning below 50% of the federal poverty level at the time participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was terminated and during the 2nd and 4th quarters after participation was terminated.
• 4. It clarifies the language regarding the ratio of persons receiving food supplement assistance to those eligible to specify that the ratio applies to the number of persons overall, the number of persons 60 years of age and older, nonelderly persons with a disability and children under 18 years of age.
• 5. It specifies that data collected regarding waiting times for calls to Department of Health and Human Services call centers are to a person and not to an interactive voice response system.
• 6. It changes the requirements of the Department of Health and Human Services to measure and report on the effect of departmental initiatives to improve child and family economic security rather than establishing improvement targets with reporting requirements.
• 7. It changes the amount of funding for navigators at educational institutions and programs from $500,000 to $250,000.

It requires the department, before initiating rulemaking, to complete an impact study setting forth the rationale for the proposed changes, the financial impacts on affected families and providers of school-based services, potential service delays and other issues relating to state and federal law. The department is required to seek and consider input from affected provider groups, schools, children and family advocacy groups, the Department of Education, the Child Development Services System and other stakeholders and is also required to incorporate into the study the recommendations and implementation plan for early intervention services in public schools that will be forthcoming from the review of the State's early childhood special education services being carried out pursuant to Public Law 2019, chapter 343, Part VVVV. This report, produced by an independent entity, is due to be completed on December 1, 2020.

It requires the department to submit the completed study and a further report regarding any proposed rules or modifications to current rule pertaining to medically necessary school-based services to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters no later than April 1, 2021. The joint standing committee is authorized to report out legislation relating to the subject matter of the study and the report to the First Regular Session of the 130th Legislature.