An Act To Stabilize the Maine Dairy Industry, Protect Consumers against Price Gouging on Milk and Eliminate the BETRffIF Double Dip
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1337
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: MILLS, KETTERER
Amends: 7 MRSA §2953, 7 MRSA §2954, 7 MRSA §3153-A

Legislative Docum~nt 
No. 1337 
H.P.982 
House of Representatives, March 12, 2003 
An Act To Stabilize the Maine Dairy Industry, Protect Consumers 
against Price Gouging on Milk and Eliminate the BETRffIF Double 
Dip 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MILLS of Cornville. 
17/~ 
1/7. 7i/ttc~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: KETTERER of Madison, McKEE of Wayne, MILLS of 
Farmington. 
Printed on recycled rarer 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §2953, first 1[, as amended by PL 1989, c . 123 , 
is further amended to read: 
The commission saa±±-aave has power to establish and change 
the minimum wholesale and retail prices for the sale of milk 
within 
the 
State, 
in 
such 
a 
manner 
as 
to 
supplement 
the 
superv~s~on and regulations as are now imposed by existing laws 
or by lawful ordinances or rules and regulations of the several 
cities and towns of the State. 
The commission shall protect 
purchasers of milk against the sale of milk for an unconscionably 
excessive price pursuant to section 2954-D. 
The commission saa±± 
aave has 
no 
power 
to modify, 
add to or 
annul 
any sanitary 
regulations imposed by any state or municipal authority or to 
compel pasteurization in any market area. 
The commission shall 
ensure that distributors give 30 days' notice before terminating 
delivery to 
any 
customer in their delivery area or 
in the 
traditional delivery area of a distributor they have purchased. 
The 30-day notice does not apply to cancellations resulting from 
a failure to pay bills. 
Sec. 2. 7 MRSA § 2953 , 2nd 1[, as repealed and replaced by PL 
1975, c. 517, §2, is amended to read: 
Not less than once every 
years, 
the 
commission shall 
conduct independent studies of the economics and practices of the 
milk industry in order to assist the commission in establishing 
minimum prices and protecting against the selling of milk for 
unconscionably excessive prices. 
Sec.3. 7 MRSA §2954.D is enacted to read: 
§2954-D. 
Unconscionably excessive prices for sale of milk 
1. 
Prohibition against price gouging. 
A person may not 
sell or offer to sell fluid milk for an unconscionably excessive 
price. 
2. 
Investigation by commission. 
Whenever the retail price 
to consumers for Class I fluid milk exceeds twice what is paid to 
producers 
of 
the 
milk, 
the 
commission 
may 
investigate 
to 
determine whether the price is unconscionably excessive. 
If it 
finds probable cause to believe that the price is unconscionably 
excessive, 
the 
commission may after notice 
and hearing make 
findings and issue orders to prohibit such practices. 
Any person 
aggrieved by 
an order of 
the 
commission may 
appeal 
to 
the 
Superior Court. 
Page l-LR0837(1) 
3. 
Unconscionably 
excessive 
price. 
An 
unconscionably 
excessive price is evidenced by: 
A. 
A disparity between the retail price and the producers' 
price that grossly exceeds a reasonable rate of return; 
B. 
Significant increases in retail price that are not the 
result of an increase paid to producers for raw milk and 
that are not otherwise justified by changes in cost to the 
dealer or store; 
C. 
Decreases in prices paid to producers that do not yield 
corresponding decreases in retail prices for the same milk; 
D. 
Elevated prices or changes 
in price that appear to 
reflect price fixing or combination activity by 2 or more 
stores or dealers; or 
E. 
Elevated prices that appear to result from regional 
market 
share 
dominance 
by 
a 
store 
or 
dealer 
or 
by 
a 
combination of stores or dealers. 
Sec. 4. 7 MRSA §3153-A is enacted to read: 
§3153-A. 
Dairy stabilization subsidy 
For the months of March 2003 to December 2004, the director 
of the Maine Milk Commission shall distribute on a monthly basis 
to Maine's dairy farmers a direct subsidy calculated as 
50'1-0 of 
the difference between $17 per hundredweight and the statistical 
blend 
price 
of 
milk 
for 
Suffolk 
County, 
Massachusetts 
as 
determined for that month by the Northeast Market Administrator 
of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
If there are 
insufficient funds to cover the subsidy, then the Director of the 
Maine Milk Commission shall prorate the distribution on the basis 
of 
each 
farmer's 
production 
for 
the 
month. 
The 
first 
distribution must cover the months of March 2003 to the month in 
which this section takes effect. 
The last subsidy must be for 
the 
month 
of 
December 
2004. 
The 
total 
subsidy 
for 
milk 
production 
occurring 
within 
a 
single 
month 
may 
not 
exceed 
$1, 100,000. 
Sec. 5. 36 MRS A §6652, sub-§l-D is enacted to read: 
I-D. 
Limitation on certain property. 
Reimbursement may not 
be made pursuant to this chapter to the extent that the property 
taxes paid after March 31, 2002 are returned to a taxpayer by a 
municipali ty due to the taxpayer's participation in a municipal 
development 
district 
pursuant 
to 
Title 
A, 
chapter 
206, 
subchapter 1. 
Sec. 
6. 
Appropriations 
and 
allocations. 
The 
following 
appropriations and allocations are made. 
AGRlCUL'lURE, FOOD AND RURAL RESOURCES, 
DEPARTMENT OF 
Maine Milk Commission -
0188 
Ini tiative: 
Appropriates funds to the Maine Milk Commission to 
be deposited in the Maine Milk Pool pursuant to the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 7, sections 3153 and 3153-A. 
General Fund 
All Other 
General Fund Total 
2003-04 
$17,600,000 
$17,600,000 
2004-05 
$6,600,000 
$6,600,000 
Sec. 7. Application. 
That section of this Act that amends the 
Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 36, 
section 6652, 
subsection 1 
applies to property taxes based on the status of property on or 
after April 1, 2002. 
SUMMARY 
This bill prohibits the sale of milk for unconscionably 
excessive prices. 
This 
bill 
also 
reimbursement program to 
returned to 
a 
taxpayer 
development district. 
amends 
the 
business 
eliminate payment for 
due 
to participation 
equipment 
tax 
taxes that are 
in 
a 
municipal 
This bill also appropriates funds from the General Fund to 
the Maine Milk Commission.