An Act To Initiate the Intergovernmental Advisory Commission's Blueprint for Government
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0214
Committee Amendment CA_B_H13 (House)
Amends: 30-A MRSA §1301, 30-A MRSA §1303, 30-A MRSA §1321, 30-A MRSA §1351, 30-A MRSA §1352

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,6, to H.P. 185, L.D. 214, Bill, "An Act To Initiate 
the Intergovernmental Advisory Commission's Blueprint for Government" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and 
inserting in its place the following: 
'Mandate preamble. This measure requires one or more local units of government 
to expand or modify activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local 
revenues but does not provide funding for at least 90% of those expenditures. Pursuant to 
the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 21, 2/3 of all of the members elected to 
each House have determined it necessary to enact this measure. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §1301, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, 
§106 and as amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further 
amended to read: 
§1301. Purpose 
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a method for each county, by vote of its 
voters, to determine the structure of county government in that county. The county 
charter adopted in each county may must determine the officers of the county, their 
relationship, the administrative structure necessary to perform county functions, the 
duties of the county budget committee and the organization of county government, 
subject to the limits of the Constitution of Maine. 
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §1303 is enacted to read: 
§1303. Charter requirement 
On the effective date of this section, if a county has not adopted a county charter, the 
county commissioners shall provide for the establishment of a charter commission for the 
purpose of preparing a county charter. Elections of the members pursuant to section 
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1322, subsection 1 must take place at the next regular or special statewide election but no 
later than November 2007, and the proposed charter must be submitted to the voters 
pursuant to section 1324 at the following regular or special statewide election but no later 
than November 2008. If the proposed charter is not approved by the voters, then the 
charter commission may develop a new proposed charter to be submitted at the next 
regular or special statewide election. 
Sec. 3. 30-A MRSA §1321, as amended by PL 2003, c. 696, §§9 and 10, is further 
amended to read: 
§1321. Charter adoptions, revisions, procedure 
A For the purpose of revising a charter, a charter commission may be initiated by the 
county commissioners or by petition by voters according to the methods established in 
subsections 1 and 2. 
1. County commissioners. The county commissioners may determine that the 
a6sfltisB of a eoUB:ty e1\arter s1\0,,1I6 be eSBsi6efe6 or that the revision of a county charter 
already adopted under this chapter should be considered and, by order, provide for the 
establishment of a charter commission to carry out that purpose as provided in this 
chapter. 
2. Petition by voters. On the written petition of a number of voters equal to at least 
10% of the number of votes cast in the county at the last gubernatorial election, the 
county commissioners shall, by order, provide for the establishment of a charter 
commission for the f>Fef!aratioB sr revision of a county charter in the form and manner 
provided in this chapter. 
3. 
Petition procedure. 
The following procedure 5haIl must be used in the 
alternative method under subsection 2. 
A. Any 5 voters of the county may file an affidavit with the county clerk stating: 
(1) They will constitute the petitioner's committee; 
(2) They will circulate the petition and file it in proper form; 
(3) The names and addresses of the members; and 
(4) The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent. 
Promptly after the affidavit is filed, the clerk shall issue petition blanks to the 
committee. Petition blanks 5haIl must be issued for each municipality. 
The petitioner's committee may designate additional voters of the county, who are not 
members of the committee, to circulate the petition. 
B. 
The clerk shall prepare petition forms at the county's expense. The petition 
forms shaH must be printed on paper of uniform size and may consist of as many 
individual sheets as are reasonably necessary. 
(1 ) Petition forms 5hall must carry the following legend in bold lettering at the 
top of the face of each form. 
"County of .... " 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Jy to H.P. 185, L.D. 214 
"Each of the undersigned voters respectfully requests the county commissioners 
to establish a charter commission for the purpose of revising the county charter ef 
prepariHg a Hew eouRty eharter." 
Each signature to a petition must be in ink or other indelible instrument and must 
be followed by the residence of the voter with street and number, if any. Ne A 
petition may not contain any party or political designation. 
(2) The clerk shall note the date of each petition form issued. All petitions must 
be filed within 120 days of the date of issue or they are void. 
(3) Each petition form shaR must have printed on its back an affidavit to be 
executed by the circulator, stating that the circulator personally circulated the 
form, the number of signatures on the form, that all the signatures were signed in 
the circulator's presence, that the circulator believes them to be genuine 
signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be, that each signer has 
signed no more than one petition and that each signer had an opportunity to read 
the petition before signing. Before filing the petitions under subparagraph (4), 
the circulator shall submit them to the registrar of each municipality concerned 
for certification according to Title 21-A, section 354, subsection 7, paragraph B. 
(4) Petition forms shaR must be assembled as one instrument and filed at one 
time with the clerk. The clerk shall note the date of filing on the forms. 
4. Procedure after filing. Within 20 days after the petition is filed, the clerk shall 
complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars 
whieh that render it the petition defective. The clerk shall promptly send a copy of the 
certificate to the petitioners' committee by mail and shall file a copy with the county 
commissioners. 
A. 
A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid 
signatures may be amended once if the petitioners' committee files a notice of 
intention to amend it with the clerk within 2 days after receiving the copy of the 
clerk's certificate. 
Within 10 days after the notice of intention is filed, the committee may file a 
supplementary petition to correct the deficiencies in the original petition. 
This 
supplementary petition must in form and content comply with the requirements for an 
original petition under subsection 3. 
B. 
Within 5 days after a supplementary petition is filed, the clerk shall complete 
and file a certificate as to its sufficiency in the manner provided for an original 
petition. 
C. 
Any petition finally determined to be insufficient is void. The clerk shall stamp 
the petition void and seal and retain it in the manner required for secret ballots. 
Sec. 4. 30-A MRSA §1351, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and 
Pt. C, §106 and as amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is 
further amended to read: 
1. Charter powers. The charter for any county fRft:Y must provide for: 
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to H.P. 185, L.D. 214 
A. 
The organization of county government including the number of county 
commissioners; 
B. 
The election of a county legislative body and the method of selecting officers, 
officials and employees; 
C. 
The establishment of county departments, agencies, boards or commissions, and 
their descriptions, powers and duties; and the powers and authority of county officers 
or officials to direct, regulate and control these agencies, departments, boards and 
commissions; 
D. 
The internal activities of county government; 8fl6 
E. 
The provisions required for the transition to the new form":; and 
F. The membership and duties of the county budget committee. 
Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §1352, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2003, c. 696, §11, is 
further amended to read: 
1. Application. If After a county adef*S has adopted a charter, the following general 
laws and laws related to that county do not apply if the charter provides for that function: 
A. 
Sections 2,52 and 53; 
B. 
Chapter 1, subchapter 2, sections 61 to 82; 
C. 
Chapter 1, subchapter 3, sections 151 to 162; 
D. 
Section 201; 
D-l. Chapter 3, subchapter 1, sections 701 to 900-E; and 
E. 
Title 33, sections 601 to 608. 
Sec. 6. Legislation authorized. The joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over state and local government matters may submit a bill to the 
relating to county commissioners and budgetary procedures after all counties have 
charters in place. 
Sec. 7. Government chart of accounts. The Department of Audit shall supply 
on the publicly accessible website of the department the government chart of accounts for 
municipal and county governments developed under Resolve 2005, chapter 136. This 
standardized chart of accounts may be used voluntarily by any level of government.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill and is the minority report. It requires all counties 
that do not currently have a county charter to initiate a charter commission. 
The 
membership of the commission must be elected no later than the November 2007 election 
and the proposed county charter must be submitted to the voters no later than November 
2008. Each charter must include the powers of the budget committees in that county. 
The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local 
government matters may submit a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 124th 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT.£r to H.P. 185, L.D. 214 
Legislature after the charters have been adopted in all counties making the necessary 
changes to the Maine Revised Statutes relating to budgetary procedures. The amendment 
retains the requirement of the Department of Audit to supply the government chart of 
accounts for municipal and county governments on its website. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 02/20107 
;lJpac:.. 
LD214 
LR270(03) 
An Act To Initiate the Intergovernmental Advisory Commission's Blueprint for Government 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ':/)' 
Committee: State and Local Government 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
State Mandate - Exempted 
State Mandates 
Unit Affected 
This legislation requires the election of certain charter commission members to take 
place at the next regular or statewide election but not later than November 2007 and 
the submission of the proposed charter to the voters at the following regular or 
statewide election but not later than November 2008. The additional cost of this 
state mandate is expected to be minor. Pursuant to inclusion of the Mandate 
Preamble, the two-thirds vote of all members elected to each House exempts the 
state from the constitutional requirement to fund 90% of the additional local costs. 
LR0270(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1 
Costs 
County 
Insignificant