An Act To Protect Consumers' Gift Card Interests
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 2181
Committee Amendment CA_A_H940 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1551, L.D. 2181, Bill, "An Act To 
Protect Consumers' Gift Card Interests" 
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of paragraph G (page 1, lines 4 to 18 in 
L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'G. 
A gift obligation or stored-value card, 2 years after December 31st of the year 
in which the obligation or the most recent transaction involving the obligation or 
stored-value card occurred, whichever is later, including the initial issuance and any 
subsequent addition of value to the obligation or stored-value card. A period of 
limitation may not be imposed on the owner's right to redeem the gift obligation or 
stored-value card. The amount unclaimed is 60% of the gift obligation's or stored-
value card's face value. Notwithstanding section 1956, fees or charges may not be 
imposed on gift obligations or stored-value cards, except that the issuer may charge a 
transaction fee for the initial issuance and for each occurrence of adding value to an 
existing gift obligation or stored-value card. These transaction fees must be disclosed 
in a separate writing prior to the initial issuance or referenced on the gift obligation or 
stored-value card. Beginning November 1, 2008, if the gift obligation or stored-value 
card, other than a prepaid telephone service card, a gift obligation or nonreloadable 
stored-value card with an initial value of $5 or less or a stored-value card that is not 
purchased but provided as a promotion or as a refund for merchandise returned 
without a receipt, is redeemed in person and a balance of less than $5 remains 
following redemption, at the consumer's request the merchant redeeming the gift 
obligation or stored-value card must refund the balance in cash to the consumer. This 
paragraph does not apply to prefunded bank cards;' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment exempts from the cash refund requirement prepaid cards for 
telephone service. Stored-value cards that are not purchased by a consumer but are 
provided by the merchant as a promotion or as a refund for merchandise returned without 
a receipt are also not subject to the cash refund requirement. Gift obligations and stored-
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·ff .. to H.P. 1551, L.D. 2181 
value cards that cannot be reloaded that are initially worth $5 or less, such as fast food 
restaurant coupons, are also not subject to the cash refund requirement. The cash refund 
requirement applies beginning November 1, 2008. 
FISCAL :\"OTE REQURED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 03/26/08 p/ae 
LD 2181 
LR 3431(02) 
An Act To Protect Consumers' Gift Card Interests 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "n" 
Committee: Judiciary 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Undetermined current biennium revenue decrease - General Fund 
Undetermined current biennium revenue decrease - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Pursuant to 33 MRSA section 1964, the Office of the State Treasurer transfers funds in excess of $500,000 to the 
General Fund from the Unclaimed Property Fund at the end of each year. Requiring merchants to refund gift card 
balances below $5 to consumers will reduce revenue turned over to the Unclaimed Property Fund and ultimately 
reduce the transfer to the General Fund. Since the Office of the Treasurer does not maintain individualized gift card 
account detail there is no way to determine an historical trend of how much of the gift card amounts received are 
related to balances below $5. Therefore, the specific reduction in revenue from this proposed legislation can not be 
determined at this time. 
LR3431 (02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1