An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Create Access to Dental Care throughout the State
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1798
Committee: Appropriations and Financial Affairs
Sponsors: CONNOR, COURTNEY, BEAUDETTE, BEAUDOIN, BERRY, BOLAND, BRYANT, BUTTERFIELD, CAIN, CAMPBELL, CASAVANT, CLEARY, COHEN, DILL, DRISCOLL, EBERLE, FLAHERTY, HARLOW, HASKELL, HILL, HINCK, HOGAN, HUNT, JONES, LEGG, MARTIN, MAZUREK, MILLER, MITCHELL, MORRISON, NASS, NELSON, PERCY, PERRY, PIEH, PILON, PINGREE, SANBORN, SHAW, TREAT, TRINW ARD, TUTTLE, WAGNER, WATSON, WEAVER, WEBSTER, WRIGHT, ALFOND, BRANNIGAN, DIAMOND, GOOLEY, HOBBINS, RECTOR, SHERMAN, SULLIVAN, TRAHAN
Amends: 22 MRSA §2127

Legislative Document 
No. 1798 
H.P.1286 
House of Representatives, February 25,2010 
An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Create Access 
to Dental Care throughout the State 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs suggested and ordered' 
printed. 
Presented by Representative CONNOR of Kennebunk. 
Cosponsored by Senator COURTNEY of York and 
711~ 
/J1. 7i!dC~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BEAUDETTE of Biddeford, BEAUDOIN of Biddeford, BERRY of Bowdoinham, 
BOLAND of Sanford, BRYANT of Windham, BUTTERFIELD of Bangor, CAIN of Orono, 
CAMPBELL of Newfield, CASAVANT of Biddeford, CLARK. of Millinocket, CLEARY of Houlton, 
COHEN of Portland, DILL of Cape Elizabeth, DRISCOLL of Westbrook, EBERLE of South Portland, 
FLAHERTY of Scarborough, HARLOW of Portland, HASKELL of Portland, HILL of York, HINCK 
of Portland, HOGAN of Old Orchard Beach, HUNT of Buxton, JONES of Mount Vernon, LEGG of 
Kennebunk, MARTIN of Eagle Lake, MAZUREK of Rockland, McCABE of Skowhegan, MILLER of 
Somerville, MITCHELL of the Penobscot Nation, MORRISON of South Portland, NASS of Acton, 
NELSON of Falmouth, PERCY of Phippsburg, PERRY of Calais, PIEH of Bremen, PILON of Saco, 
Speaker PINGREE of North Haven, SANBORN of Gorham, SHAW of Standish, 'STRANG BURGESS 
of Cumberland, TREAT of Hallowell, TRINW ARD of Waterville, TUTTLE of Sanford, V ALENTTNO 
of Saco, WAGNER of Lyman, WAGNER of Lewiston, WATSON of Bath, WEAVER of York, 
WEBSTER of Freeport, WRIGHT of Berwick, Senators: ALFOND of Cumberland, BARTLETT of 
. Cumberland, BRANNIGAN of Cumberland, DIAMOND of Cumberland, GOOLEY of Franklin, 
HOBBINS of York, NASS of York, PERRY of Penobscot, RECTOR of Knox, SHERMAN of 
Aroostook, SULLIVAN of Yorle, TRAHAN of Lincoln. 
Pril1lt!J 0'11 rL'cycl~d pnpcr 
Preamble. Two thirds of both Houses of the Legislature deeming it necessary in 
accordance with the Constitution· of Maine, Aliicle IX, Section 14 to authorize the 
issuance of bonds on behalf of the State of Maine to provide funds as described in this 
. Act, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
" 
PART A 
"Sec. A-I. Authorization of bonds. The Treasurer of State is authorized, under 
the directiol1 of the Governor, to issue bonds in the naI'ne "and on behalf of the State in an 
amount not exceeding $7,000,000 for the purposes described in section 6 of this Part. 
Th"e bonds are a pledge of the full faith and credit of the State. The bonds may not run for 
a period longer than 10 years from the date of the original issue Of the bonds. At the 
discretion of the Treasurer of State, with the approval of the Governor, any issuance of 
bonds may contain a call feature. The bonds may not be issued before July 1, 2011. 
-
" Sec. A-2. 
Records of bonds issued kept by Treasurer of State. The 
Treasurer of State shall keep an account of each bond showing the number of the bond, 
the name of the successful bidder to whom sold, the amount received for the bond, the 
date of sale and the date when payable. 
" Sec.· A-3. Sale; how negotiated; proceeds appropriated. The Treasurer of 
State may negotiate the sale of the bonds by direction of the Governor, but no bond may 
be loaned, pledged or hypothecated on behalf of the State. The proceeds of the sale of the 
bonds, which must be held by the Treasurer of State and paid by the Treasurer of S"tate 
upon warrants d"rawn by the State Controller, are appropriated solely for the purposes set 
forth in this Part. Any unencumbered balances remaining at the completion of the project 
in this Part lapse to the debt service account established for the retirement of these bonds." 
Sec. A-4. Interest and debt retirement. 
The Treasurer of State shall pay 
interest due or accruing on any bonds issued under this Part and all sums coming due for 
payment of bonds at maturity. 
Sec. A-S. Disbursement of'bond proceeds. The proceeds of the bonds must be 
expended as set out in this Part under the direction and supervision of the Department of 
" 
Health and Human Services. 
" 
Sec. A-6. Allocations from General Fund bond issue. The proceeds of the 
sale of the bonds authorized under this Part must be expended as designated in the 
following schedule. 
) 
) 
) 
n 
(,I 
'( 
'~) 
) 
I; 
I: 
~/ 
DEPARTMENT OF. HEALTH AND 
HUMAN SERVICES 
Provides funds to be awarded on a 
competitive basis, $5,000,000 to be used 
for a community-based teaching clinic 
affiliated with or operated' by a college of 
dental medicine and $2,000,000 to be used 
to upgrade community-based health care, 
clinics across the State to increase their 
capacity as teaching clinics. 
$7,000,000 
Sec. A-7. Contingent upon ratification of bond issue. Sections 1 to 6 do not 
become effective unless the people of the State ratify the issuance of the bonds as set 
forth in this Part. 
Sec. A-8.Appropriation balances at year-end. At the end of each fiscal year, 
all unencumbered appropriation balances representing state money carry forward. Bond 
. 
proceeds that have not been expended within 10 years after the date of the sale of the 
bonds lapse to General Fund debt service. 
Sec. A-9. Bonds authorized but not issued. Any bonds authorized but not 
issued, or for which bond anticipation notes are not .issued within 5 years of ratification of 
this Part, are deauthorized and may not be issued, except that the Legislature may, within 
years after the expiration of that 5-year period, extend the period for issuing any 
remaining unissued bonds or bond anticipation notesJor an additional amount of time not 
to exceed 5 years. 
Sec. A-tO. Referendum for ratification; submission at election; form of 
question; effective date. This Part must be submitted to the legal voters of the State at 
a statewide electiori held in the month of November following passage of this Act. The 
municipal officers of this State shall notify the inhabitants of their respective cities, towns 
and plantations to meet, in the manner prescribed by law for holding a statewide election, 
to vote on the acceptance or rejection of this Palt by voting on the following question: 
"Db you favor a $7,000,000 bond issue to be awarded on a competitive 
basis to increase access to dental care in Maine, $5,000,000 to be used, 
-33 
for a community-based teaching dental clinic affiliated with or operated 
by a college of dental medicine and $2,000,000 to be used to create or 
upgrade community-based health and dental care clinics across the State 
to increase their capacity as teaching clinics?" 
The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall 'vote by hallot on this question 
and designate their choice by a cross or check mark placed within a corresponding square 
below the word "Yes" or "No." 
The ballots must be received, sOlted, counted and 
declared in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to the Secretary of . 
State in the same manner as votes for members of the Legislature. The Governor shall 
review the rettirns. If a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of this Part, the 
Governor shall proclaim the result without delay and this PaIi becomes effective 30 days 
after the date of the proclamation. 
The Secretary of State shall prepare and furnish to each city, town and'plantation all 
ballots, returns and copies of this Pal1 necessary to carry out the purposes of this 
referendum. 
PARTB 
Sec; B-1. 22 MRSA §2127, sub-§6-A is enacted to read: 
6-A. Monitoring of grants. The program director or chief executive officer under 
subsection 2, paragraph C, subparagraph (3) shall inonitor contracts resulting from grant 
awards established by the department' concerning community-based dental clinits 
affiliated with or operated by a school of dentistry. 
PART C 
Sec. C-L Oral Health Advisory Committee. The DepaIiment of Health and 
Human Services shall establish the Oral Health Advisory Committee, referred to in this 
Part as "the committee," to award a $5,000,000 grant to create a teaching dental clinic 
pursuant to subsections 3 and 4 and to award $2,000,000 in grants jJursuant to subsection 
' 5 subject to the passage of the referendum set outin PaIi A. 
19, 
1. Membership. The program manager of the oral health care program within the 
Depal1ment of Health and Human Sel'vices, Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention is designated the chair of the committee' and shall appoint the following 6 
members: 
A. A representative of a group representing individuals licensed to practice dentistry 
in this State; 
B. A representative of a statewide organization representing low-income individuals; 
C. A representative of an 'organization representing community-based health care 
clinics; 
, 
D. An individual representing communitY-based dental clinics; 
E. A representative of a foundation based in this State committed to improving the 
~9 
health of citizens in this State who has experience funding direct service for dental 
care; and 
F. An individual representing Maine veterans of the United States Armed Forces and 
the Maine National Guard who has experience with dental care. 
2. Appointments. The committee must be appointed and convene within 30 days of 
the passage of the referendum set out in Part A. 
3. Duties. The committee shall ~reate an application for the, grant for interested 
parties within 60 days of passage of the referendum in Part A. The committee shall hold' 
a bidders conference within 7 days following issuance of the applications, after which an 
) 
) 
) 
n 
L) 
applicanthas 18 days to complete the application. The committee shall award the grant 
before March 1,2011. 
. 
. 
4. Grant criteria. The committee shall use the following criteria in awarding. the 
grant: 
A. The recipient must: 
(1) Be a posts~condary institution with its primary campus located in the State; 
(2) Be accredited by a regional accrediting agency approved by the United States 
Department of Education; 
(3) Have a board of trustees that has previously approved a doctor of dental 
medicine, or DMD, or doctor of dental surgery, or DDS, degree-granting 
program; 
(4) 
Have health professions education programs that are academically and 
clinically based; and 
(5) Offer a degree in public health; 
B. The recipient must demonstrate financial capacity to start and sustain an accredited 
program in dental medicine that supports long-term access to dental care in the State; 
and 
C. The recipient must demonstrate 'an ability to match state funding on a one-to-one 
basis. 
5. 
Distribution of balance of bond. 
Following the award of the grant under 
subsections 3 and 4, the recipient shall identify 2 members of its organization to join the 
committee to establish an application process for the $2,000,000 in clinic grants under 
Part A. A recipient of a grant under this subsection must: 
A. Be from an underserved community that has a demonstrated need for dental care; 
. 
. 
B. 
Be a qualified health care provider, jncIi.lding, but not limited to: federally 
qualified health care centers, veterans hefllth care facilities, health care facilities 
established by the United States Department of Defense serving active duty military 
personnel, Maine-based nonprofit health c.are centers and municipally supported 
health clinics; and 
. 
C. Demonstrate a capacity to accommodate dental students. 
6. 
Completion date. 
The awards under subsection 5. must be completed by 
. December 1, 2011, and following disbursement of these grants the committee terminates. 
PARTD 
Sec. D-l. Contingent effective date. 
Parts Band C take effect. only if the 
General.Ftind bond issue proposed in Part A is approved by the voters of the State. 
SUMMARY 
The funds provided by the bond issue in PaIt A, in the amount of $7 ;000,000, will be 
awarded on a- competitive basis, $5,000,000 to be used for. a community-based teaching 
clinic affiliated with or operated by a college of dental medicine and $2,000,000 to be 
used to upgrade commu·nity-based health care clinics across the State to increase their 
capacity. 
. Part B establishes a regular monitoring requirement regarding grant recipients. 
Part C establishes a committee to award the funds. 
Part D makes Part B and Part C contingent on passage· of the General Fund bond 
issue. 
) 
) 
.' 
)