An Act To Establish the Maine Fire Protection .services Commission. Length of Service Award Program
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1466
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Amends: 5 MRSA §3372

FIRST P.£GULAR SESSION~2009 
Legislative Document 
No. 1466 
H.P.1020 
House of Representatives, April 29, 2009 
An Act To Establish the Maine Fire Protection .services Commission. 
Length of Service Award Program 
Reported by Representative HASKELL of Portland for the Maine Fire Protection Services 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 3371, subsection 8. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
Printed on recycled pilper 
'111~ 1/1. ml!£~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3372 is enacted to read: 
§3372. 
Maine Fire Protection Services Commission Length of Service Award 
Program 
1. 
Definitions~ As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. 
"Accrued service award" means the total value, as. of a given date, of a 
participant's program account. 
B. "Bona fide volunteer" has the same meaning as in the United States Internal 
Revenue Code, Section 457 (e)(l 1). 
C. "Eligible volunteer" means a bona fide volunteer performing qualified services in 
a municipal fire depaI1ment if that bona fide volunteer is: 
(1) A firefighter who is an active paI1-tiine or on-call member of a municipal fire 
department or a volunteer f efighter; or 
(2) An emergency medicd services' person who provides on-call, part-time or 
volunteer emergency medical treatment under the direction of the chief of a 
municipal fire department and who is duly licensed under rules and protocols 
established by the Emergency Medical Services' Board pursuant to Title 32, 
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sectiori 88. 
D. 
"Emergency medical services' person" has the same meaning as in Title 32, 
section 83, subsection 12. 
E. "Emergency medical treatment" has the same meaning as in Title 32, section 83, 
subsection 13. 
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F. 
'.'Fire commission" means the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission 
established in section 3371. 
G. "Municipal fire department" has the same meaning as in Title 30-A, section 3151, 
subsection 1. 
H. "Participant" means a person who participates in the program. 
I. 
"Program" means the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission Length of 
Service Award Program established in subsection 2. 
J. 
"Program account" means a separate account maintained for each participant 
reflecting applicable contributions, applicable forfeitures, investment income or loss 
as well as administrative and investment expenses allocated to each participant and 
distributions paid from the account. 
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K. "Program trust fund" means a trust fund established by the fire commission into 
which all contributions to the program are deposited. 
L. 
"Qualified services" has the same meaning as in the United States Internal 
Revenue Code, Section 457 (e)(1l). 
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M. 
"Volunteer firefighter" has the same meaning as in Title 30-A, section 3151, 
subsection 4. 
2. Program established. The Mailie Fire Protection Services Commission Length 
of Service Award Program is established. 
3. Program administration. The program is administered by the fire commission. 
The fire commission shall contract with firms to provide administration, investment, 
custodial, trustee and auditing services for the program. 
4. Participation eligibility. An eligible volunteer may participate in the program. 
5. Participation commencement. Unless an eligible volunteer waives the right of 
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participation pursuant to subsection 6, the eligible volunteer becomes a participant on the 
last day of the first calendar year during which theeiigible volunteer meets the service 
credit requirements set forth in subsection 7 during a calendar year beginning after 
December 31, 2009. 
6. 
Waiver of participation. An eligible volunteer may waive the right of the 
eligible volunteer to participate in the program by filing with the fire commission a 
written, signed and irrevocable waiver of participation that must be signed by the fire 
chief, as described in Title 30-A, section 3153, of a municipal fire department in which 
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the eligible volunteer is a member. 
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7. Service credit. Service credit maY' be allowed in the program only for volunteer 
emergency service rendered as an eligible volunteer. The requirements to be met by an 
eligible volunteer to earn one year of service credit must be set forth in writing in rules 
adopted by the fire commission and may be amended from time to time at the discretion 
of the fire commission. 
8. Procedure for reporting service credit. A listing of the names of all persons 
who were eligible volunteers during a' calendar year must be.prepared by each municipal 
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fire depm1ment and submitted to the fire commission for review and approval by May 1 st 
following the end of that calendar year. The fire commission, at its sole discretion, may 
audit any list prepared by a municipal fire department. Such a listing must indicate which 
eligible volunteers earned service credit during the calendar year and must be prepared, 
certified under oath by the fire chief of the municipal fire department, posted in the fire 
depm1ment for at least 30 days and then submitted to and received by the fire commission 
before May 1 st. During the 30-day posting period, any eligible volunteer must be given 
the opp0l1unity to dispute the service credit shown for the eligible volunteer in 
accordance with law. The fire chief shall indicate in writing to the fire commission that 
. the list was posted for at least30 days and that all disputes regarding the service credit 
shown on the listing as 'having been earned during the year have been resolved. If the 
listing is not received by the fire' commission by May I st, a contribution may not be 
credited to the program account of any eligible volunteer whose name was or should have 
been reported 'oil the listing as having earned one year of service credit during the 
calendar year. 
9. 
Contributions to· the program. 
For each calendar year beginning after 
December 31, 2009, the program trust fund must accept contributions, if any, from the 
following: 
A. The State; 
B. A municipality; 
C. 
A municipal fire department or a fire company or volunteer organization 
associated with a municipal fire department; 
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D. The Federal Government; or 
E. A participant, after the'United States Internal Revenue Code is amended and any 
required rules and regulations are issued by the United States Internal Revenue 
Service to allow defined contribution length of service award programs to be treated 
as deferred compensation' plans under the United States Internal Revenue Code, 
Section 457. Before the United States Internal Revenue Code is so amended, the fire 
commission shall contract with a firm to offer individual retirement accounts to 
participants. 
The annual contributions, if any, f. r a given calendar year must be deposited into the 
program trust fund before the follo\\ ing July 1 st. 
The portion of the annual contributions credited to a program account of a participant 
who has attained the entitlement age as described in subsection 1.3 and has been paid the 
participant's accrued service award must be determined in the same manner as the portion. 
of the annual contributions credited to a program account of a participant who has not 
attained the entitlement age. 
Except for the limit on the amount of the annual contributions credited to a participant's 
program account set forth in the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457, there 
is no other limit or restriction on the amount credited to a participant's program account 
for any calendar year. 
10. 
Subaccounts. 
A participant's program account consists of the following 
subaccounts: 
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A. A state subaccount, which is an account of a participant reflecting applicable state 
contributions, forfeitures, investment income or loss as well as administrative and 
investment expenses allocated to the· subaccount and distributions paid from the 
subaccount. A participant's state subaccount' is' subject to the vesting schedule set 
forth in subsection 11. 
(1) 
For a given calendar year, the total state contribution, if any, must be 
allocated equally to the state subaccounts of the participants who earned one year 
of service credit during thatcalendar year. .. 
(2) 
Forfeitures from a participantis state subaccount must be added' to and 
allocated as state contributiOils as designated by the State in the calendar year in 
which the forfeitures are determined to occur pursuant to subsection 12; 
B. 
A municipal subaccount, which is an account of a participant derived from 
contributions from a specific municipality to the program. This subaccount must 
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reflect the respective contributions from that municipality along with forfeitures, 
investment income or loss as well as administrative and investment expenses· 
allocated to the subaccount and distributions paid from the subaccount. 
A 
participant's municipal subaccount is subject to the vesting schedule set forth in 
subsection 11. 
. (1) For a given calendar year, the total contribution from a specific municipality, 
if any, must be· allocated equally to the municipal subaccounts of the participants 
who are eligible volunteers of that municipality and who earned one year of 
service credit during that calendar year. 
(2) Forfeitures from a participant's municipal subaccount must be added to and 
allocated as municipal contributions as designated by the municipality in the 
calendar year in which the forfeitures are determined to occur pursuant to 
subsection 12; 
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C. A municipal fire department subaccount, which is an account of a participant 
derived from contributions from a specific municipal fire department or a fire 
company or volunteer organization associated with a fire department to the program. 
This subaccount must reflect the respective contributions from that municipal fire 
department along with forfeitures, investment income or loss as well as 
administrative and investment expenses allocated to the. subaccount and distributions 
paid from the subaccount. A participant's municipal fire department subaccount is 
subject to the vesting schedule set forth in subsection 11. 
(1) For a given calendar year, the total contribution from a specific municipal 
fire department or a fire company or volunteer organization associated with a fire 
department, if any, must be allocated equally to the municipal fire department 
subaccounts of the participants who are eligible volunteers of that municipal fire 
department and who earned one year of service.credit during that calendar year. 
(2) . Forfeitures from a participant's municipal fire department subaccount must 
be added to and allocated as municipal fire department contributions as 
designated by the municipal fire department in the calendar year in which the 
forfeitures are determined to occur pursuant to subsection 12; 
D. A federal government subaccount, which is an account of a participant reflecting· 
. applicable federal government 60ntributions, forfeitures, investment income or loss 'as 
well as administrative and investment exp~nses allocated to the subaccount and 
distriblltions from the subaccount. 
Unless otherwise specified in federal law, a 
participant's federal government subaccount is subject to the vesting schedule set 
forth in subsection 11. 
0) Unless otherwise specified in federal law, for a given calendar year, the total 
contribution from'the Federal Government, if any, must be allocated equally to 
the federal government subaccounts of the pal1icipants ·who earned one year of 
service credit during that calendar year. 
(2) Unless otherwise specified in federal law, forfeitures from a participant's 
federal government subaccount must be added to and allocated as federal 
government contributions as designated by the Federal Government in the 
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calendar year in' which the, forfeitures are determined to occur pursuant to 
subsection 12; and 
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E. A participant contribution subaccount. If the United States Internal Revenue 
Code is amended and any required rules and regulations are issued by the United 
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States Internal Revenue Service to allow defined contribution length of service award 
programs to be treated as deferred compensation pI'ograms under the United States 
Internal Revenue Code, Section 457, a participant may elect to make' participant, 
contributions to the program. A participant contribution subaccount must reflect the 
respective contributions from a participant along with investment income or loss as 
well as administrative and investment expenses allocated to the subaccount and 
.distributions paid from the subaccount. A participant contribution subaccount must 
be 100% vested at all times. 
11. Vesting schedule fora participant's accrued service award. A participant's 
accrued service award becomes vested as set out in this subsection. 
A. If the participant has less than 5 years of service credit, the vested percentage is 
0%. 
B. If the participant has 5 or more years of service credit, the vested percentage is' 
100%. 
In determining an individual participant"s years of service: credit fOF the purpose oif 
vesting, all years of service credit earned as a participant in tile program must be cQlllutedi. 
Failure to submit the. annual eligible volunteer listing to,the fiFe. CQlif:lWl1l'i's&iXiltll I!l'T:fdlef' 
subsection 8 by the required date for anycrol'err~rar.year does not reS1!l'I~in t1re:f€)1if{:dl!u1ie~0f 
. the certified service credit' reported to the fire' c'Ommission for an eligiole vo)'unfeer:, 
. All calendar years, up to 5 years, ending before Januaryl, 2010 during which the 
participant was an eligible volunteer for the entire calendar year count for vesting service 
credit. 
12. Forfeiture of a participant's accrued service award. The nonvested portion of 
a participant's accrued service award is permanently forfeited effective as of the 
December 31 st of the calendar year during which the participant has not been an eligible 
volunteer for 36 consecutive months. Service credit earned by a participant is never 
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forfeited. 
13. Entitlement age .. The entitlement age for a participant is the earlier of: 
. A.. Sixty years of age or the person's age on the next January 1 st after becoming a 
participant in the program if the person is 60 years of age or older; or . 
B. The age of a participant as of the end of the calendar year after earning 20 years 
of service credit. 
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14. Payment to participant of accrued service award. The following provisions 
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govern the payment to a participant of an accrued service award. 
A. 
Upon the attainment of the entitlement age as described in subsection 13, a 
participant'must be paid the vested portion of the participant's accrued service award .. 
A participant who attains the entitlement age whilean eligible volunteer and before 
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attaining a 100% vested status must be paid the participant's accrued service award as 
of December 31 st of the calendar year during which the participant achieved a 100% 
vested status. A participant who attains the entitlement age before 60 years of age 
may on or before attaining the entitlement age file a written election with the fire 
commission to defer payment' of the participant's accrued' service award' until 
attainment of 60 years of age. 
B.' As of the last day of the first calendar year during which a participant has no 
longer been' im eligible volunteer for at least 36 consecutive months, the vested 
portion of the paI1icipant's accrued service award must be paid to the participant. 
C. A participant who has been determined to be totally and permanently disabled by 
the Social Security Administration. any workers' comoensation board, any insurance 
company, any state retirement system, any pension plan administrator or any other 
entity approved by the fire commission must be paid that participant's accrued service 
award as soon as administratively feasible after all documentation.required by the fire 
commission to verify and determine total and permanent disablement is submitted to 
the fire commission and such disability payment is awarded by the fire commission. 
D. Should a participant die before attaining the entitlement age, the participant's 
designated beneficiary or estate if no acceptable beneficiary designation form has 
been filed with the fire commission by the participant must upon application to the 
fire commission be paid the participant's accrued service award as soon as 
administratively feasible after all required documentation is submitted to the fire 
commission. 
E. The portion of the annual contribution credited to the program account of a post-
entitlement age participant must be .immediately paid to the participant if the 
participant has achieved a 100% vested status in the program. If the post~entitlement 
age participant has not achieved a 100% vested status in the program, that 
participant's accrued service award must be paid to' the participant upon the 
December 31 st of the calendar year during which the participant achieved a 100% 
vested status. 
15. Investment of program funds. The fire commission shall establish a program 
trust fund within which the funds paid . into the program must be deposited. A participant 
shall select the investments for the amounts credited to the participant's program account 
from a menu of investment choices. Distributions of accrued service awards must be 
made from the program trust fund in accordance with the program provisions. . The 
program trust fund must be established and maintained in accordance with applicable 
sections of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Subject to the review and approval 
by the Treasurer of State, the program trust fund investment options made available to 
participants must be selected by the fire commission. 
16. Program audits. At the discretion of the State, either a state agency or a firm 
retained by the State shall audit the program at least once evelY 5 years. 
17. Notice of'changes to laws governing the program. Within 180 days after the 
effective date of legislation that changes the laws governing the program, a written notice 
and explanation of these changes must be distributed to all persons who participate or are 
eligible to participate in the program. Copies· of this written notice and explanation· must 
be available upon request to the fire commission to all other persons. 
.. Program termination. Within 360 days after the effective date of legislation 
tenninating the program, each program participant must be paid the participant's entire 
accrued service award to the date of payment in a single lump sum. Beneficiaries of 
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deceased participants ·must be paid any amount owed to them under the program in the 
same manner within the same 360-dayperiod. 
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19. Program tnllst fund governed by certain provisions. Until the United States 
Internal Revenue Code is amended to treat defined contribution length of service award 
programs as deferred compensation plans under the United States Internal Revenue Code, 
Section 457, the program trust fund must be governed by all required provisions to ensure 
that a participating eligible volunteer or the eligible volunteer's beneficiary is not subject 
to federal income taxation on an accrued service award until actual receipt of payment by 
the participant or the beneficiary. After the United States Internal Revenue Code is so 
amended, the State and the fire commission must take all required actions to ensure the 
program complies with the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457 and the 
related United States Internal Revenue Service regulations. 
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20. Rules. The fire commission shall adopt rules, which are routine techniCal rules 
pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, pertaining to the administration of the 
program. 
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SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the framework for a statewide pension-type program under 
which "bona fide volunteers" as defined in the United States Internal Revenue Code are 
paid length of service awards for performing qualified services: The term "qualified 
services" is defined under the United States Intermil Revenue Code, Section 457 (e)(11) 
to mean "firefighting and prevention services, emergency medical services, and 
ambulance services." Under the program, volunteers have a program account that would 
be credited with an annual contribution as of the end of each year during which the 
. volunteer participated in a minimum required level of volunteer activities set forth by the 
Maine Fire Protection Services Commission. Upon the attairiment of 60 years of age or 
after having earned 20 years of service credit before 60 years of age, a volunteer who had 
attained a vested status in the program by having earned 5 years of service credit would 
be paid the contributions credited to that volunteer's program account plus the net 
investment income earned on those contributions. The program account balance of· a 
participating volunteer must be paid before 60 years of age after the volunteer ceases to 
perform qualified services for 36 consecutive months after attaining a vested status in the 
program. The program account balance of a participating volunteer is also payable before 
years of age upon death or total and permanent disablement. 
This bill authorizes the State, political subdivisions and emergency services providers 
within the State as well as emergency services volunteers to participate in the funding of 
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this program. 
Participation in the program funding is optional for any prospective 
contributor and the amount contributed may vary from year to year by a contributor based 
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on available funds. If federal funds become available for the program, the program must 
accept those funds as well. 
Under this bill, the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission contracts with private 
sector filins to provide administration and investment services for the program. 
Until the United States Internal Revenue Code is amended to provide that programs 
under which length of service awards are paid to ,emergency services volunteers may be 
treated as United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457 plans of deferred 
compensation, the program in this bill must comply with the current applicable sections 
of the Internal Revenue Code.