An Act To Bolster Maine's Social Safety Net through Voluntary Sales Tax Contributions -(AFTER DEADLINE~
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1785
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: HAYES, BERRY, BOLAND, CLEARY, CURTIS, DILL, EATON, FLAHERTY, FLEMINGS, GILES, HANLEY, JONES, JOY, KNAPP, LAJOIE, LEGG, MAGNAN, PENDLETON, PERRY, PETERSON, SANBORN, SIROIS, SOCTOMAH, TREAT, WAGNER, WATSON, WILLETTE, COURTNEY, RA YE
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5681

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAINE LEGISLATU 
Legislative Document 
No. 1785 
H.P.1273 
of Representatives, February 17,2010 
An Act To Bolster Maine's Social Safety Net through Voluntary 
Sales Tax Contributions 
-(AFTER DEADLINE~ 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205. 
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Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative HAYES of Buckfield. 
1Yt~ 
1I1.1!I1LC~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, BOLAND of Sanford, CLEARY 
of Houlton, CRA Y ofPahnyra, CURTIS of Madison, DILL of Cape Elizabeth, EATON of 
Sullivan, FLAHERTY of Scarborough, FLEMINGS of Bar Harbor, GILES of Belfast, 
HANLEY of Gardiner, JONES of Mount Vernon, JOY of Crystal, KNAPP of Gorham, 
LAJOIE of Lewiston, LEGG of Kennebunk, MAGNAN of Stockton Springs, PENDLETON of 
Scarborough, PERRY of Calais, PETERSON of Rumford, SANBORN of Gorham, SIROIS of 
Turner, SOCTOMAH of the Passamaquoddy Tlibe, TREAT of Hallowell, WAGNER of 
Lyman, WAGNER of Lewiston, WATSON of Bath, WEAVER dfYork, WILLETTE of 
Presque Isle, Senators: COURTNEY of York, PERRY of Penobscot, RA YE of Washington. 
Prillteu t.ln I'ccyclct..l p'lp~r 
Emergt!ncy preamble. Whereas, .acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the current economy has resulted in a dramatic decrease in anticipated 
state revenue; and 
Whereas, this decrease in state revenue creates a need to reduce state spending and 
current budget proposals under consideration conterriplate significant reductions 
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funding for safety net programs for the State's most vulnerable citizens; and 
Whereas, mandatOl), tax increases may be detrimental to the economy; howeve'r, . 
citizens should be given the 0ppOliunity to voluntarily pay additional taxes to fund safety 
net services; and 
II 
Whereas, it is necessary to establish a voluntary tax payment process as soon as 
possible to avoid serious ,cutbacks in the funding of critical. programs; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislatiorl as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
. 
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §5681, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2009, c. 213, Pt. S, -§4 
and .affected by § 16, is further amended to read: 
5. 
Transfers to funds. 
No later than the 10th day of each month, the State' 
Controller shall tran~fer to the Local Government Fund 5% of the receipts duriilg the 
previous m<?nth from the taxes imposed under Title 36, Parts 3 and Part 3, excluding 
chapter 227, and Part 8, and Title 36, section 2552, subsection I, paragraphs A to F and 
L, and credited to the General Fund without any reduction, except that the postage, state 
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cost allocation program and programming costs of administering state-municipal reven/ue 
sharing may be paid by the Local Government Fund. A percentage share of the amounts 
transferred to the Local Goverilment Fund each month ,must be transfelTed to the 
. DispropOliionate Tax Burden Fund and distributed pursuant to subsection 4-B as. follows: 
C. For months beginning on or after July 1,2009 but before July I, 20 10, 15%; 
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D. For months beginning on or after July I, 2010 but before July I, 2011, 16%; 
E. For months beginning on or after July I, 2011 but before July 1,2012, 17%; 
F. For months tJeginning on or after July 1,2012 but beforeJuly 1,2013,18%; 
G. For months beginning on or after July I, 2013 but before July I, 2014, 19%; and 
H. For months beginning on or after July 1,2014, 20%. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA c. 227 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 227 
Page I - 124LR2559(Ot)-1 
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. VOLUNTARY 8ALES TAx SURCHARGE 
§2151. Voluntary Sales Tax Safety Net Fund 
1. Fund established. The Voluntary Sales Tax Safety Net Fund, referred to in this 
chapter as "the fund," is established as an Other Special Revenue Funds account for the 
purposes specified in this section. Payment of revenue to the fund is administered by the 
bureau. 
2. Interest; nonlapsing; Any interest earned by the fund accrues to the fund. Any 
unexpended balances in the fund do not lapse but are carried forward. ' 
3. Fund revenue.' The fund consists of revenue paid to the fund under section 2152. 
4. Fund purposes. Revenue in the fund must be used, to the' extent permitted by 
federal law, to support the proVision of safety net services as provided in this subsection. 
The amounts in the fund at the end of each quarter of a fiscal year must betransferred by 
the State Controller in equal portions to the followinK accounts or their successors under' 
the Department of Health and Human Services: 
'A. Medical Care - Payments to Provider~; 
B. Nursing Facilities; 
C. Elderly PNMI Room and, Board; 
D. Mental Health Services - Child Medicaid; 
E. Mental Health Services - Community Medicaid; 
,F. Medicaid Services - Mental Retardation; 
21G. Mental Retardation Waiver:' MaineCare; 
, 
H. Mental Retardation Waiver - Supports; 
L Low-cost Drugs to Maine's Elderly; and 
J. FHM - Drugs forthe Elderly and Disabled. 
§2152. Administration of the fund 
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1. Establishment of payment process. The State Tax Assessor shall establish a 
process for collecting voluntary sales tax surcharge payments for the fund. The process 
must permit persons making taxable purchases under this Part to estimate and voluntarily 
pay a sales tax surcharge. The amount of a payment does not need to reflect detailed 
information about the sales price of purchases. The assessor may establish a minimum 
payment amount to ensure that the cost of administering the payment does not exceed the 
amount paid. 'Payments may be made on' a one-time or recurring basis. The assessor 
shall provide instructions for making payments online and through financial institutions. 
A. The assessor shall establish a process to accept electronic payments to the fund 
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through financial institutions and for the cancellation of recurring payments. The 
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process must identify the information that must be collected by financial institutions 
to facilitate electronic transfers. 
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B. The assessor may establish a process to caccept nonelectronic payments if those 
payments can be processed without additional significant cost to the State. 
2:. Administrative costs. The State Controller shall, at the close of each fiscal year, . 
transfer from the fund to the bureau the amount identified by the assesso~ as the cost of 
administering the process of payments to the fund under subsection 1. 
3. Report. The assessor shall report by January 15th annually to the joint standing 
committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial 
affairs, health and human services matters and taxation matters the amount of revenue 
paid to the fund, the amount of transfers from the fund under section 2151,· subsection 4 
and the cost of administering the payment process over the previous fiscal year. 
4. Notice of change in transfers from the fund. Persons who make payments to 
the fund must be given the opportunity to be notified via e-mail if changes are made in 
the fund transfer apportionment provided in section 2151, subsection 4. Persons who 
choose to be notified must provide an e-mail address that must be maintained in a list by 
the assessor. If a change is made in the fund transfer apportionment under section 2151, 
subsection 4, the assessor shall notify persons who were on the e-mail list at any time· 
during the previous 12 months of the change within 30 days after the effective date ofthe 
change. 
5. Revenue sharing. Payments to the fund are not subject to transfer to the Local 
Government Fund under Title 30-A, section' 5681, subsection 5. 
Emergency dause: 
In. view of the emergency cited In the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill directs the State Tax Assessor to create a process for voluntary payments of 
a sales tax surcharge for persons who make purchases that are subject to the sales and use 
tax. 
A person choosing to make voluntary payments may do so through electronic 
payments from that person's financial· institution to the Voluntary Sales Tax Safety .Net 
FUl~d, which i~ established in this bill, or by other means that may.be established by the 
State Tax Assessor, who administers payments to the fund. Payments to the fund are not 
subject to transfers to the Local Government Fund for state-municipal revenue sharing. 
Revenues in the fund are distributed proportionately to various safety net programs to 
alleviate the burden of future budget reductions required as a result of a decline in 
General Fund revenue. 
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