An Act To Establish the Maine Emergency Services Institute
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1177
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004, 25 MRSA §2399, 25 MRSA §2927

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th ,MAINE 'LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No; 1177 
H.P.816 
House of Representatives, March 25,2009 
An Act To Establish the Maine Emergency Services Institute 
Reported by Representative HASKELL 01 Portland for the Maine Fire Protection Services 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, seCtion 3371. 
Reference to the Comniittee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed linder Joint Rule 218. 
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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 §12004-:C,sub:-§8 is enacted to read: 
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Board of Directors, Maine' " "',. 
Emergency Services Institute 
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, Expenses Only 
MRS A §2603 
S'ec. 2. 25 MRSA §2399, '2nd'll, as amended 'by 'PLI 997, c. 728, §22, is further 
amended to read: 
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'Every fire insurance company or association that does business or collects prerriiums 
or assessments in the State shall pay to the State Tax Assessor, in addition to the taxes 
now imposed by law to be paid by those companies or associations, 1.4% of the gross 
direct premiums for fire risks written in the State, less the amount of all direct return 
premiums thereon and all dividends paid to policyholders on direct fire premiums. That 
, tax must be paid as provided for insurance premium taxes as specified in Title 36, section' 
2521-A, except that the tax prescribed b)ithis section must be paid on an estimated basis 
at the end of each month starting July 31, 1998, with each installment equal to at least 
1112 of the estimated total tax to be paid,for the current calendar year. The State Tax 
Assessor shall pay over all receipts from that tax to the Treasurer of State daily: Of these 
funds 75.7% must be used to defray the expenses incurred by the Commissioner of Public 
Safety in administering all fire preventive and investigative laws and rules and in 
educating the public in fire' safety and is appropriated for those purposes apd to carry out 
the administration and duties of the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Of these funds 
24.3% must be used to defray the expenses of the fire training and education program as 
established in Title 20-A, chapter 319 until June 30, 2014, and beginning July 1,2014 to 
support the M~ine Emergency Services Institute as established in chapter 323. 
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Sec. 3. 25 MRS A c. 323 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 323 
' MAINE EMERGENCY SERVICES INSTITUTE 
§2601. Definitions. 
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. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 
have the following meanings. 
1. Board. "Board" means the Board of Directors of the Maine Emergency Services 
Institute. 
2. 
Commission.' "Commission" means the Maine Fire, Protection Services 
Commission established pursuant to Title 5, chapter 319. 
3. Department. "Department" means the Department of Public Safety. 
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4. First responder.· "First responder" means any person who, in a professional 
capacity, responds to a fire, emergency management situation, medical· emergency or 
public health emergency. 
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5. Institute. "Institute" means the Maine Emergency Services Institute. 
§2602.Maine Emergency Services Institute; purpose 
There is created within the department the Maine Emergency Services Institute.· The 
purpose of the Maine Emergency Services Institute is to provide core arid specialized 
training for first responders at regional facilities in the~ State and act as an educational 
branch for the department. 
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§2603. Board of directors 
1. 
Board established; appointments. 
The. Board of Directors of the Maine 
Emergency Services Institute, as established by Title 5, section 12004-C, subsection 8, . 
consists of the following 17 members: 
A. 
The Director of the Maine· Emergency Management Agency within the 
Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergericy Management, or the director's 
designee; 
B. The Director of Maine Emergency Medical Services within the department, or the 
directoris designee; 
C. Two members of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate, one of 
whom must be a member of the. commission; 
D. Three members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker ofthe 
House of Representatives, one of whom must be a member of the commission; 
E. 
Six fire chiefs, at least one of whom must be a member of the commission, 
appointed by the Governor as follows: 
(1) 
Two career firefighters who are members of a statewide association of 
professional firefighters;· 
(2) Two volunteer firefighters who are members of a statewide association of 
volunteer firefighters; and 
(3) 
Two firefighters who represent combination career and volunteer fire 
departments; . . 
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F. One county emergency management agency director appointed by an organization 
representing county emergency management directors; 
G. Two public health officials appointed by the Governor; and 
H. One representative of the, private sector appointed by the Governor. 
2. Terms. The term of office for memben(oftheboard is 4years and members may 
be reappointed to the board .. Terms of appointrrient for Legislators coincide with their 
respective legislative terms of office. 
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3~ Vacancies. 
When a vacancy on the board occurs it must be filled by the same 
appointing authority and the new member shall serve for the remainder of the term. 
Members may continue to serve until replacements are appointed or designated. 
4. DutIes. The board shall: 
A. Appoint the director of the-institute; 
B. Develop a plan for the establishment ofregional training facilities for emergency 
management training in different areas of the State. 
The plan must include· the 
provision ora central facility and regional facilities that will require no more than one 
hour of travel time for 90% of first responders in the 'State. The plan must include 
site selection, facility plil11ning, design, management and a timeline for being fully 
. operational by December 31, 2014; 
C. Develop a plan for raising revenue for architectural, engineering, rehabilitation 
and construction costs of the facilities and management of the institute, including 
seeking federal funding for initial.design and construction costs;. 
D. Develop and oversee training programs for first responders. Programs must 
include mandatory requirements for firefighters. 
Other programs offered must 
include, but are not limited to, emergency plmming, public health, hazardous 
materials response, flammable liquids training, weapons of mass destruction, bomb 
and arson investigation, homeland security, vehicle fire training, mass casualty and 
natural gas training; 
E. Submit legislation to the Legislature to implement recommendations of the board 
including bond proposals; and 
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F. 
Develop rules of procedure necessary to carry out its duties. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A. 
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5. Fund- established.' The Maine Emergency Services Institute Fund, referred to in 
this section as "the fund," is established within the institute as anonlapsing fund fmm: 
A.' The funding that supports the Maine Fire Training and Education Program 
pursuant to Title 20-A. chapter 319, which must be transferred to the fund beginning 
July 1, 2014; 
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B. Funding from an E-9-1-1 surcharge pursuant to section 2927; and 
C. Any other funds received for the purposes of the institute; 
Sec. 4. 25 MRSA §2927, sub-§l-B, as amended by PL 2007, c. 637; §1, is 
further amended to read: 
I-B. Statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge. The activities authorized under this chapter are 
funded through a special statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge levied on each residential and 
business telephone exchange line, including private branch exchange lines and Centrex 
lines, cellular or wireless telecommunications service customers, including prepaid 
wireless telephone service customers, interconnected voice over Internet protocol service 
customer-s and semipUblic coin and public access lines. The statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge 
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may not be imposed on more than 25 lines or numbers per customer billing account, 
except that this limitation does not apply to prepaid wireless telephone services. In the 
case of cellular or wireless telecommunications service customers, the place of residence 
of those customers must be determined according to the sourcing rules for mobile 
telecommunications services as set forth in Title 36, section 2556. The statewide E-9-1-1 
surcharge is ~ 
50¢ per month per line or number or, in the case of prepaid wireless 
telephone services, ~ 
50¢ per mqnth or 30-day increment of service per customer. The 
statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge must be collected from the customer on a monthly basis by 
each local exchange telephone utility, cellular or wireless telecommunications service 
provider and interconnected voice over Intemet protocol service provider and be shown 
separately as a statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge on the customer's bill, exceptthat in the case 
of prepaid wireless telephone service, the collection of the statewide E-9-1-1 surcharge is 
governed by subsection I-C. 
Sec. 5. 25 MRS A §~9~7, sub~§3-B is enacted to read: 
3-B. 
Contribution to Maine Emergency Services Institute. To assist in the 
development and operatiori of the Maine Emergency Services Institute, 20¢ of the 
surcharge in subsection I-B must be paid by the bureau from the E-9-1-1 fund to the 
Maine Emergency Services Institute Fund pursuant to sectIon 2603, subsection 5. 
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Sec. 6 .. Staggered ~erms. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 25, 
section 2603, subsection 2, the Govemor shall initially appoint 3 members of the Board 
. of Directors of the Maine Emergency Services mstitute to 3-year terms, 3 members to 2-
year tenns arid the remaining 3 members must be appointed to one-year terms. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the Maine Emergency Services Institute to provide core and 
specialized training to first responders in multiple areas related to fire safety, public 
safety and emergency management. The Board of Directors of the Maine Emergency 
Services Institute is charged with developing a plan for the physical establishment of 
institute facilities by December 31, 2014, developing a funding plan including application 
for federal funds. and developing training programs. The institute is partially funded by 
20¢ from the E-9-1-1 surcharge and the redirection of funding that currently goes to the 
Maine Fire Training and Education Program.