An Act To Buy American-made Products
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0407
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: MARTIN

Legislative Document 
No. 407 
H.P. 273 
House of Representatives, February 12, 2015 
An Act To Buy American-made Products 
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative MARTIN of Eagle Lake. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA c. 153, sub-c. 3 is enacted to read: 
SUBCHAPTER 3 
MAINE BUY AMERICA ACT 
§1777.  Short title 
This Act may be known and cited as "the Maine Buy America Act." 
§1778.  Definitions 
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following 
terms have the following meanings. 
1.  Emergency life safety and property safety goods.  "Emergency life safety and 
property safety goods" means any goods that are part of or for addition to a system 
designed to prevent, respond to, alert regarding, suppress, control or extinguish an 
emergency or the cause of an emergency, or goods used to assist evacuation in the event 
of an emergency, that threatens life or property.  "Emergency life safety and property 
safety goods" includes, but is not limited to, goods relating to systems or items for fire 
alarm, fire sprinkling, fire suppression, fire extinguishing, security, gas detection, 
intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance and recording, mass notification, 
public address, emergency lighting, patient wandering, infant tagging and nurse call. 
2.  Manufactured good.  "Manufactured good" means: 
A.  An article, material or supply, including any preassembled items, brought to a 
construction site for incorporation into a public building or public work; and  
B.  Articles, materials or supplies acquired for public use. 
3.  Manufactured in the United States.  "Manufactured in the United States" means:  
A.  In the case of an iron or steel product, all manufacturing takes place in the United 
States, except metallurgical processes involving the refinement of steel additives; and 
B.  In the case of a manufactured good, other than an iron or steel product: 
(1)  All of the manufacturing processes for the manufactured good take place in 
the United States; and 
(2)  The origin of a manufactured good's components or subcomponents meets a 
minimum level of domestic content, as defined in rules established by the 
Department of Administrative and Financial Services pursuant to section 1780. 
4.  Public agency.  "Public agency" means the State and its departments, agencies, 
boards, commissions and institutions, but does not mean a county, municipality or school 
administrative unit. 
5.  Public building or public work.  "Public building or public work" means any 
structure, building, highway, waterway, street, bridge, transit system, airport or other 
betterment, work or improvement whether of a permanent or temporary nature and 
whether for governmental or proprietary use.  "Public building or public work" includes, 
but is not limited to, any railway; street railway; subway; elevated and monorail 
passenger rolling stock; passenger and rail rolling stock; self-propelled car; gallery car; 
locomotive; passenger bus; wires, poles and equipment for electrification of a transit 
system; rails; tracks; roadbed; guideway; elevated structure; buildings; schools; hospitals; 
stations; terminals; docks; and shelters, and repairs to any such public buildings and 
public works. 
6.  United States.  "United States" means the United States of America and any 
territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 
§1779.  Use of American-made materials 
1.  Mandatory contract provision.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
each contract for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, improvement or 
maintenance of a public building or public work made by a public agency must contain a 
provision that the manufactured goods, including iron and steel, used or supplied in the 
performance of the contract or any subcontract to the contract must be manufactured in 
the United States. 
2.  Exceptions.  A public agency may apply to the Governor or the Governor's 
designee for a waiver of the requirements of subsection 1 in any case or category of cases 
in which the executive head of a public agency finds: 
A.  That the application of the requirements of subsection 1 would be inconsistent 
with the public interest; 
B.  That the necessary manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in 
sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; 
C.  That inclusion of manufactured goods manufactured in the United States will 
increase the cost of the overall project contract by an unreasonable amount, as 
defined in rules established by the Department of Administrative and Financial 
Services pursuant to section 1780; or 
D.  The cost of the total contract for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, 
repair, improvement or maintenance of a public building or public work is below a 
minimum project cost as established by rules of the Department of Administrative 
and Financial Services pursuant to section 1780. 
3.  Public review and comment.  The Department of Administrative and Financial 
Services shall implement procedures to allow a reasonable amount of time for public 
review and comment on a requested waiver under subsection 2 before making a finding 
based on the request and shall publish on the department's publicly accessible website, or 
in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the proposed work, a detailed 
justification for any waiver granted. 
4.  Intentional violations.  The Department of Administrative and Financial Services 
shall, after a hearing, debar a person, business or other entity from participation in 
contracts or subcontracts with the State for 2 years if the department has reason to believe 
that person, business or other entity has intentionally: 
A.  Affixed a label bearing a "Made in America" inscription, or any inscription with 
the same meaning, to any manufactured good, including iron and steel, used in a 
project to which this section applies when that manufactured good was not 
manufactured in the United States; 
B.  Represented that any manufactured good, including iron and steel, used in a 
project to which this section applies was manufactured in the United States when that 
manufactured good was not manufactured in the United States; or 
C.  Violated any provision of this subchapter. 
5.  International trade obligations.  This section must be applied in a manner 
consistent with the State's obligations under any applicable international agreements 
pertaining to government procurement. 
6.  Exception for emergency life safety and property safety goods.  The provisions 
of this subchapter do not apply to emergency life safety and property safety goods. 
§1780.  Rules 
The Department of Administrative and Financial Services shall adopt routine 
technical rules as described in chapter 375, subchapter 2-A to implement this subchapter. 
Sec. 2.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2016. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the Maine Buy America Act and requires that all contracts for 
the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of a 
public building or public work made by a state agency, board, commission or institution 
contain a provision that the manufactured goods, including iron and steel, used or 
supplied in the performance of the contract or any subcontract under the contract must be 
manufactured in the United States.  This requirement does not apply to municipalities or 
school administrative units. 
The bill requires that, in the case of a manufactured good other than an iron or steel 
product, all of the manufacturing processes take place in the United States and the origin 
of the manufactured good's components or subcomponents meet a minimum level of 
domestic content as established by rule. 
Under the Act, a public agency may apply to the Governor or the Governor's designee 
for a waiver of the requirement if the executive head of the public agency finds that the 
application of the requirement would be inconsistent with the public interest, that the 
necessary manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and 
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality or that inclusion of 
manufactured goods made in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project 
contract by an unreasonable amount.  The Department of Administrative and Financial 
Services is directed to develop rules regarding the Act, including rules to guide the 
waiver process and the process for public review and comment regarding requests for a 
waiver. 
The bill requires that if the Department of Administrative and Financial Services has 
reason to believe that any person, business or other entity has intentionally made 
fraudulent representations about the domestic content of a manufactured good or has 
intentionally violated any provision of the Act, the department must, after a hearing, 
debar that person, business or other entity from contracts or subcontracts with the State 
for 2 years. 
The bill provides that the provisions of this legislation must be applied in a manner 
consistent with the State's obligations under any applicable international agreements 
pertaining to government procurement.