An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Attract Business by Investing in High-speed Broadband Infrastructure
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0068
Committee: Appropriations and Financial Affairs
Sponsors: CAMPBELL, SAUCIER, WOODSOME, BEAVERS, GILBERT, MARTIN, MASTRACCIO, O'CONNOR, SHORT, DUTREMBLE
Amends: 35-A MRSA §9217

Legislative Document 
No. 68 
H.P. 62 
House of Representatives, January 16, 2015 
An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Attract 
Business by Investing in High-speed Broadband Infrastructure 
Reference to the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CAMPBELL of Newfield. 
Cosponsored by Representative SAUCIER of Presque Isle, Senator WOODSOME of York and 
Representatives: BEAVERS of South Berwick, GILBERT of Jay, MARTIN of Eagle Lake, 
MARTIN of Sinclair, MASTRACCIO of Sanford, O'CONNOR of Berwick, SHORT of 
Pittsfield, Senator: DUTREMBLE of York. 
Preamble.  Two thirds of both Houses of the Legislature deeming it necessary in 
accordance with the Constitution of Maine, Article 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-1.  Authorization of bonds.  The Treasurer of State is authorized, under 
the direction of the Governor, to issue bonds in the name and on behalf of the State in an 
amount not exceeding $10,000,000 for the purposes described in section 5 of this Part.  
The 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. 
Sec. A-2.  Records of bonds issued; Treasurer of State. The Treasurer of 
State shall ensure that an account of each bond is kept 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 State 
upon warrants drawn 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 Office of the Treasurer of State to be used for the retirement of 
general obligation 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-5.  Disbursement of bond proceeds 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 under the direction and supervision of the agencies 
and entities set forth in this section. 
Provides funds to be used for grants on a 2-to-one match basis to municipalities for 
high-speed broadband infrastructure development and improvement. 
CONNECTME AUTHORITY 
Total 
$10,000,000
Sec. A-6.  Contingent upon ratification of bond issue.  Sections 1 to 5 do not 
become effective unless the people of the State ratify the issuance of the bonds as set 
forth in this Part. 
Sec. A-7.  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 the Office of the Treasurer of State to be used for the retirement of general 
obligation bonds. 
Sec. A-8.  Bonds authorized but not issued.  Any bonds authorized but not 
issued within 5 years of ratification of this Part are deauthorized and may not be issued, 
except that the Legislature may, within 2 years after the expiration of that 5-year period, 
extend the period for issuing any remaining unissued bonds for an additional amount of 
time not to exceed 5 years. 
Sec. A-9.  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 election 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 Part by voting on the following question: 
"Do you favor a $10,000,000 bond issue for development and 
improvements to high-speed municipal broadband infrastructure?" 
The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall vote by ballot 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, sorted, 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 returns.  If a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of this Part, the 
Governor shall proclaim the result without delay and this Part 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 Part necessary to carry out the purposes of this 
referendum. 
PART B 
Sec. B-1.  35-A MRSA §9217 is enacted to read: 
§9217.  High-speed broadband infrastructure assistance to municipalities 
1.  High-speed Municipal Broadband Infrastructure Fund; established.  The 
authority shall establish the High-speed Municipal Broadband Infrastructure Fund, 
referred to in this section as "the fund," to help municipalities develop and improve high-
speed broadband infrastructure for use in accordance with this section.  All funds 
deposited in the fund are deemed to be encumbered for purposes of this section at the 
time the funds are deposited in the fund.  For the purpose of this section, an Internet 
connection that is capable of uploading and downloading data at speeds no lower than 
megabytes per second is considered to be high-speed. 
2.  Grants to municipalities.  The authority shall award grants from the fund to 
municipalities for the development and improvement of high-speed municipal broadband 
infrastructure in accordance with this subsection. 
A.  The authority shall award grants to eligible applicant municipalities on a 2-to-one 
matching basis.  A municipality may not receive more than $100,000 in matching 
funds per application. 
B.  To apply for a grant, a municipality must file with the authority a request for 
funds together with a certification indicating that the funds requested will be used to 
deploy high-speed broadband infrastructure within the municipality.  The 
certification must include the projected cost of developing or improving high-speed 
broadband infrastructure in the municipality and the scope of such work, and must 
indicate how the funds will be spent.  Upon receipt of a municipal application, the 
authority shall disburse an amount in accordance with procedures specified pursuant 
to paragraph C. 
C.  The authority shall adopt a procedure whereby applicant municipalities are 
selected to receive grants and criteria by which the authority determines the amounts 
to award to municipal applicants. 
Sec. B-2.  Contingent effective date.  This Part takes effect only if the General 
Fund Bond issue proposed in Part A is approved by the voters of this State. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides for a bond issue in the amount of $10,000,000 to be used to expand 
high-speed municipal broadband infrastructure.  The bill also establishes the High-speed 
Municipal Broadband Infrastructure Fund to assist municipalities in developing and 
improving their broadband infrastructure, contingent upon passage of the bond issue.