An Act To Broaden Educational Opportunities for Members of the Maine National Guard
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1736
Committee Amendment CA_A_S445 (Senate)
Amends: 30-A MRSA §6054, 37-B MRSA §352, 37-B MRSA §352-A, 37-B MRSA §353-B, 37-B MRSA §357, 37-B MRSA §505

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " to S.P. 635, L.D. 1736, Bill, "An Act To 
Broaden Educational Opportunities for Members of the Maine National Guard" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Broaden Educational Opportunities to Members of the Maine National 
Guard and Provide Financial Assistance to Veterans' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §6054, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 269, Pt. B, §2, is 
amended to read: 
4. Use of fund during bond retirement period; from July 1, 2017 until bonds 
retired. Money in the fund must be held and applied solely to the payment of the liquor 
operation revenue bonds and any ancillary obligations secured by the fund as the bonds 
and ancillary obligations become due and payable and for the retirement of liquor 
operation revenue bonds, including costs of administering the fund, the bonds and the 
ancillary obligations and the payment of any redemption premium required to be paid 
when any liquor operation revenue bonds are redeemed or retired before maturity or for 
the payment of ancillary obligations; except that, to the extent there is money in the fund 
not needed in accordance with terms of the liquor operation revenue bonds and ancillary 
obligations, before June 30th of each year, the bond bank shall withdraw an amount not 
exceeding $7,000,000 $7,400,000 to be paid to the State and distributed in the manner 
and order as follows: 
A. First, an amount not to exceed $7,000,000 distributed in equal amounts to an 
account within the Department of Health and Human Services and an account within 
the Department of Environmental Protection, up to $3,500,000 per account or the 
maximum amount allowed for federal matching funds purposes under federal water 
programs, whichever is less, to be used for revolving loan funds for drinking water 
systems and wastewater treatment; Md 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A 
"to S.P. 635, L.D. 1736 
A-1. Second, $250,000 to the Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund established by 
Title 37-B, section 505, subsection 1-B; 
A-2. Third, $150,000 to the Maine National Guard Postsecondary Fund established 
by Title 37-B, section 353-A; and 
B. The remainder, if any, to an account within the Department of Transportation to 
be used for the construction of highways and bridges. 
Immediately upon retirement of all outstanding liquor operation revenue bonds and 
ancillary obligations secured by the fund, the bond bank shall withdraw any excess 
money in the fund and transfer it to the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund established in 
Title 5, section 1532. 
Sec. 2. 37-B MRSA §352, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2015, c. 465, Pt. D, §4, is 
further amended to read: 
4. 
State postsecondary education institution. 
"State postsecondary education 
institution" means the University of Maine System, the Maine Maritime Academy, the 
Maine Community College System or any other college or university system established 
as a public instrumentality of this State or a private nonprofit postsecondary education 
institution in this State registered with the Military Bureau as a participating institution in 
accordance with this subchapter. 
Sec. 3. 37-B MRSA §352-A is enacted to read: 
§352-A. Participating institution registration 
A member is entitled to a tuition benefit described in this subchapter at a private 
nonprofit postsecondary education institution in the State if that private nonprofit 
postsecondary education institution is registered with the Military Bureau as a 
participating institution in the manner prescribed by the bureau. The bureau may adopt 
rules to implement the registration requirement described in this section. Rules adopted 
in accordance with this section are routine technical rules as described under Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2. 
Sec. 4. 37-B MRSA §353-B, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 465, Pt. D, §6, is amended 
to read: 
§353-B. Tuition benefit for member 
A member who meets the prerequisites of section 354 is entitled to a 100% tuition 
benefit at a state postsecondary education institution, except that the tuition benefit at a 
state postsecondary education institution that is a private nonprofit postsecondary 
education institution may not exceed the in-state tuition at the University of Maine at 
Orono for the previous academic year. The benefit applies to tuition for a member 
enrolled or accepted for admission to a state postsecondary education institution on a full-
time or part-time basis. To be eligible for the benefit, a member must be enrolled full-
time or part-time at a state postsecondary education institution. The benefit may be used 
to earn one credential at the following levels: baccalaureate, associate or certificate and 
licensure. The benefit must be reduced by any other tuition assistance received by a 
member not related to housing costs or non-tuition expenses. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"/\ "to S.P. 635, L.D. 1736 
Sec. 5. 37-B MRSA §357, as repealed and replaced by PL 2015, c. 465, Pt. D, 
§12, is amended to read: 
§357. In-state tuition rates 
A Unless otherwise provided under this subchapter. a member who is approved to 
receive tuition benefits under this subchapter qualifies for in-state tuition rates. 
Sec. 6. 37-B MRSA §505, sub-§1-A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 415, Pt. A, 
§§24 and 25, is repealed. 
Sec. 7. 37-B MRSA §505, sub-§§1-B and 1-C are enacted to read: 
1-B. Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund. The Veterans Temporary Assistance 
Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund." is established as a dedicated. nonlapsing 
Other Special Revenue Funds account in the bureau. The fund is administered and used 
by the director for the purposes of offering financial assistance to veterans as prescribed 
by subsection 1-C. 
1-C. Financial assistance. The following provisions apply to grants of temporary 
financial assistance to veterans. 
A. The bureau may provide a grant of temporary assistance not to exceed $2.000 to a 
veteran currently a resident of this State who has filed a valid claim for a veteran1s 
pension. pending notification of the award of such a pension. For purposes of this 
paragraph. "claim for a veteran1s pension
means a claim filed with the United States 
Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to 38 United States Code, Chapter 15. 
B. The bureau may provide a grant of temporary assistance not to exceed $2,000 to a 
veteran currently a resident of this State who demonstrates to the bureau1s satisfaction 
a financial need and suffers an emergency. including but not limited to: 
(1) Damage to that veteran's home due to fire. flood or hurricane that is not fully 
compensable by insurance: 
(2) Illness or the illness of an immediate family member: or 
(3) Hardship that would result in the veteran becoming homeless. 
C. A veteran who requests temporary assistance under this subsection and is denied 
such assistance by the bureau may request a reconsideration and review of this 
decision. Requests for reconsideration of a claim must be reviewed by the director 
and the commissioner or the commissioner1s designee, and the decision after the 
reconsideration is final and may not be appealed to a court. 
D. The bureau may contract with an organization incorporated in the State as a 
nonprofit corporation in accordance with Title 13-B or an organization with tax-
exempt status under 26 United States Code, Section 501(c) for the purpose of 
providing temporary financial assistance to veterans as described in this subsection. 
A contract authorized under this subsection may provide only for the distribution of 
direct temporary financial assistance to veterans and may not provide for 
compensation for personnel costs of the organization, funding of positions of 
employment within the organization or administrative costs of the organization 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITIEE AMENDMENT"~ "to S.P. 635, L.D. 1736 
except those directly related to the distribution of temporary financial assistance 
grants to veterans. 
E. The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375. subchapter 2-A. 
For the purposes of this subsection, "veteran" has the same meaning as "eligible veteran" 
in section 504, subsection 4, paragraph A-1. The director may also determine eligibility 
for temporary financial assistance on a case-by-case basis. 
Sec. 8. Appropriations and allocations. 
The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
DEFENSE, VETERANS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT 
OF 
Maine National Guard Postsecondary Fund Z190 
Initiative: Provides allocations for tuition assistance to veterans attending state 
postsecondary education institutions and private postsecondary education institutions. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund N284 
2017-18 
$0 
$0 
2018-19 
$150,000 
$150,000 
Initiative: Establishes the Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund and provides allocations 
for financial assistance to veterans. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
DEFENSE, VETERANS AND EMERGENCY 
MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
2017-18 
$0 
$0 
2017-18 
$0 
$0 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
2018-19 
$250,000 
$250,000 
2018-19 
$400,000 
-
$400,000 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 635, L.D. 1736 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. It repeals the provision in current law that allows 
the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Bureau of Maine 
Veterans' Services to provide veterans with temporary and emergency assistance and 
instead establishes the Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund and prescribes the purposes 
for which it may be used within the bureau. The amendment also provides ongoing 
funding for the Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund and the Maine National Guard 
Postsecondary Fund from the Liquor Operation Revenue Fund. 
Like the bill, the amendment expands the Maine National Guard Education 
Assistance Program to include private nonprofit postsecondary education institutions as 
institutions where members of the Maine National Guard may receive a tuition benefit. It 
amends the definition of "state postsecondary education institution," which includes the 
University of Maine System, the Maine Maritime Academy and the Maine Community 
College System, to add private nonprofit postsecondary education institutions in the State 
that have registered with the Military Bureau. The amendment requires that private 
nonprofit postsecondary education institutions must register with the Military Bureau in 
order to take part in the Maine National Guard Education Assistance Program. In the 
amendment, the tuition benefit provided by a private nonprofit postsecondary education 
institution may not exceed the in-state tuition at the University of Maine at Orono for the 
previous academic year. The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations 
section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 04/05/18 feac 
LD 1736 
LR 2746(02) 
An Act To Broaden Educational Opportunities for Members of the Maine National Guard 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment};' l S · l/4s) 
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs 
Appropriations/Allocations 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
Revenue 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
State Alcoholic Beverage Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2017-18 
$0 
$0 
$0 
FY 2018-19 
$400,000 
$400,000 
($400,000) 
Projections 
FY 2019-20 
$400,000 
$400,000 
($400,000) 
Projections 
FY 2020-21 
$400,000 
$400,000 
($400,000) 
The bill expands the Maine National Guard Tuition Assistance Program to add private nonprofit postsecondary 
education institutions to state postsecondary education institutions where Maine National Guard members may receive 
a tuition benefit under the program. To the extent that there are sufficient funds available in the Maine National 
Guard Postseconda1y Fund to pay the tuition costs for allMaine National Guard members who want to participate in 
the program, there is no fiscal impact to the higher education institutions. However, if expanding the program results 
in tuition costs exceeding available funding, there would be an impact to the higher education institutions in the fonn 
of lost tuition revenue. 
The bill includes an allocation of $250,000 to the newly established Veterans Temporary Assistance Fund within the 
Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management which will be used for financial assistance to veterans. 
Funding will come from an annual transfer of $250,000 from the Liquor Operation Revenue Fund (LORF) beginning 
in fiscal year 2018-19. 
The bill also includes an allocation of $150,000 to the Maine National Guard Postsecondary Fund within the 
Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management which will be used for tuition assistance to veterans 
attending state postsecondary education institutions and private postsecondaiy education institutions. Funding will 
come from an annual transfer of $150,000 from the LORF begim1ing in fiscal year 2018-19. 
Increasing from $7,000,000 to $7,400,000 the amount withdrawn annually from the LORF and paid to the State and 
changing the distribution to include the $400,000 described above, will reduce the balance in the LORF. Current law 
requires, once certain revenue bonds have been retired, which is the primary obligation of the LORF, any excess funds 
be transferred to the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund. Since this bill reduces the balance in the LORF by $400,000 
ammally, the final balance available in the LORF to be transferred to the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund once the 
bonds have been retired will be much lower than under cun-ent law. 
LR2746(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1