An Act To Expand the Membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0145
Committee Amendment CA_A_H227 (House)
Amends: 36 MRSA §4312, 36 MRSA §4312-C

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. !),, to H.P. 127, L.D. 145, Bill, "An Act To 
Expand the Membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act Regarding the Membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4312, 2nd 1, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 836, §9, is amended 
to read: 
Current members of the advisory committee shall continue to serve for the duration 
of their current appointments. New appointments to the advisory committee shall must 
be for terms of 4 years.,_ and no appointse may bs eligibls for rsappointment l:l:fltil the 
lapse of one year from the expiration of a pre11iolls appointment members may be 
reappointed for additional terms. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§1, ,ill is enacted to read: 
D. An employee of the commission who leaves commission employment may not be 
a paid lobbyist as defined by Title 3, section 312-A, subsection 10 for a wild 
blueberry business for a period of one year after leaving commission employment. 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 511, §21 and 
affected by §25 and amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is further amended to read: 
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2. Appointment. Appointments to the commission are made by the Commissioner 
of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The commissioner shall call for and consider 
nominations for grower representative appointments to the commission from the wild 
blueberry grower community in the State. The commissioner shall call for nominations 
by January 15th of any year in which a grower representative te1m will expire and shall 
announce the call for nominations at a statewide agricultural trade show held in Augusta 
in January. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. ;J,, to H.P. 127, L.D. 145 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 511, §21 and 
affected by §25 and amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is repealed and the following 
enacted in its place: 
3. Membership. The commission consists of 10 members who are active in and 
representative of the wild blueberry industry, appointed by the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. 
A. Five members must be grower representatives. For the purposes of this section, 
"grower representative" means a person, firm, partnership, association or co1poration 
engaged in the growing of wild blueberries in the State. including but not limited to 
those who engage in organic growing. other integrated crop management growing, 
fresh pack sales. wild blueberry business cooperative activities and wild blueberry 
value-added production and those representing a federally recognized Indian nation, 
tribe or band in the State. "Grower representative" does not include a processor 
representative. Grower representative members must be selected to represent grower 
representatives who pay both the processor and grower portions of the wild blueberry 
tax under this chapter and grower representatives who pay only the grower portion of 
the wild blueberry tax under this chapter. 
B. Five members must be processor representatives. For pruposes of this section. 
"processor representative" means a person. firm. partnership, association or 
corporation that processes 1,000,000 pounds or more of wild blueberries grown in the 
State in a calendar year. 
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 579, 
§2 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is further amended to read: 
4. Term. Members are appointed to staggered 4-year terms so that the terms of at 
least 2 but not more than 3 members expire on August 31st of every year. If the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry fails to make an appointment 
prior to the expiration of a member's term, that member continues to serve until the 
commissioner makes an appointment for the remainder of that term. If a vacancy occurs 
prior to the expiration of a specified term, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation 
and Forestry shall appoint an individual to serve only the remainder of that term. 
Sec. 6. Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine membership; staggered 
terms. 
Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 4312-C, 
subsection 4, of the additional grower representatives appointed to the Wild Blueberry 
Commission of Maine pursuant to this Act, one serves an initial term of 4 years and one 
serves an initial term of 2 years.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment strikes and replaces the bill. 
The amendment expands the 
membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine by adding 2 members who are 
grower representatives and requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and 
Forestry to formally call for nominations for grower representative members. 
The 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 127, L.D. 145 
amendment clarifies the requirements governing grower representative members and 
processor representative members. The amendment prohibits former employees of the 
commission from serving as paid lobbyists for wild blueberry businesses for a period of 
one year following employment by the commission. 
The amendment also allows 
members of the University of Maine System Wild Bluebeny Advisory Committee to be 
reappointed for additional terms. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT. 
Approved: 04/29/19 %Pac 
LD 145 
LR 413(02) 
An Act To Expand the Membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Ma~e 
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Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ,J/. { /I .;)) ?; 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Any additional costs to the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine resulting from additional members, rules regarding 
the specific makeup of membership or rules limiting who may be appointed to the commission are anticipated to be 
minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0413(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1