An Act To Fund Opioid Treatment by Establishing an t1cise Tax on Manufacturers of Opioids
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1362
Committee Amendment CA_A_H608 (House)
Amends: 5 MRSA §20010

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" (J,, to H.P. 984, L.D. 1362, Bill, "An Act To Fund 
Opioid Treatment by Establishing an t1cise Tax on Manufacturers of Opioids" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §20010 is enacted to read: 
§20010. Opioid Use Stewardship Fund 
1. Fund established. The Opioid Use Stewardship Fund, referred to in this section 
as "the fund, 
is established for the purpose of supporting opioid use disorder prevention, 
treatment and recovery and is administered by the department. The fund consists of 
money received from proceeds of the opioid tax under Title 36, chapter 725 and 
appropriations, allocations and contributions from private and public sources. The fund 
must be held separate from all other money, funds and accounts. Eligible investment 
earnings credited to the assets of the fund become part of the assets of the fund. 
Unexpended balances remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year do not lapse and 
must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. 
2. Uses of fund proceeds. The proceeds of the fund must be used for opioid use 
disorder prevention, treatment and recovery services, costs associated with the 
administration of this section and other purposes consistent with this section. 
3. Report. By April 1st of each calendar year, a manufacturer subject to the tax 
under Title 36, section 4941 shall report to the department in a form determined by the 
department the following information on opioids made by the manufacturer subject to the 
tax that were distributed in the State the previous calendar year: 
A. The manufacturer's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, website 
address and United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration 
registration number and any registration or identification number required by an 
agency of the State; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
1-=-} 
,to~ t'.l 1 
,'' 
COMMITTEEAMENDMENTA--"toH.P. 984,L.D.1362 
B. The name, address and United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement 
Administration registration number of the person to whom the opioids subject to the 
tax under Title 36, section 4941 were provided in the State and each date the opioids 
were provided: 
C. The gross receipts in dollars of all opioids distributed: 
D. The name and national drug code of each opioid distributed: 
E. The number of containers and the metric quantity of controlled substance in each 
container of opioids distributed: 
F. 
The total number of morphine milligram equivalents of opioids that were 
distributed; and 
G. Any other information determined necessary by the department. 
The department shall forward the information received under this subsection to the State 
Tax Assessor for the administration of the tax under Title 36, section 4941. For purposes 
of this subsection, 
11distribution
has the same meaning as in Title 36, section 4941, 
subsection 1, paragraph A. 
4. Rules. The department, in consultation with the Maine Board of Pharmacy under 
Title 32, section 13711, shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section. Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA c, 725 is enacted to read: 
§4941. Opioid tax 
CHAPTER725 
TAX ON OPIOIDS 
1. Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. 
11Distribution
or "distributed" means the final sale of opioids to a consumer. 
B. 
"Generic substitute" means a drug that is classified as being the therapeutic 
equivalent to another drug in the most contemporary version of a publication of the 
federal Food and Drug Administration that lists approved drug products with 
therapeutic equivalence evaluations and that is: 
(1) The same active ingredient of the therapeutic equivalent identified by the 
federal Food and Drug Administration; and 
(2) Equivalent in strength to the strength specified on the applicable prescription. 
C. 
"Manufacturer1' means a person that makes opioids if more than 100,000 
morphine milligram equivalents of that person's prescription opioid products are 
distributed in this State during the tax year. 
D. "Opiate" means the dried, condensed juice of a poppy, Papaver somniferum L., 
that has a narcotic, soporific, analgesic and astringent effect. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT A 
"to H.P. 984, L.D. 1362 
E. "Opioid" means: 
(1) An opiate: 
(2) A synthetic or semisynthetic narcotic that has effects similar to natural opium 
alkaloids but is not derived from opium; or 
(3) A derivative of an opioid described in subparagraph (1) or (2). 
2. Tax rate. Beginning January L 2020 and ending December 3 L 2023, an excise 
tax is imposed upon a manufacturer on opioids manufactured by that manufacturer that 
are distributed in the State at the rate of: 
A. $0.01 per morphine milligram equivalent for a brand-name opioid; and 
B. $0.0025 per morphine milligram equivalent for a generic substitute. 
3. Exemptions. A person is exempted from the tax under this section: 
A. 
If the State is prohibited from taxing the person under the United States 
Constitution or laws of the United States or under the Constitution of Maine: or 
B. 
For opioids distributed in the State for the purpose of medication-assisted 
treatment of substance use disorder. The Maine Board of Pharmacy under Title 32, 
section 13711 periodically shall provide to the assessor a list of medications 
exempted under this paragraph. 
4. Returns; payment of opioid tax required. Annually, on or before May 15th and 
following the submission of the report to the Department of Health and Human Services 
required by Title 5, section 20010, subsection 3, a person subject to the tax imposed by 
this chapter shall file a return on a form prescribed and furnished by the assessor and pay 
to the assessor the tax due pursuant to this chapter for the preceding calendar year. 
5. Revenue. All taxes, interest. penalties and other amounts received by the assessor 
under this section must be credited to a General Fund suspense account. No later than the 
last day of each month, the State Controller shall transfer all revenues received by the 
assessor during the month under subsection 4 to the Opioid Use Stewardship Fund 
established under Title 5, section 20010. 
6. Review. By March 15, 2023, the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over taxation matters shall review the tax imposed under this section 
and may submit a bill to the First Regular Session of the 131st Legislature to extend. 
amend or repeal the tax. 
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
Revenue Services, Bureau of 0002 
Initiative: Provides one-time funding for computer programming to create a new tax and 
related forms in the sales tax system. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
r~ir:"". ?'.i 
'-' .o-· 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·A» to H.P. 984, L.D. 1362 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL 
SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
GENERAL FUND 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
Opioid Stewardship Fund N314 
2019-20 
$100,000 
$100,000 
2019-20 
$100,000 
$100,000 
2020-21 
$0 
$0 
2020-21 
$0 
$0 
Initiative: Provides allocations to support opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and 
recovery. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 
DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
SECTION TOTALS 
GENERAL FUND 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
SECTION TOTAL - ALL FUNDS 
2019-20 
$0 
$0 
2019-20 
$0 
$0 
2019-20 
$100,000 
$0 
$100,000 
2020-21 
$1,562,500 
$1,562,500 
2020-21 
$1,562,500 
-$1,562,500 
2020-21 
$0 
$1,562,500 
$1,562,500 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
/f 
·~; 
,;(¥, -~_y' 
\~~.} 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 984, L.D. 1362 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. It provides that the excise tax is a tax on manufacturers of opioids if more than 
100,000 morphine milligram equivalents of the manufacturer's prescription opioid 
products are dispensed in the State in the tax year. 
2. It changes the rate of the tax from 0.1¢ per morphine milligram equivalent to 
$0.01 per morphine milligram equivalent for a brand-name opioid distributed in the State 
or $0.0025 per morphine milligram equivalent for a generic substitute. 
3. It removes the prohibition on passing the tax on to consumers. 
4. It provides that revenue collected from the tax also may be used to fund the costs 
of administering the tax and provides necessary administrative details. 
5. It provides that the tax is in effect until December 31, 2023 and requires the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters to review 
the tax. It authorizes the committee to submit a bill to extend, amend or repeal the tax to 
the 131st Legislature based on the review. 
6. It adds an appropriations and allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/12/19 ;?.;Pac:.. 
129th MAINE LEGISI"'ATURE 
LD 1362 
LR 1952(02) 
An Act To Fund Opioid Treatment by Establishing an Excise Tax on Manufacturers of Opioids 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ,'Jr• { H ,--f O 
'g ) 
Committee: Taxation 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2019-20 
FY2020-21 
Projections 
FY2021-22 
Projections 
FY 2022-23 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
$100,000 
$0 
$0 
$0 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
General Fund 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
$100,000 
$0 
$0 
$1,562,500 
$0 
$3,750,000 
$0 
$3,750,000 
Revenue 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
$0 
$1,562,500 
. $3,750,000 
$3,750,000 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The bill creates an excise tax on a manufacturer of opioids that are distributed in the State. It includes a one-time 
General Fund appropriation of $100,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 to the Department of Administrative and Financial 
Services for computer programming to create a new tax and related forms in the sales tax system. 
The bill includes Other Special Revenue Funds allocations to the Department of Health and Human Services of 
$1,562,500 in fiscal year 2020-21 to support opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery supported by 
revenue from the new opioid tax. 
LRI 952(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1