An Act To Allow Affirmation of a Local Option Referendum by the Municipal Officers or County Commissioners (AFTER DEADLINE)
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1642
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: LUCHINI
Amends: 28-A MRSA §121, 28-A MRSA §125

Legislative Document
No. 1642
S.P. 527
In Senate, May 5, 2021
An Act To Allow Affirmation of a Local Option Referendum by the 
Municipal Officers or County Commissioners
(AFTER DEADLINE)
(EMERGENCY)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on May 3, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator LUCHINI of Hancock.
Emergency preamble.  Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, current law requires that a municipality hold a referendum to authorize or 
the county commissioners of an unincorporated place approve the sale of liquor in that 
municipality or unincorporated place; and
Whereas, based upon the affirmative referendum or county commissioner 
authorization, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations is authorized to issue a liquor license to a 
qualified establishment in that municipality or unincorporated place; and
Whereas, it recently became clear that a large number of municipalities would have 
to conduct new local option elections and county commissioners would have to reauthorize 
the sale of liquor due to changes in terminology that occurred in 1976 relating to types of 
establishments requiring liquor licenses; and
Whereas, Public Law 2019, chapter 672, enacted by the Legislature and approved by 
the Governor on March 18, 2020, authorized the bureau to continue to issue, renew or 
transfer licenses to sell liquor in an authorized municipality or authorized unincorporated 
place until July 1, 2022, by which date municipalities and unincorporated places would be 
required to provide evidence of the results of a local option election or county 
commissioner action authorizing such sales; and
Whereas, conducting local option elections to affirm that the pre-1976 local option 
vote should be extended to all establishment types constitutes a significant financial and 
administrative burden for many municipalities and unincorporated places statewide; and
Whereas, it is imperative that this legislation take effect as soon as possible to avoid 
irreparable harm to businesses that have complied with all requirements but could lose their 
licenses to sell liquor for reasons beyond their control, while providing an alternative option 
to municipalities and unincorporated places to allow municipal officers or the county 
commissioners of an unincorporated place the option to affirm and extend the results of a 
past local option election or county commissioner authorization to new license 
classifications created by changes to laws in effect at the time of previous local option 
elections or county commissioner authorizations instead of requiring additional local 
option elections in potentially hundreds of municipalities or unincorporated places to 
address the ramifications of Public Law 2019, chapter 672; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  28-A MRSA §121, sub-§1-A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 672, §2, is 
amended to read:
1-A.  Vote of municipal officers.  As an alternative to the petition process in 
subsection 1, the municipal officers may vote either to hold a local option election, which 
must be conducted pursuant to subsection 3, paragraph A, including one or more of the 
questions specified in section 123, or to affirm the scope of a prior local option election 
under the procedure established in section 125, subsection 3, paragraph B.
Sec. 2.  28-A MRSA §125, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 672, §4, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place:
3.  Proof of municipal local option election or county commissioner authorization.  
If a municipality or unincorporated place disagrees with a preliminary determination made 
by the bureau under subsection 2, by July 1, 2022:
A.  The municipality may submit evidence of the results of an election on any local 
option question pursuant to section 123 or former Title 28, section 101 or the county 
commissioners of an unincorporated place may submit evidence of the result of an 
affirmative decision pursuant to section 122 or former Title 28, section 103 to refute 
the bureau's preliminary determination; or
B.  The municipal officers may vote to affirm that the results of a local option election 
of a question approved by voters that specified certain types of licensed establishments 
as required by former Title 28, section 101 are considered an approval for all types of 
establishments that may be licensed by the bureau.  The county commissioners of an 
unincorporated place may vote to affirm that a prior authorization for certain types of 
licensed establishments under former Title 28, section 103 is considered an approval 
for all types of establishments that may be licensed by the bureau.  The municipality 
or unincorporated place shall submit evidence of such municipal officers' or county 
commissioners' vote, which must be accepted by the bureau to refute the bureau's 
preliminary determination. 
Nothing in this subsection prohibits a municipality from conducting a local option election 
in accordance with this chapter at any time.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation 
takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
Current law requires a municipality through a local option election to affirmatively 
authorize the licensing of businesses to sell liquor in that municipality.  In an 
unincorporated place, the county commissioners must decide whether to authorize or not 
authorize the licensing of businesses to sell liquor in that unincorporated place.  Based on 
the type of sales authorized in that municipality or unincorporated place, the Department 
of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery 
Operations issues licenses to the establishments or agency liquor stores in that municipality 
or unincorporated place.
Since a municipality or unincorporated place may not be able to provide proof that the 
sale of liquor was authorized in that municipality or unincorporated place, Public Law 
2019, chapter 672 was enacted to provide a window, until July 1, 2022, for a municipality 
or unincorporated place to either provide the bureau with proof of an affirmative vote or 
decision or to conduct a new local option election or affirmative decision by the county 
commissioners to authorize the sale of liquor.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, 
many municipalities were unable to conduct the new local option election required to affirm 
the authorization of the sale of liquor.
This bill allows a municipality to authorize the sale of liquor by allowing the municipal 
officers to vote to affirm the results of a prior local option election held for that purpose 
and it allows the county commissioners of an unincorporated place to reaffirm a prior 
authorization.  This bill specifies that such authorization constitutes proof for purposes of 
approving the sale of liquor by all types of establishments that may be licensed by the 
bureau in that municipality or unincorporated place.