An Act to Simplify the School Budget Validation Process
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1370
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MASTRACCIO, BRENNAN, BRIDGEO, MILLETT, MURPHY, SARGENT
Amends: 20-A MRSA §1486

Legislative Document
No. 1370
H.P. 884
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act to Simplify the School Budget Validation Process
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MASTRACCIO of Sanford.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BRENNAN of Portland, BRIDGEO of Augusta, MILLETT 
of Cape Elizabeth, MURPHY of Scarborough, SARGENT of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §1486, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 171, §3, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Budget validation.  Following development of the annual regional school unit 
budget and approval at a regional school unit budget meeting as provided in section 1485, 
a referendum must be held in the regional school unit as provided in this section to allow 
the voters to validate or reject the total budget adopted at the regional school unit budget 
meeting.
Every 3 years, the voters in a regional school unit shall consider continued use of the budget 
validation referendum process.  The warrant at the budget validation referendum in the 3rd 
year following adoption or continuation of the referendum process must include an article 
by which the voters of the school administrative unit may indicate whether they wish to 
continue the process for another 3 years.  The warrant for the referendum to validate the 
fiscal year 2010-11 budget is deemed the 3rd-year warrant.  The vote on the question of 
whether to continue the budget validation referendum process must take place on the next 
general election date in November of the 3rd year following the previous vote on that 
question.  A vote to continue retains the process for 3 additional years.  A vote to 
discontinue the process ends its use beginning with the following budget year and prohibits 
its reconsideration for at least 3 years.
An article to consider reinstatement of the budget validation referendum process may be 
placed on a warrant for a referendum vote by either a majority vote of the regional school 
unit board or a written petition filed with the regional school unit board by at least 10% 
25% of the number of voters voting in the last gubernatorial election in the municipalities 
in the school administrative unit.  The regional school unit board shall place the article on 
the next scheduled warrant or an earlier one if determined appropriate by the regional 
school unit board. The regional school unit board shall place the article on the ballot of the 
next general election date in November.  If adopted by the voters, the budget validation 
referendum process takes effect beginning in the next budget year or the following budget 
year if the adoption occurs less than 90 days before the start of the next budget year.  Once 
approved by the voters, the budget validation referendum process may not be changed for 
years.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §1486, sub-§3, ¶H is enacted to read:
H.  A vote on a budget validation referendum may not be considered valid unless the 
number of voters voting on the referendum is equal to or greater than 25% of the total 
number of voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election in the area covered by 
the regional school unit seeking the budget validation.  If the number of voters voting 
on the referendum is less than 25% of the total number of voters who voted in the last 
gubernatorial election in the area covered by the regional school unit seeking the budget 
validation, the budget is considered to be approved.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a vote on the question of whether or not to continue an annual 
regional school unit budget validation referendum process take place on the next general 
election date in November of the 3rd year following the previous vote on that question.  
The bill raises the number of voters required on a petition for an article to consider 
reinstatement of a budget validation referendum process from 10% to 25% of the number 
of voters voting in the last gubernatorial election in the municipalities in the school 
administrative unit and requires that the regional school unit board place the article on the 
ballot of the next general election date in November following the applicable regional 
school unit board vote or petition.  A vote on a budget validation referendum may not be 
considered valid unless the number of voters voting on the referendum is equal to or greater 
than 25% of the total number of voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election in the 
area covered by the regional school unit seeking the budget validation.  If the number of 
voters voting on the referendum is less than 25%, the budget is considered to be approved.