An Act to Allow Incentive Continuity Following a Catastrophic Occurrence Under the Pine Tree Development Zone and Major Food Processing and Manufacturing Facility Expansion Tax Credit Programs
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0150
Committee: Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business
Sponsors: JACKSON
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5250-I, 30-A MRSA §5250-J, 36 MRSA §5219-V

Legislative Document
No. 150
S.P. 80
In Senate, January 12, 2023
An Act to Allow Incentive Continuity Following a Catastrophic 
Occurrence Under the Pine Tree Development Zone and Major 
Food Processing and Manufacturing Facility Expansion Tax Credit 
Programs
Submitted by the Department of Economic and Community Development pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and 
Business suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by President JACKSON of Aroostook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §5250-I, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2009, c. 461, §3, is further 
amended to read:
4.  Base level of employment.  "Base level of employment" means the greater of either 
the total employment in the State of a business as of March 31st, June 30th, September 30th 
and December 31st of the calendar year immediately preceding the year of the business's 
application to become a certified Pine Tree Development Zone business divided by 4 or its 
average employment during the base period.  Pursuant to section 5250‑J, subsection 4‑A, 
"base level of employment" may be adjusted to mean 25% of the average number of 
employees of that business over the 3 months immediately preceding the catastrophic 
occurrence subtract the reduction in employment at the locations affected by the 
catastrophic occurrence to the extent that the employment was included in the base level of 
employment at the time of application for certification under section 5250-O.
Pursuant to section 5250‑J, subsection 4‑C, "base level of employment" must be adjusted 
for a qualified business that has more than one location in the State and creates 250 or more 
jobs at one of these locations, so that the base level of employment is calculated from the 
location of the significant employment expansion of 250 jobs or more on the basis of that 
specific location.
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §5250-J, sub-§4-A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 21, §5, is 
amended to read:
4-A.  Catastrophic occurrence; benefits.  A qualified Pine Tree Development Zone 
business whose primary purpose is to support the State’s working waterfront industry may 
apply for an adjustment of the base level of employment as described in this section, if it 
meets the following criteria:
A.  It is located on a working waterfront in a Pine Tree Development Zone;
B.  It has Has sustained at least a 5% 15% loss of employed workers due to a 
catastrophic occurrence; and.
C.  It has appropriate infrastructure and zoning or other land use regulations in place.
For the purposes of this section and calculation of Pine Tree Development Zone benefits 
in section 5250‑I, subsection 14, the base level of employment may be adjusted to mean 
25% of the average number of employees of that business over the 3 months immediately 
preceding the catastrophic occurrence subtract the reduction in employment at the locations 
affected by the catastrophic occurrence to the extent that the employment was included in 
the base level of employment at the time of application for certification under section 
5250-O.  A qualified business must apply for an adjustment of the base level of employment 
within 16 months 2 calendar years of the catastrophic occurrence.  Applications pursuant 
to this subsection must be received by August 1, 2011.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §5219-VV, sub-§1, ¶B-1 is enacted to read:
B-1.  "Catastrophic occurrence" means accidental fire, flood, hurricane, windstorm, 
earthquake or other similar event.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §5219-VV, sub-§8 is enacted to read:
8.  Catastrophic occurrence; benefits.  A certified applicant may apply for an 
adjustment of the base level of employment as described in this section if it has sustained 
at least a 15% loss of employed workers due to a catastrophic occurrence. For the purposes 
of this section, the base level of employment may be adjusted to subtract the reduction in 
employment at the locations affected by the catastrophic occurrence to the extent that the 
employment was included in the base level of employment at the time of application for a 
certificate of approval under subsection 2. A certified applicant must apply for an 
adjustment of the base level of employment within 2 calendar years of the catastrophic 
occurrence.
SUMMARY
This bill allows a company to subtract the reduction in its base level of employment 
established for an incentive program related to the locations that were affected by a 
catastrophic occurrence, lowering the base level of employment the company needs to 
maintain due to the catastrophic occurrence. It affects the Pine Tree Development Zone 
program and the tax credit for major food processing and manufacturing facility expansion.