Resolve, to Establish the Blue Ribbon Commission to Design a Plan for Sustained Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the Health of Maine Communities
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1722
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: ROTUNDO, GATTINE, BALDACCI, BENNETT, CLOUTIER, CYRWAY, DUCHARME, SACHS, TALBOT ROSS, TERRY

Legislative Document
No. 1722
S.P. 685
In Senate, April 18, 2023
Resolve, to Establish the Blue Ribbon Commission to Design a Plan 
for Sustained Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the 
Health of Maine Communities
(EMERGENCY)
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator ROTUNDO of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Representative GATTINE of Westbrook and
Senators: BALDACCI of Penobscot, BENNETT of Oxford, Representatives: CLOUTIER of 
Lewiston, CYRWAY of Albion, DUCHARME of Madison, SACHS of Freeport, Speaker 
TALBOT ROSS of Portland, TERRY of Gorham.
Emergency preamble.  Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, this resolve establishes the Blue Ribbon Commission to Design a Plan for 
Sustained Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the Health of Maine 
Communities; and
Whereas, tobacco users are switching to electronic cigarettes, which are not included 
in the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement pursuant to the lawsuit State of Maine v. Philip 
Morris, et al., Kennebec County Superior Court, Docket No. CV-97-134; and
Whereas, the switch to electronic cigarettes has diminished the payments to the 
tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and therefore reduced the funds received by the 
Fund for a Healthy Maine without reducing the harm to public health from tobacco; and
Whereas, more funds are allocated through the Fund for a Healthy Maine baseline 
budget than the State receives from the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, resulting in 
an unsustainable structural deficit in the Fund for a Healthy Maine; and
Whereas, Fund for a Healthy Maine funds are essential for funding tobacco 
prevention and treatment, other chronic disease prevention initiatives and health promotion 
efforts in the State, particularly for the benefit of children and families in the State; and
Whereas, public health problems are seldom solved and health and economic benefits 
are rarely measurable within a 2-year state budget cycle; and
Whereas, the structural limitations of the State's 2-year budget cycle result in an 
ongoing loss of opportunities to plan and invest in long-term, evidence-informed primary 
and secondary chronic disease prevention initiatives; and
Whereas, the State receives funds from multiple legal settlements with manufacturers 
and excise taxes on products that affect public health and well-being but lacks the system 
and structure necessary to maximize benefit through coordinated planning and sustained 
investment in preventing disease and improving the health of communities in the State; and
Whereas, the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission to Design a Plan for Sustained 
Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the Health of Maine Communities must 
be initiated before the 90-day period expires in order that the commission's work may be 
completed and a report submitted in time for submission to the next legislative session; 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
Sec. 1. Commission established. Resolved: That the Blue Ribbon Commission to 
Design a Plan for Sustained Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the Health of 
Maine Communities, referred to in this resolve as "the commission," is established.
Sec. 2. Commission membership. Resolved: That, notwithstanding Joint Rule 
353, the commission consists of 15 members as follows:
1. Six members appointed by the President of the Senate as follows:
A. One member of the Senate from the party holding the largest number of seats in the 
Legislature who is currently serving on the Joint Standing Committee on 
Appropriations and Financial Affairs;
B. One member of the Senate from the party holding the 2nd largest number of seats 
in the Legislature who is currently serving on the Joint Standing Committee on 
Appropriations and Financial Affairs or the Joint Standing Committee on Health and 
Human Services;
C. One member with policy expertise or experience in state budgeting and funding 
improved access to health care for low-income individuals and other populations 
experiencing inequitable access to health care;
D. One member who has a minimum of 8 years of experience leading a community 
health coalition and experience working with rural populations;
E. One member who manages a public health endowment for a health system in the 
State and has experience developing statewide plans for improving health and 
prosperity; and
F. One member who is currently or was formerly employed as senior staff or faculty 
for a university in the State with expertise in public health, rural health and health 
equity financing models;
2. Seven members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives as 
follows:
A. One member of the House of Representatives from the party holding the largest 
number of seats in the Legislature who is currently serving on the Joint Standing 
Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs or the Joint Standing Committee 
on Health and Human Services;
B. One member of the House of Representatives from the party holding the 2nd largest 
number of seats in the Legislature who is currently serving on the Joint Standing 
Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs;
C. One member who represents a statewide association of public health professionals 
that works to improve and sustain the health and well-being of all people in the State 
through health promotion, disease prevention and the advancement of health equity;
D. One member who has a minimum of 8 years of experience serving in the Legislature, 
including service on both the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and 
Financial Affairs and the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services;
E. One member who is employed by a philanthropic organization in the State with 
experience or expertise funding initiatives in public health and primary prevention that 
advance racial health equity or reduce health disparities;
F. One member who represents a community development financial institution that 
advances health and economic equity for people and communities in the State through 
the integration of finance, business expertise and policy solutions; and
G. One member who serves as senior staff for a municipal or county health department;
3. The Director of the Office of Policy Innovation and the Future or the director's 
designee; and
4. The Attorney General or the attorney general's designee.
Sec. 3. Chairs. Resolved: That the first-named Senate member is the Senate chair 
of the commission and the first-named House of Representatives member is the House chair 
of the commission.
Sec. 4. Appointments; convening of commission. Resolved: That all 
appointments must be made no later than 30 days following the effective date of this 
resolve. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative 
Council once all appointments have been completed. After appointment of all members, 
the chairs shall call and convene the first meeting of the commission. If 30 days or more 
after the effective date of this resolve a majority of but not all appointments have been 
made, the chairs may request authority and the Legislative Council may grant authority for 
the commission to meet and conduct its business.
Sec. 5. Duties. Resolved: That the commission shall evaluate funding models and 
structures that allow for the sustained investment in the health and prosperity of youth and 
families in the State and make recommendations for further legislative action. The 
commission shall prioritize research and recommendations that:
1. Resolve the structural deficit in the Fund for a Healthy Maine;
2. Identify sources of sustained funding for reducing tobacco use, improving public 
health, preventing chronic illness, reducing health disparities across demographic and 
geographic populations and improving the community conditions that support good health 
and wellness;
3. Identify strategies and structural changes that resolve structural inequities and allow 
funding and investment plans to extend beyond the Legislature's 2-year budget cycle when 
doing so is necessary for accomplishing their intents and purposes;
4. Advance the long-term goals established by the Legislature for funds received from 
legal settlements with manufacturers and excise taxes on products that affect public health 
and well-being;
5. Identify policy and funding models that maximize alignment between the purpose 
and intent of public health funding sources and the investments in public health and 
prevention initiatives those funds support;
6. Identify how funding from various public health-related sources could be blended or 
pooled to achieve common aims in preventing chronic disease, reducing health disparities 
among historically disenfranchised and vulnerable populations and improving the 
community conditions that support the health and resilience of youth in the State; and
7. Identify strategies and system changes that would allow for the calculation of return 
on investment of all proposed public health and prevention measures over a period of time 
using the projected health and productivity benefits of those investments.
Sec. 6. Staff assistance. Resolved: That, notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, the 
Legislative Council shall provide necessary staffing and consulting services to the 
commission, the cost of which up to $20,000 must be paid from the Fund for a Healthy 
Maine.
Sec. 7. Report. Resolved: That, notwithstanding Joint Rule 353 and no later than 
December 6, 2023, the commission shall submit a report that includes its findings and 
recommendations, including legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Appropriations and Financial Affairs and the Joint Standing Committee on Health and 
Human Services. After receipt and review of the report, one or both of the joint standing 
committees shall submit legislation relating to the subject matter of the report to the Second 
Regular Session of the 131st Legislature.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation 
takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This resolve establishes the Blue Ribbon Commission to Design a Plan for Sustained 
Investment in Preventing Disease and Improving the Health of Maine Communities to 
evaluate funding models and structures that allow for the sustained investment in the health 
and prosperity of youth and families in the State and make recommendations for further 
legislative action.