An Act to Authorize a Supplemental Benefit Relief Payment
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1920
Committee: Appropriations and Financial Affairs
Sponsors: GROHOSKI

Legislative Document
No. 1920
S.P. 782
In Senate, May 11, 2023
An Act to Authorize a Supplemental Benefit Relief Payment
Reference to the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator GROHOSKI of Hancock.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. Supplemental payment program established. The Supplemental Benefit 
Payment Program is established to distribute relief payments to help residents of the State 
combat rising costs due to pandemic-induced inflation and supply chain effects and to 
offset some of the expenses that have been incurred as a result of high winter energy costs.
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Assessor" means the State Tax Assessor.
B. "Eligible resident of the State" means an individual who:
(1) Filed, by October 31, 2023, a Maine income tax return as a full-year resident 
of the State for the tax year;
(2) Has federal adjusted gross income for the tax year of less than:
(a) For individuals filing married joint returns or surviving spouses permitted 
to file a joint return, $200,000;
(b) For an individual filing as a head of household, $150,000;
(c) For a single individual, $100,000; or
(d) For a married individual filing a separate return, $100,000; 
(3) May not be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's return for the tax year; 
and
(4) Did not receive a relief payment under the COVID Pandemic Relief Payment 
Program established by Public Law 2021, chapter 635, Part L, section 3 or the 
Winter Energy Relief Payment Program established by Public Law 2023, chapter 
1, Part B, section 3.
C. "Relief payment" means a relief payment in the amount of $1,300.
D. "Tax year" means a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2022 but not later than 
December 31, 2022.
2. Supplemental benefit relief payment. The assessor shall make relief payments in 
accordance with this subsection.
A. The assessor shall identify each eligible resident of the State.
B. Beginning as soon as administratively feasible but not later than December 31, 2023, 
the assessor shall make a relief payment of $1,300 to each eligible resident of the State. 
Money received as a relief payment is not subject to setoff to debts owed to agencies 
of the State.
C. An individual who has not received a relief payment under paragraph B may provide 
documentation to the assessor by March 31, 2024 showing that the individual is an 
eligible resident of the State. The assessor shall review the documentation, determine 
if the individual is an eligible resident of the State and notify the individual of any 
adverse determination. This determination is final agency action not reviewable 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 151.
D. By June 30, 2024, the assessor shall make a relief payment of $1,300 to each eligible 
resident of the State determined eligible pursuant to paragraph C.
Sec. 2. State income tax subtraction modification.  For tax years beginning on 
or after January 1, 2023 but not later than December 31, 2023, in determining the taxable 
income of an individual, within the meaning of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, 
section 5122, federal adjusted gross income must be reduced by an amount equal to the 
relief payment received by the taxpayer pursuant to this Act, to the extent the payment is 
included in federal adjusted gross income for the tax year.
Sec. 3. Designation as unclaimed property.  For purposes of the Supplemental 
Benefit Payment Program, relief payment checks that remain undeposited on March 31, 
2025 are to be treated as unclaimed property, not subject to the notice and receipt provisions 
established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 33, section 2101 and the one-year 
dormancy period specified in Title 33, section 2061. The Treasurer of State shall use 
unclaimed property systems to find the proper recipients of those checks as quickly as 
possible.
SUMMARY
This bill provides a supplemental benefit relief payment to eligible residents who did 
not receive a relief payment under the COVID Pandemic Relief Payment Program or the 
Winter Energy Relief Payment Program because they had not met the residency 
requirement or were not able to file a tax return.