An Act to Establish a Ratmg System for Books m School Libraries
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1008
Committee Amendment CA_A_H415 (House)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §4710-C

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " A_ " to H P 644, L D 1008, "An Act to Establish a 
Ratmg System for Books m School Libraries" 
Amend the bill by strikmg out everythmg after the enactmg clause and mse11mg the 
following 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §4710-C 1s enacted to read 
§4710-C. Content rating of books and written materials 
1. Content rating requirements. A school admm1strat1ve umt or pubhc chai1er 
school under chapter 112 may not distribute 01 place ma school library a book 01 othei 
w11tten material that 1s not assigned a standru d content ratmg as provided by this subsect10n 
The school admm1strative umt or public charte1 school shall affix to the f10nt cove1 of the 
book 01 written material a label mdicatmg its assigned content ratmg 
A 
The school admimstratlve umt 01 pubhc chatter school shall assign the content 
ratmg 
11BK-G
to a book or wutten material that is mtended for all ages Content with 
this ratmg may contam little or no profamty or v10lent or sexual themes 
B 
The school admm1shat1ve umt or public cha11e1 school shall assign the content 
ratmg "BK-PG" to a book or wutten material that is mtended to be read by young 
chlldren only with the gm dance of an adult Content with this 1 atmg may con tam sexual 
dialogue or situations, mfrequent profanity and moderate v10lence 
C The school admm1strat1ve umt or pubhc charte1 school shall assign the content 
ratmg "BK-13" to a book 01 written mateual that 1s intended to be 1ead by chtld1en 13 
years of age or olde1 Content with this ratmg may contam mtensely sexual dialogue or 
0 
situations, p1 ofamty and mtense v10lence 
D 
The school admmistrat1ve umt or public charte1 school shall assign the content 
ratmg "BK-MA" to a book or w11tten material that is intended foi pe1sons 18 years of 
age 01 olde1 Content with this rating may contam exphc1t depictions of sexuahty, 
strong p1ofamty and graphic v10lence 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " to HP 644, L D 1008 
2. Rating restrictions; school libraries. A school admmistratlve umt or pubhc 
charter school under chapter 112 may not make avatlable 
A Books or written materials with BK-PG, BK-13 or BK-MA ratmgs m elementaiy 
school libraries, 
B 
Books or wntten materials with BK-13 or BK-MA ratmgs m middle school 
hbranes, and 
C Books or written materials that do not have an assigned ratmg as provided m this 
section 
3. Department review. The department may review a content ratmg assigned by a 
school admmistratlve umt or public charter school to a book or wi itten material under this 
section If the department disagrees with the assigned content ratmg, the department shall 
provide written notice to the school admmistrative umt 01 public charter school, which must 
mclude the content ratmg the department determmes appi opriate for the book or written 
material and mfoimation about the school administrative umt's or pubhc charter school's 
duty under this subsection No later than the 120th day afte1 the school admmistratlve umt 
or pubhc charter school receives the wntten notice from the department, the school 
admmistrative umt 01 public charter school shall 
A Change the content ratmg for the book 01 w11tten matei ial per the department's 
ecommendat10n, 01 
B Cease all distnbutlon and placement of the book 01 wntten matenal and issue a 
recall for all copies of the book 01 written matenal distributed or placed ma school 
hbiary m the school admmistrat1ve umt or pubhc chartei school 
A school admmistrat1ve umt or public charter school shall notify the department of the 
school admmistrat1ve umt's or pubhc charte1 school's act10n taken under this subsect10n 
4. Rules. The department may adopt rules to implement this section Rules adopted 
under thts subsection rue routine techmcal rules pursuant to Title 5 .. chapte1 3 7 5, subchapter 
2-A' 
Amend the bill by relette11ng or renumbermg any nonconsecutive Part letter 01 sect10n 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which 1s the mino11ty report of the committee, replaces the bill The 
amendment removes references to book publishers m the btll and mstead reqmres school 
admm1sttat1ve uruts and pubhc charter schools to assign the content ratmgs 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved 06/05/23 :$Pae. 
LD 1008 
LR 789(02) 
An Act to Establish a Rating System for Books in School Libraries 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A' ( H-4-l S-) 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
Requires local school admmistrattve umts to assign content ratings for books or 
other wutten matenal m a school library that are not assigned a standard content 
ratmg and affix to the front cover of the book or wntten matenal a label mdicatmg 
its assigned content ratmg Also reqmres school admmistratlve umts to change the 
content iatmg for a book or written material if, after review, the Department of 
Education assigns a diffe1ent ratmg 
Umt Affected 
School 
Local Cost 
Moderate 
statewide 
The required local activities m this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Mame If the bill 
does require a local umt of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures 
from local revenue, the state mandate provis10ns of the Constltut10n of Mame requue either (1) General Fund 
appropnat1ons be provided to fund at least 90% of any add1t10nal necessitated local costs of the mandate, or (2) a 
Mandate P1eamble be added to the btll and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate fiom 
the fundmg reqmrement If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these act10ns occurs, the local 
umts of government will not be ieqmred to implement the mandated act1v1ties 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Department of Education associated with the rulemalang process can be absorbed withm 
existing budgeted resources 
LR0789(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1