An Act to Improve Government Transparency and Accountability
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1262
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: FRIEDMANN
Amends: 5 MRSA §8055, 5 MRSA §9051, 5 MRSA §9051-B

Legislative Document
No. 1262
H.P. 837
House of Representatives, March 25, 2025
An Act to Improve Government Transparency and Accountability 
by Establishing a Process to Allow a Person to Require the State to 
Enforce Certain Laws and Rules
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FRIEDMANN of Bar Harbor.
Cosponsored by Representatives: MACIAS of Topsham, OSHER of Orono, PUGH of 
Portland, RAY of Lincolnville, SAYRE of Kennebunk.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §8055, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1985, c. 506, Pt. A, §4, is further 
amended to read:
3.  Receipt of petition; judicial review.  Within 60 days after receipt of a petition, the 
agency shall either notify the petitioner in writing of its denial, stating the reasons therefor 
for the denial, or initiate appropriate rule-making proceedings. Whenever a petition to 
adopt or modify a rule is submitted by 150 or more registered voters of the State, the agency 
shall initiate appropriate rulemaking rule-making proceedings within 60 days after receipt 
of the petition. The petition must be verified and certified in the same manner provided in 
Title 21‑A, section 354, subsection 7, prior to its presentation to the agency. If, within 60 
days after receipt of a petition, the agency fails to notify the petitioner in writing of its 
denial or to initiate appropriate rule-making proceedings, or if the agency has initiated rule-
making proceedings the petitioner believes to be inconsistent with the submitted petition, 
the person that submitted the petition may seek appropriate judicial review of the agency's 
actions consistent with section 8058 or, as applicable, subchapter 7.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §9051, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 61, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Adjudicatory proceeding.  In any adjudicatory proceedings, except including those 
proceedings initiated pursuant to section 9051-B, but excluding those proceedings 
involving correctional facilities, the Workers' Compensation Board, the Maine Motor 
Vehicle Franchise Board or the State Parole Board, the procedures of this subchapter apply.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §9051-B is enacted to read:
§9051-B.  Proceeding to enforce certain existing laws or rules
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and in accordance with the 
provisions of this section and this subchapter, a person may petition an agency or the 
Attorney General, as applicable, to enforce an existing law or rule relating to regulation of 
the environment, natural resources, public health or safety or freedom of information and 
government transparency.
1.  Form; content.  Each agency and the Attorney General shall designate the form for 
petitions under this section and the procedure for their submission, consideration and 
disposition.  A petition submitted by a person under this section must, at a minimum, 
provide sufficient information for the agency or the Attorney General to identify the 
existing law or rule the person is seeking enforcement of and the purposes for which the 
person is seeking that enforcement.
2.  Receipt of petition; judicial review.  Within 60 days after receipt of a petition, the 
agency or the Attorney General shall either notify the petitioner in writing of its denial, 
stating the reasons for the denial, or initiate an appropriate proceeding to enforce an existing 
law or rule as specified in the petition.  If, within 60 days after receipt of a petition, the 
agency or the Attorney General fails to notify the petitioner in writing of its denial or to 
initiate appropriate proceedings, or if the agency or the Attorney General has initiated a 
proceeding the petitioner believes to be inconsistent with the submitted petition, the person 
that submitted the petition may seek appropriate judicial review of the agency's or Attorney 
General's actions consistent with subchapter 7, as applicable.
Sec. 4.  5 MRSA c. 375, sub-c. 8 is enacted to read:
SUBCHAPTER 8
FUND FOR ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT
§11021.  Fund for Administrative Oversight established; administration
This section establishes and governs the administration of the Fund for Administrative 
Oversight.
1.  Fund established; sources of fund.  The Fund for Administrative Oversight, 
referred to in this section as "the fund," is established within the Office of the Attorney 
General as a nonlapsing, dedicated fund, to be administered by the administrator, for the 
purposes described in subsection 3.  The fund may accept revenue from grants, bequests, 
gifts or contributions from any source, public or private, including any sums that may be 
directed by law or appropriated by the Legislature, transferred to the fund from time to time 
by the State Controller or dedicated to the fund.  
2.  Fund administrator.  The fund is administered by a fund administrator, referred to 
in this section as "the administrator," who is appointed by the Governor for a 4-year term 
and may be reappointed by the Governor to additional 4-year terms.
3.  Fund purposes.  Revenue credited to the fund is distributed in the manner described 
in subsection 4 for the following purposes:
A.  To support actions by persons seeking to petition or that have petitioned an agency 
for adoption or modification of rules pursuant to section 8055, including persons 
seeking judicial review of an agency's actions in response to a petition;
B.  To support actions by persons seeking to petition or that have petitioned an agency 
or the Attorney General to initiate a proceeding to enforce an existing law or rule 
pursuant to section 9051-B, including a person seeking judicial review of an agency or 
the Attorney General's actions in response to a petition; and
C.  To support actions by persons seeking to intervene or otherwise participate in 
agency rulemaking conducted under subchapter 2 or 2-A, in an adjudicatory 
proceeding under subchapter 4 or in a licensing action under subchapter 5, including 
intervention or participation in a judicial review of any such agency actions, for which 
the intervention or participation is authorized by law or rule.
4.  Distribution of funds.  After administrative costs, including any salary expenses 
due to the administrator and other staffing and administrative costs associated with the 
administration of the fund, revenue credited to the fund must be distributed as follows.
A.  Annually, the administrator shall assess the amount of revenue within the fund that 
is available for distribution during the next calendar year for the purposes identified in 
subsection 3 and shall establish a formula to determine the amount of that identified 
revenue that will be made available to each agency and to the Attorney General for 
distribution.  The administrator shall notify each agency and the Attorney General 
regarding the total funding amount that will be made available to the agency or the 
Attorney General from the fund in the next calendar year.
B.  Each agency and the Attorney General may request a distribution of revenue from 
the fund up to the total funding amount to support the purposes identified in subsection 
3.  In reviewing such requests for distribution, the administrator shall ensure that 
funding priority is given to support actions by persons: 
(1) That are not commercial entities or entities that are otherwise subject to 
regulation under law or rule; 
(2)  Whose interest or position, as determined by the administrator, is not otherwise 
adequately represented in the rulemaking, proceeding or licensing action; and
(3)  Whose interest or position, as determined by the administrator, is primarily 
focused on protecting or conserving the State's natural resources or environment, 
protecting the public health or safety or ensuring freedom of access to public 
information and government transparency.  
C.  In collaboration with each agency and the Attorney General, the administrator shall 
develop and implement measures to educate members of the public and organizations 
regarding the availability of revenue from the fund to support the purposes identified 
in subsection 3.
Sec. 5. Office of Attorney General; report.  The Office of the Attorney General 
shall consult with each state agency that issues licenses, permits or other approvals to 
persons to engage in regulated activities relating to the environment, natural resources, 
public health and safety and freedom of information and government transparency to 
identify a mechanism for imposing an additional fee amount for the issuance of those 
licenses, permits or approvals to support activities authorized under the Fund for 
Administrative Oversight, established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 
11021, in a manner designed to satisfy the anticipated annual demand for distributions from 
that fund for the agency. The fee amounts identified must be reasonable, must not 
unreasonably impede the activities of the regulated entity and must be designed to reflect 
the anticipated cost to the agency of oversight of the regulated activity and addressing any 
potential violations by the regulated entity, including any costs of corrective action or 
remediation undertaken by the agency. By January 1, 2026, the office shall submit a report 
to the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government outlining its 
recommendations for imposing such additional fee amounts, including necessary proposed 
legislation. The recommendations and proposed legislation must be designed to provide for 
assessment and collection of the additional fee amounts beginning July 1, 2026 and must 
provide that of those fee amounts collected, 1/2 must be retained by the state agency 
assessing the fee to support its oversight and enforcement activities and 1/2 must be 
transferred to the Fund for Administrative Oversight to support activities under that fund. 
After reviewing the report, the committee may report out legislation relating to the report 
to the Second Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Administrative Procedure Act to authorize a person to 
petition an agency or the Attorney General, as applicable, to enforce an existing law or rule.  
It also establishes the Fund for Administrative Oversight within the Office of the Attorney 
General, to be overseen and administered by a fund administrator, appointed by the 
Governor.  Revenue credited to that fund must be distributed to support:
1.  Actions by persons seeking to petition or that have petitioned an agency for adoption 
or modification of rules;
2.  Actions by persons seeking to petition or that have petitioned an agency or the 
Attorney General to initiate a proceeding to enforce an existing law or rule; and
3.  Actions by persons seeking to intervene or otherwise participate in an agency 
rulemaking conducted, in an adjudicatory proceeding or in a licensing action.
In distributing funds to such persons, the fund administrator must give priority to 
persons that are not commercial entities or entities that are otherwise subject to regulation 
under law or rule; whose interest or position, as determined by the fund administrator, is 
not otherwise adequately represented in the rulemaking, proceeding or licensing action; 
and whose interest or position, as determined by the fund administrator, is primarily 
focused on protecting or conserving the State's natural resources or environment, protecting 
the public health or safety or ensuring freedom of access to public information and 
government transparency.
The bill also directs the Office of the Attorney General to consult with each state 
agency that issues licenses, permits or other approvals to persons to engage in regulated 
activities relating to the environment, natural resources, public health and safety and 
freedom of information and government transparency to identify a mechanism for imposing 
an additional fee amount for the issuance of those licenses, permits or approvals to support 
activities under the Fund for Administrative Oversight, in a manner designed to satisfy the 
anticipated annual demand for distributions from that fund for the agency. The fee amounts 
identified must be reasonable, must not unreasonably impede the activities of the regulated 
entity and must be designed to reflect the anticipated cost to the agency of oversight of the 
regulated entity and addressing any potential violations by the regulated entity, including 
any costs of corrective action or remediation undertaken by the agency. By January 1, 2026, 
the office must submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local 
Government outlining its recommendations for imposing such additional fee amounts, 
including necessary proposed legislation, and the committee may report out related 
legislation. The recommendations and proposed legislation must be designed to provide for 
assessment and collection of the additional fee amounts beginning July 1, 2026 and must 
provide that of those fee amounts collected, 1/2 must be retained by the state agency 
assessing the fee to support its oversight and enforcement activities and 1/2 must be 
transferred to the Fund for Administrative Oversight to support activities under that fund.