An Act to Establish the Maine Life Science Innovation Center
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1643
Sponsors: PIERCE, ZAGER

Legislative Document
No. 1643
S.P. 651
In Senate, April 15, 2025
An Act to Establish the Maine Life Science Innovation Center
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on April 11, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Housing and Economic Development pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator PIERCE of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative ZAGER of Portland and
Senators: BENNETT of Oxford, MOORE of Washington, RENY of Lincoln, Representatives: 
CLOUTIER of Lewiston, DUCHARME of Madison, GERE of Kennebunkport, SAYRE of 
Kennebunk, STOVER of Boothbay.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA c. 397 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 397
MAINE LIFE SCIENCE INNOVATION CENTER
§13401. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 
have the following meanings.
1. Board.  "Board " means the Board of Directors of the Maine Life Science Innovation 
Center established in section 13403, subsection 2.
2. Bond.  "Bond" means a bond or note or other evidence of indebtedness authorized 
under this chapter, whether issued under or pursuant to a bond resolution, trust indenture, 
loan or other security agreement.
3. Center.  "Center" means the Maine Life Science Innovation Center established in 
section 13402.
4. Certified life science business.  "Certified life science business" means a business 
that has been certified by the board as being eligible to receive investments, grants, loans 
and incentives from the Maine Life Science Innovation Fund established in section 13404.
5. Life science sector.  "Life science sector" means the aggregate of persons engaged 
in any economic activity relating to living organisms and life processes for the purpose of 
improving human, animal and environmental health, including business, manufacturing, 
research, education and other activities.
6. Real or personal property.  "Real or personal property" means properties and assets 
purchased by the center or transferred to the center from federal, state, local and private 
entities and individuals.
§13402. Maine Life Science Innovation Center established
The Maine Life Science Innovation Center, referred to in this chapter as "the center," 
is established as a body corporate and politic to carry out the purposes of this chapter.  The 
center shall leverage and expand the State's growing life science sector by:
1. Central entity.  Serving as the central entity and coordinating organization for life 
science initiatives on behalf of the State and working in collaboration with governmental 
entities, trade associations, institutions of higher education, research institutions and other 
entities to grow the life science sector;
2. Planning for growth.  Creating and executing on a strategic plan for growth in the 
State's life science sector;
3. Alignment with state plans.  Ensuring the work of the center is aligned with the 
State's long-term economic development plan under section 13053, the Maine Innovation 
Economy Advisory Board's innovation economy action plan under Title 10, section 949 
and other relevant plans;
4. Workforce retention and attraction.  Facilitating the creation of a highly skilled 
workforce and attracting and retaining workers in the life science sector;
5. Education and training.  Enhancing science, technology, engineering and 
mathematics education and engagement in kindergarten to grade 12 and higher education 
curricula;
6. Research and development.  Facilitating increased research and development 
activity at the State's public and private research organizations;
7. Health of state residents.  Ensuring the work of the center is aligned with the State's 
plans to improve the health of humans, animals and the environment and specifically 
confront diseases that disproportionately affect the people of the State;
8. Business development and attraction.  Coordinating the State's business 
development and business attraction programs and organizations to grow the number of 
life science businesses in the State;
9. Public engagement.  Facilitating community outreach and educational 
programming for the people of the State related to the life science sector;
10. Marketing and promotion.  Marketing the State's life science sector both within 
and outside of the State to attract companies, business investment and talent to the State;
11. Financing, grants and incentives.  Administering the Maine Life Science 
Innovation Fund, established under section 13404;
12. Facilities.  Securing facilities and properties within the geographic boundaries of 
the State to operate the center;
13. Revenue to the center.  Applying for and accepting contributions of any source of 
money, property, labor or any other things of value, including federal, state and nonprofit 
funding opportunities for the State's life science sector; and
14. Revenue to the State.  Attracting out-of-state businesses, business visitors and 
tourists to the State.
§13403. Maine Life Science Center; powers; board of directors; obligations
1. Powers.  The Maine Life Science Innovation Center may:
A. Sue and be sued;
B. Adopt bylaws or rules consistent with this chapter for the governance of its affairs;
C. Exercise all of the general powers of corporations under Title 13-C, section 302;
D. Contract with the Federal Government or its instrumentalities or agencies; the State 
or its agencies, instrumentalities or municipalities; public bodies; private corporations; 
partnerships; associations; and individuals to carry out the purposes of this chapter;
E. Borrow money and apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions and 
other forms of financial assistance from the Federal Government, the State, a 
municipality or other public body or from other sources, public or private, for the 
purposes of this chapter and give any security that is required and enter into and carry 
out contracts in connection with any financial assistance;
F. Borrow money and make, issue and sell at public or private sale negotiable notes, 
bonds and other evidences of indebtedness or obligation of the center for the purposes 
of this chapter and secure the payment of that indebtedness or obligation or any part of 
that indebtedness or obligation by pledge of all or any part of the operating revenues 
of the center;
G. Enter into loan or security agreements with one or more lending institutions, 
including, but not limited to, banks, insurance companies and institutions that 
administer pension funds, or with trustees of those institutions, for the issuance of 
bonds and exercise with respect to those loan or security agreements all of the powers 
delineated in this chapter for the issuance of bonds;
H. Provide from operating revenues for the maintenance, construction or reconstruction 
of facilities to carry out the purposes of the center;
I. Adopt rules for the administration of this chapter.  Rules adopted pursuant to this 
paragraph are routine technical rules pursuant to chapter 375, subchapter 2-A; and
J. Take all other lawful action necessary and incidental to the powers under this 
subsection.
2. Board of directors.  The Board of Directors of the Maine Life Science Innovation 
Center consists of 15 directors, of whom 4 directors are ex officio members as specified in 
paragraph B and 11 directors are appointed as specified in paragraph C.  Each director is 
entitled to one vote.
A. The board has the full authority to direct the affairs and activities of the center.
B. Ex officio members of the board are:
(1) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development or the 
commissioner's designee;
(2) The president of the Maine Technology Institute under section 15302 or the 
president's designee;
(3) The Chancellor of the University of Maine System or the chancellor's designee; 
and
(4) The President of the Maine Community College System or the president's 
designee.
C. The members of the board who are not ex officio members are appointed by the 
Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate and must be individuals or 
representatives of organizations that are in a position to advance the purposes and goals 
of the center and are able to have a significant effect on improving the State's life 
science economy as specified in the bylaws of the center.  Consideration must be given 
to the unique multidisciplinary nature of the State's life science sector, which leverages 
innovations across human and animal health, marine biology, agriculture, forestry and 
data science for the benefit of human, animal and environmental health.  Membership 
under this paragraph must include:
(1) A representative of a business in the State with fewer than 25 employees that 
is involved in the life science sector;
(2) A representative of a business in the State with 25 or more employees that is 
involved in the life science sector;
(3) Two representatives of nonprofit research institutions based in the State that 
are involved in research and development in the life science sector;
(4) A representative of a private college, university, community college or trade 
school in the State that is involved in the life science sector;
(5) Two representatives of trade associations based in the State or other nonprofit 
organizations that support the life science sector, including the executive director 
of an association of life science companies, professionals and researchers in the 
State;
(6) A representative of an institution that is a member of a collaborative network 
of state educational and research institutions led by an internationally recognized 
institution for biomedical research in the State;
(7) A representative of business investors or the banking or finance sectors;
(8) A representative from Washington County; and
(9) A representative from Aroostook County.
Members of the board who are not ex officio members serve 3-year terms, except that 
the terms of these members serving on the first board must be staggered, with 4 
members serving for one-year terms, 4 members serving for 2-year terms and 3 
members serving for 3-year terms.
D. The board shall elect a chair and vice-chair from among its members.  The center 
may employ an executive director, technical experts and other agents and employees, 
permanent and temporary, as required and may determine their qualifications, duties 
and compensation.  For required legal services, the center may employ or retain its own 
counsel and legal staff.
E. For transacting business at board meetings, a majority of directors then in office 
constitutes a quorum.  The vote of a majority of the directors present at board meetings 
constitutes an act of the board.
3. Liability.  The liability of the center is governed by the Maine Tort Claims Act.  A 
member of the board or an employee of the center is not subject to any personal liability 
for having acted in the service of the member's or employee's duty as a member of the board 
or an employee of the center within the course and scope of membership or employment to 
carry out a power or duty under this chapter.  The center shall indemnify a member of the 
board or an employee of the center against expenses actually and necessarily incurred in 
connection with the defense of an action or proceeding in which a member of the board or 
an employee of the center is made a party by reason of past or present association with the 
center.
4. Expenses.  A member of the board is not entitled to receive compensation for 
services to the center but is entitled to receive reimbursement for necessary expenditures, 
including travel expenses incurred in carrying out those services.
§13404. Maine Life Science Innovation Fund
1. Maine Life Science Innovation Fund established.  There is established a 
nonlapsing fund to be known as the Maine Life Science Innovation Fund, referred to in this 
section as "the fund," for the purpose of receiving funds from the State and gifts, grants, 
devises, bequests, trusts or security documents to support the operations and initiatives of 
the center.  The State shall credit to the fund any appropriation or allocation made to the 
center in the fiscal year in which the appropriation or allocation is made.
A. The fund must be used to:
(1) Make qualified investments, grants and loans and provide incentives to eligible 
recipients to advance the life science sector in the State;
(2) Facilitate clinical trials within the State;
(3) Provide business supports for new or expanding businesses;
(4) Purchase, lease, acquire, own, improve, use, sell, convey, transfer or otherwise 
deal in and with a center property, a center project or any interest in a center 
property or center project, whether tangible or intangible, as otherwise authorized 
under this chapter;
(5) Pay the costs of operating, maintaining, improving and repairing all property 
and projects of the center;
(6) Pay the costs of administering and operating the center, including, but not 
limited to, all wages, salaries, benefits and other expenses authorized by the board 
or the executive director;
(7) Pay the principal and premium, if any, and the interest on the outstanding bonds 
of the center related to a center property or center project as they become due and 
payable;
(8) Create and maintain reserves required or provided for in any law authorizing 
or any security document securing the bonds of the center related to a center 
property or center project;
(9) Create and maintain a capital improvement fund for a center property and center 
project established by the board;
(10) Pay all taxes owed by the center related to a center property or center project; 
and
(11) Pay all expenses incident to the management and operation of the center.
B. The fund constitutes a continuing appropriation for the benefit of the center.  Any 
amount remaining in the fund at the close of any fiscal year is carried over and credited 
to the fund for the succeeding year.
C. Money in the fund must be paid to the center on manifests approved by the Governor 
and Legislature in the same manner as other state claims are paid.
D. The revenues received by and due to the center from all sources other than state 
appropriation must be retained by the center and must be used in such a manner as the 
board determines consistent with the provisions of this section or as otherwise provided 
by law or by the terms and conditions of any gift, grant, devise, bequest, trust or 
security document.
2. Eligible recipients.  Certified life science businesses, research institutions and 
educational institutions are eligible to receive funding from the center upon a majority vote 
of the board.  The board may use a competitive process to award funds.
§13405. Interest of public officials, directors or employees
1. Acquisition of interest.  A public official, member of the board or employee of the 
center may not acquire or hold a direct or an indirect financial or personal interest in:
A. A center activity;
B. Center property; or
C. A contract or proposed contract in connection with a center activity.
2. Present or past interest in property.  If a public official, member of the board or 
employee of the center presently owns or controls, or owned or controlled within the 
preceding 2 years, a direct or an indirect interest in property known to be included or 
planned to be included in a center activity, that public official, member or employee shall 
disclose this fact immediately in writing to the board and the disclosure must be entered in 
the board's minutes.
3. Recusal.  A public official, member of the board or employee of the center with an 
interest in property under this section may not participate in an action by the center 
affecting that property.
4. Violation.  A violation of this section is a Class E crime.
§13406. Exemption from execution
1. Property exempt from execution.  The real and personal property, including funds, 
of the center is exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution.  An execution or other 
judicial process may not be issued against the center's real and personal property, and a 
judgment against the center may not be a charge or lien upon its real and personal property.
2. Construction; limitation of application.  This section does not:
A. Prohibit the center from making payments in lieu of taxes to a municipality; or
B. Apply to or limit the right of an obligee to foreclose or otherwise enforce a mortgage 
of the center or to pursue remedies for the enforcement of a pledge or lien given by the 
center on its rents, fees, grants, revenues or other sources pledged by the center to the 
payment of its bonds.
§13407. Termination of center
The center is not dissolved until:
1. Legislature provides for termination.  It is terminated by the Legislature; and
2. Payment of bonds, premium and interest.  The center's bonds and any premium 
and interest have been paid or a sufficient amount for the payment of the bonds and any 
premium and interest to maturity or a prior redemption date have been irrevocably set aside 
in trust for the benefit of the bondholders.
§13408. Annual report
1. Annual financial report.  The center shall submit annually to the Governor, the 
Executive Director of the Legislative Council and the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters, no later than 120 days 
after the close of the center's fiscal year, a complete report on the activities of the center.  
The report may also be provided to any other member of the Legislature and to any other 
person.  The report must include all of the following for that fiscal year:
A. A description of the center's operations;
B. The center's current strategic plan for growth in the life science sector pursuant to 
section 13402 and progress toward meeting the goals of the plan;
C. An accounting of the center's receipts and expenditures, assets and liabilities at the 
end of its fiscal year;
D. A listing of all investments, grants, loans and incentives provided by the center 
during the fiscal year;
E. A listing of all property transactions conducted during the fiscal year;
F. A listing of any bonds issued during the fiscal year;
G. A statement of the center's proposed and projected activities for the ensuing fiscal 
year; and
H. Recommendations regarding further actions that may be suitable for achieving the 
purposes of this chapter.
Sec. 2.  Appropriations and allocations.  The following appropriations and 
allocations are made.
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF
Maine Life Science Innovation Fund N513
Initiative: Provides one-time funds in fiscal year 2025-26 and fiscal year 2026-27 for start-
up costs for the Maine Life Science Innovation Center.
GENERAL FUND
2025-26
2026-27
All Other
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
__________
__________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
Maine Life Science Innovation Fund N513
Initiative: Provides ongoing base allocations to authorize expenditures in the event that 
funds are received from gifts, grants or other private or public sources to support the Maine 
Life Science Innovation Center.
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS
2025-26
2026-27
All Other
$500
$500
__________
__________
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL
$500
$500
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY 
DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS
2025-26
2026-27
GENERAL FUND
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS
$500
$500
__________
__________
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS
$2,000,500
$2,000,500
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Maine Life Science Innovation Center to leverage and expand 
the State's growing life science sector and appropriates $2,000,000 of one-time funds in 
fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 for the center's start-up costs.