123rd MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 2067		LR 2779(02)
	An Act To Require Boating Safety Education
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "     "
	Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Future biennium cost increase - General Fund
Correctional and Judicial Impact Statements
	Establishes new civil violations and Class E crimes.  The collection of additional fines may also increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill requires mandatory boating safety education for all motorboat users, phased in during a 5 year period starting June 30, 2011 and ending June 30, 2016.  The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife indicates there will be costs associated with the program beginning in fiscal year 2010-11 for staff time,  materials for increased attendance of current courses, travel, and miscellaneous office expenses.  The additional staff time results from the following additional responsibilities:  identifying approved courses, handling inquiries from the public, coordinating with off-site locations on proctored exams and course materials, maintaining a database of course certifications and issuing duplicate certificates if needed.  The bill indicates the program must be implemented and administered within existing resources.  As General Fund resources will be taken from other programs, there may be a detrimental impact on existing programs and services.
	The bill allows the department to assess fees for proctored examinations.  However, the department indicates that all proctored exams would be given by an outside organization (e.g., adult education, community college) and all costs would be borne by those organizations.  Additionally, the bill allows the department to charge fees to recover the costs of issuing temporary certificates and issuing certificates for successful completion of equivalency examinations.  The department does not anticipate it will need to issue these documents and no costs for them will be incurred.  Therefore, there will be no fees assessed to cover the expense of such documents.
	Any costs incurred by the Department of Marine Resources associated with rule-making will be minor and can be absorbed within existing resources.