131st MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1823		LR 2106(02)
	An Act to Respect and Protect the Right to Food
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded
			FY 2023-24	FY 2024-25	Projections  FY 2025-26	Projections  FY 2026-27
Net Cost (Savings)
	General Fund		$0	$72,387	$88,188	$83,678
Appropriations/Allocations
	General Fund		$0	$72,387	$88,188	$83,678
	Other Special Revenue Funds		$0	$72,387	$88,188	$91,096
Correctional and Judicial Impact Statements
	This bill may increase the number of civil suits filed in the court system. The additional workload associated with the minimal number of new cases filed in the court system does not require additional funding at this time. The collection of additional filing fees will increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts.
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	Requires municipalities to review ordinances for compliance with the Maine Vegetable Garden Protection Act.				Municipality	Insignificant statewide
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill includes ongoing General Fund appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Inspection program of $72,387 in fiscal year 2024-25 to reimburse the Office of the Attorney General for one 0.5 Assistant Attorney General position effective September 1, 2024 to evaluate municipal ordinances, advise the program and address increased enforcement and litigation from the provisions of the bill. The bill includes corresponding Other Special Revenue Funds allocations to the Office of the Attorney General for the position.
	The bill allows the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to lease land in parks, historic sites, nonreserved public land and public reserved land for certain uses. Some potential leases will involve certain constitutional requirements for real estate held by the state. These leases will require legislative approval and will result in additional Other Special Revenue Funds revenue to the department.