PUBLIC LAWS
First Regular Session of the 122nd

PART A

     Sec. A-1. 5 MRSA §1511, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §1, is further amended to read:

§1511. Loan Insurance Reserve

     The State Controller shall, at the close of each fiscal year, transfer 16% of the Unappropriated Surplus of the General Fund to the Reserve for General Fund Operating Capital until a maximum of $50,000,000 is achieved. The State Controller is further authorized may, at the close of each fiscal year, to transfer from the Unappropriated Surplus of the General Fund to the Loan Insurance Reserve amounts as may be available from time to time, up to an amount of $1,000,000 per year after the transfers have been made pursuant to section 1507. The balance of this reserve must be paid to the Finance Authority of Maine if such payment does not cause the balance in the reserve fund maintained by the authority, when added to amounts held in the Finance Authority of Maine Mortgage Insurance Fund that are not committed or encumbered for another purpose, to exceed $35,000,000. Any balance in the Loan Insurance Reserve is appropriated for this purpose.

     Sec. A-2. 5 MRSA §1513, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §§2 to 4, is repealed.

     Sec. A-3. 5 MRSA §1517, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §6, is repealed.

     Sec. A-4. 5 MRSA §1518-A is enacted to read:

§1518-A. Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents

     1. Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents. There is created the Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents, which must be used to provide tax relief to residents of the State. The fund consists of all resources transferred to the fund under section 1536 and other resources made available to the fund.

     2. Nonlapsing fund. Any unexpended balance in the Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents may not lapse but must be carried forward to be used pursuant to subsection 1.

     Sec. A-5. 5 MRSA c. 142 is enacted to read:

CHAPTER 142
MAINE BUDGET STABILIZATION FUND

§1531. Definitions

     As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

     1. Average population growth. "Average population growth" means the average for the prior 10 calendar years, ending with the most recent calendar year for which data is available, of the percent change in population from July 1st of each year and estimated by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census as adjusted and maintained by the Executive Department, State Planning Office.

     2. Average real personal income growth. "Average real personal income growth" means the average for the prior 10 calendar years, ending with the most recent calendar year for which data is available, of the percent change in personal income in this State, as estimated by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, less the percent change in the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year. For purposes of this subsection, "Consumer Price Index" has the same meaning as in Title 36, section 5402, subsection 1.

     3. Baseline General Fund revenue. "Baseline General Fund revenue" means the recommended General Fund revenue forecast reported by the Revenue Forecasting Committee in its December 1st report of even-numbered years, increased by the estimated amount of net General Fund revenue decrease, if any, for all enacted changes reducing state and local tax burden included in that forecast.

     4. Biennial base year appropriation. "Biennial base year appropriation" means:

A. For the 2006-2007 biennium, the General Fund appropriation enacted for fiscal year 2004-05 as of December 1, 2004; and
B. For subsequent fiscal years, the amount of the General Fund appropriation limitation for the current year as of December 1st of even-numbered years.

     5. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services.

     6. Forecasted inflation. "Forecasted inflation" means the average amount of change of the Consumer Price Index for the calendar years that are part of the ensuing biennium forecasted by the Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission in its November 1st report of even-numbered years.

     7. General Fund revenue shortfall. "General Fund revenue shortfall" means the amount by which the General Fund appropriation limitation established by section 1534 exceeds baseline General Fund revenue and other available resources in each state fiscal year.

     8. Stabilization fund. "Stabilization fund" means the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund established in this chapter.

     9. State and local tax burden. "State and local tax burden" means the total amount of state and local taxes paid by Maine residents, per $1,000 of income, as determined annually by the State Tax Assessor based on data from the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

§1532. Maine Budget Stabilization Fund

     1. Generally; stabilization fund established. The Maine Budget Stabilization Fund is hereby established. Amounts in the stabilization fund may not exceed 12% of total General Fund revenues in the immediately preceding state fiscal year and, except as provided by section 1533, may not be reduced below 1% of total General Fund revenue in the immediately preceding state fiscal year. For the purposes of this subsection, at the close of a fiscal year, "immediately preceding state fiscal year" means the fiscal year that is being closed.

     2. Expenditures from fund. Except as otherwise provided in this section, amounts in the stabilization fund may be expended only to offset a General Fund revenue shortfall.

     3. Fund to be nonlapsing. The balance of the stabilization fund may not lapse but must be carried forward to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

     4. Investment of funds. The money in the stabilization fund may be invested as provided by law with the earnings credited to the stabilization fund.

     5. Investment proceeds; exception. At the close of every month during which the stabilization fund is at the 12% limitation described in subsection 1, the State Controller shall transfer from the General Fund to the Retirement Allowance Fund established in section 17251 an amount equal to the investment earnings that otherwise would have been credited to the stabilization fund.

     6. Death benefits. The Governor shall allocate funds from the stabilization fund as needed to pay benefits due pursuant to Title 25, chapter 195-A. Allocations may be made upon written request of the Chief of the State Police, the State Fire Marshal or the Director of Maine Emergency Medical Services and after consultation with the State Budget Officer.

§1533. Declaration of budget emergency

     If the Legislature has adjourned sine die prior to the close of a fiscal year and the commissioner has provided notification as required by section 1668 that indicates that available General Fund resources will not be sufficient to meet General Fund expenditures, the commissioner may declare a budget emergency. At the close of the fiscal year, the State Controller may transfer from the available balance in the stabilization fund to the General Fund Unappropriated Surplus up to the amount necessary to increase total General Fund resources for that fiscal year to be equal to General Fund expenditures. For the purposes of this section, the Governor may reduce the stabilization fund below the 1% minimum threshold established by section 1532. The Governor shall inform the Legislative Council and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs immediately upon such transfers from the stabilization fund.

§1534. General Fund appropriation limitation

     1. Establishment of General Fund appropriation limitation. As of December 1st of each even-numbered year, there must be established a General Fund appropriation limit for the ensuing biennium. The General Fund appropriation limit applies to all General Fund appropriations, except that the additional cost for essential programs and services for kindergarten to grade 12 education under Title 20-A, chapter 606-B over the fiscal year 2004-05 appropriation for general purpose aid for local schools is excluded from the General Fund appropriation limitation until the state share of that cost reaches 55% of the total state and local cost.

A. For the first fiscal year of the biennium, the General Fund appropriation limitation is equal to the biennial base year appropriation multiplied by one plus the growth limitation factor in subsection 2.
B. For the 2nd year of the biennium, the General Fund appropriation limit is the General Fund appropriation limitation of the first year of the biennium multiplied by one plus the growth limitation factor in subsection 2.

     2. Growth limitation factor. The growth limitation factor is calculated as follows.

A. For fiscal years when the State Tax Assessor has determined that the state and local tax burden ranks in the highest 1/3 of all states, the growth limitation factor is average real personal income growth, but no more than 2.75%, plus average population growth.
B. For fiscal years when the state and local tax burden ranks in the middle 1/3 of all states, as determined by the State Tax Assessor, the growth limitation factor is average real personal income growth plus forecasted inflation plus average population growth.

     3. Exceeding General Fund appropriation limitation; extraordinary circumstances. The General Fund appropriation limitation established in subsection 1 may be exceeded for extraordinary circumstances only under the following circumstances.

A. The extraordinary circumstances must be circumstances outside the control of the Legislature, including:

(1) Catastrophic events such as natural disaster, terrorism, fire, war and riot;
(2) Unfunded or underfunded state or federal mandates;
(3) Citizens' initiatives or other referenda;
(4) Court orders or decrees; or
(5) Loss of federal funding.

Extraordinary circumstances do not include changes in economic conditions, revenue shortfalls, increases in salaries or benefits, new programs or program expansions that go beyond existing program criteria and operation.
B. The appropriation limitation in subsection 1 may be exceeded only by a vote of both Houses of the Legislature in a separate measure that identifies the extraordinary circumstance and the intent of the Legislature to exceed the appropriation limitation.
C. Exceeding the appropriation limitation established in subsection 1 permits appropriations to exceed the appropriation limitation only for the period necessary to address the extraordinary circumstance and does not increase the base for purposes of calculating the appropriation limitation for future years.

     4. Increase in appropriation limitation. The appropriation limitation established in subsection 1 may be increased for other purposes only by a vote of both Houses of the Legislature in a separate measure that identifies the intent of the Legislature to exceed the appropriation limitation.

§1535.     General Fund transfers to stabilization fund

     Baseline General Fund revenue, as recommended by the Revenue Forecasting Commission and authorized in accordance with chapter 151-B, and other available budgeted General Fund resources that exceed the General Fund appropriation limitation established by section 1534 must be transferred to the stabilization fund. The State Controller, at the close of each fiscal year, shall transfer the available balance remaining in the General Fund to the stabilization fund after all required deductions of appropriations, budgeted financial commitments and other adjustments considered necessary by the State Controller.

§1536. Excess General Fund revenues

     1. First priority reserve. The State Controller shall, as the first priority at the close of each fiscal year, reserve from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund an amount equal to the excess of total baseline General Fund revenue received over accepted estimates in that fiscal year and transfer that amount at the beginning of the next fiscal year as follows:

A. Thirty-two percent to the stabilization fund;
B. Thirty-two percent to the Retirement Allowance Fund established in section 17251; and
C. Sixteen percent to the Reserve for General Fund Operating Capital.

     2. Additional transfer. At the close of each fiscal year, the State Controller shall transfer from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to the stabilization fund an amount equal to the balance remaining of the excess of total General Fund revenue received over accepted estimates in that fiscal year that would have been transferred to the Reserve for General Fund Operating Capital pursuant to paragraph C had the Reserve for General Fund Operating Capital not been at its statutory limit of $50,000,000.

     3. Exceptions; stabilization fund at limit. If the stabilization fund is at its limit of 12% of General Fund revenue of the immediately preceding year, then amounts that would otherwise have been transferred to the stabilization fund pursuant to subsections 1 and 2 must be transferred to the Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents established in section 1518-A.

     Sec. A-6. 5 MRSA §1664, last ¶, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §8, is amended to read:

     The total General Fund appropriation for each fiscal year of the biennium in the Governor's budget submission to the Legislature may not exceed the General Fund appropriation of the previous fiscal year multiplied by one plus the average real personal income growth rate, as defined in section 1665, subsection 1, plus the average forecasted inflation rate limitation established in section 1534. For purposes of this paragraph, "average forecasted inflation rate" means the average forecasted change in the Consumer Price Index underlying the revenue projections developed by the Revenue Forecasting Committee pursuant to chapter 151-B. This appropriation limitation may be exceeded only by the amount of the additional costs or the lost federal revenue from the following exceptional circumstances: unfunded or under-funded new federal mandates; losses in federal revenues or other revenue sources; citizens' initiatives or referenda that require increased state spending; court orders or decrees that require additional state resources to comply with the orders or decrees; and sudden or significant increases in demand for existing state services that are not the result of legislative changes that increased eligibility or increased benefits. The Governor may designate exceptional circumstances that are not explicitly defined in this paragraph but meet the intent of this paragraph. For purposes of this paragraph, "exceptional circumstances" means an unforeseen condition or conditions over which the Governor and the Legislature have little or no control. Exceptional circumstances do not apply to new programs or program expansions that go beyond existing program criteria and operation.

     Sec. A-7. 5 MRSA §1665, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §9, is further amended to read:

     1. Expenditure and appropriation requirements. On or before September 1st of the even-numbered years, all departments and other agencies of the State Government and corporations and associations receiving or desiring to receive state funds under the provisions of law shall prepare, in the manner prescribed by and on blanks furnished them by the State Budget Officer, and submit to the officer estimates of their expenditure and appropriation requirements for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium contrasted with the corresponding figures of the last completed fiscal year and the estimated figures for the current fiscal year. The total General Fund appropriation requests submitted by each department and agency for each fiscal year may not exceed the General Fund appropriation of the previous fiscal year multiplied by one plus the average real personal income growth rate or 2.75%, whichever is less. For purposes of this subsection, "average real personal income growth rate" means the average for the prior 10 calendar years, ending with the most recent calendar year for which data is available, of the percent change in personal income in this State for a calendar year, as estimated by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, less the percent change in the Consumer Price Index for that calendar year. For purposes of this subsection, "Consumer Price Index" has the same meaning as in Title 36, section 5402, subsection 1. The expenditure estimates shall must be classified to set forth the data by funds, organization units, character and objects of expenditure. The organization units may be subclassified by functions and activities, or in any other manner, at the discretion of the State Budget Officer.

All departments and other agencies receiving or desiring to receive state funds from the Highway Fund shall submit to the officer estimates of their expenditure and appropriation requirements for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium that do not exceed the Highway Fund appropriation of the previous fiscal year multiplied by one plus the average real personal income growth rate or 2.75%, whichever is less. The Highway Fund highway and bridge improvement accounts are exempt from this spending limitation.

     Sec. A-8. 5 MRSA §1710-F, sub-§4 is enacted to read:

     4. Appropriation limitation. The committee shall make all determinations necessary to make the appropriation limitation calculations required under chapter 142.

     Sec. A-9. 5 MRSA §13063-C, sub-§4, ¶B, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §10, is further amended to read:

B. Notwithstanding section 1585, any balance remaining in the program after July 31, 2007 must be transferred to the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund as established in section 1513 1532.

     Sec. A-10. 5 MRSA §17253, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 464, §15, is amended to read:

     3. Components of unfunded liability contribution. The annual valuation report prepared by the actuary in accordance with section 17107 must include identification of the impact on the employer contribution rate of any excess General Fund revenues transferred to the Retirement Allowance Fund pursuant to section 1517 1532.

     Sec. A-11. 5 MRSA §22001, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. T, §5, is amended to read:

     13. Trust fund. "Trust fund" means the Baxter Compensation Authority Other Special Revenue Fund account authorized pursuant to former section 1513, subsection 1-T, or its successor.

     Sec. A-12. 25 MRSA §1612, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. X, §13, is further amended to read:

     7. Payment from the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund. Benefits are payable from the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund as provided in Title 5, section 1513 1532, subsection 6.

     Sec. A-13. Transition; stabilization fund. Any money in the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund on the effective date of this Act is deemed to be in the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund as reconstituted by this Act.

     Sec. A-14. Application of appropriation limit; 2006-2007 biennium. This Part applies to fiscal biennia beginning on or after July 1, 2005. The appropriation limit for the 2006-2007 biennium must be established based on the status of the factors for calculating the growth limitations as of December 1, 2004.

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