PUBLIC LAWS
First Special Session of the 122nd

CHAPTER 335
S.P. 342 - L.D. 1002

An Act To Transfer Responsibility from the Potato Marketing Improvement Committee to the Maine Potato Board

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

     Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §12004-H, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 786, §5, is repealed.

     Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §972, as amended by PL 2001, c. 125, §1, is repealed.

     Sec. 3. 7 MRSA §972-A is enacted to read:

§972-A. Advisory role of Maine Potato Board

     The Maine Potato Board, established in Title 36, section 4603 and referred to in this article as "the board," shall advise the commissioner on the development and implementation of programs and activities that improve the economic viability of the potato industry. The board shall also advise the commissioner concerning the funding and expenditures of the Potato Marketing Improvement Fund created pursuant to Title 10, section 1023-N. The board shall make recommendations to the commissioner on authorized uses of the fund and activities relating to the fund other than activities relating to the processing of loan applications or the servicing and administration of loans.

     Sec. 4. 7 MRSA §974-A, sub-§1, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 319, §4, is amended to read:

D. Other terms and conditions prescribed by rule by the commissioner upon consultation with the Potato Marketing Improvement Committee board.

     Sec. 5. 7 MRSA §975-A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 388, §3, is further amended to read:

§975-A.     Interest on Potato Marketing Improvement Fund balance

     All or any portion of the interest earned or accruing on the cash balance of the Potato Marketing Improvement Fund may be used for grants to partially or fully fund research projects to study and assess technical problems experienced with new and retrofitted storage facilities and to develop means of dealing with such problems, or to examine, monitor and develop new technologies for the production, storage and handling of potatoes or to fund programs and activities that improve the economic viability of the potato industry.

     Sec. 6. 7 MRSA §976, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 502, Pt. B, §6, is amended to read:

§976. Aroostook County office

     The department shall maintain or arrange for the maintenance of an office in Aroostook County located in a town most convenient to the largest number of potential users of the Potato Marketing Improvement Fund and sufficiently close to any local office of the Maine Potato Board board as to foster a close working relationship and provide a convenience to farmers who wish to visit both agencies. This office shall must be staffed by a one or more business development specialist specialists whose responsibilities shall be are as defined by the department. The business development specialist specialists shall be available in the Aroostook County office on a regular basis.

     Should the performance of the functions of the business development specialist specialists be contracted for, this contract shall must be made by the agency managing the fund and shall must be awarded through competitive bidding.

     Sec. 7. 10 MRSA §1023-N, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 125, §6, is amended to read:

     There is created a fund known as the Potato Marketing Improvement Fund, referred to in this section as the "fund." The fund must be deposited with and maintained by the authority to be used solely for investment in the Maine potato industry. The fund must be administered by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources in accordance with Title 7, chapter 103, subchapter X 10. All money received by the authority from any source for the development and implementation of an improved storage, packing and marketing program and programs and activities that improve the economic viability of the potato industry must be credited to the fund. Any money credited to the fund from the issuance of bonds on behalf of the State for agricultural development may be used only for the purposes of state loans as prescribed by Title 7, section 974-A to provide assistance to potato farmers for the design, construction, improvement, support and operation of storage, packing and marketing facilities; for programs and activities that improve the economic viability of the potato industry; and to pay the administrative costs of processing loan applications and servicing and administering the fund and loans and grants made therein, to the extent that the costs exceed the fee for administrative costs established by Title 7, section 974-A, subsection 2. Repayment of these loans and interest on the loans must be credited to the fund to be available for making additional state loans for the same purposes, except that any interest earned on the cash balance of the fund may be used for the grants authorized by Title 7, section 975-A. In order to provide additional amounts for loans, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, at the commissioner's discretion, may take such actions and enter into such agreements as may be necessary to sell or assign up to $2,000,000 in the aggregate principal amount of loans and undivided interests in a pool of loans and assign or pledge any mortgage or other security to the authority, under the terms and conditions the commissioner considers advisable. The assignment and related transactions may not result in indebtedness of the State. The proceeds of the sale or assignment must be credited to the fund and used for the purposes authorized in this section.

Effective September 17, 2005.

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