Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

APPROVED                 CHAPTER
                                                                   MAY 5, 2022                  731
                                                                 BY GOVERNOR              PUBLIC LAW
                                  STATE OF MAINE
                                          _____
                           IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
                        TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
                                          _____
                                   S.P. 283 - L.D. 731
  An Act To Establish a Program To Assist Regional Firefighter Training
  Programs, To Provide Tax Credits to Businesses That Employ Volunteer
   Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services Persons and To Provide
 Benefits to Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services Persons
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3371, sub-§8, ¶G, as amended by PL 2017, c. 444, §1, is further
amended to read:
    G. Submit proposed legislation to the Legislature to implement any recommendations
    of the commission; and
    Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §3371, sub-§8, ¶H, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 444, §2, is amended
to read:
    H. Make awards from the Live Fire Service Training Facilities Fund pursuant to Title
    20‑A, section 9004 and direct the Maine Fire Service Institute within the Maine
    Community College System to make payments to municipalities from the fund.; and
    Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §3371, sub-§8, ¶I is enacted to read:
    I. Make awards from the Regional Fire Service Training Fund pursuant to Title 20-A,
    section 9005 and direct the Maine Fire Service Institute within the Maine Community
    College System to make payments to municipalities from the fund.
    Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §9005 is enacted to read:
§9005. Regional Fire Service Training Fund
    1. Fund established. The Regional Fire Service Training Fund, referred to in this
section as "the fund," is established under the Maine Fire Service Institute within the Maine
Community College System as a nonlapsing fund to provide funds to municipalities for
regional fire service training in the State.
    2. Grant program. The Maine Fire Protection Services Commission, referred to in
this section as "the commission" and established pursuant to Title 5, section 12004-J,
subsection 12, shall establish criteria to award grants to municipalities from the fund for
                                   Page 1 - 130LR0342(05)
the purpose of funding regional fire service training for municipal firefighters and public
safety employees. The commission may adopt rules to implement this subsection. Rules
adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter
375, subchapter 2-A.
     3. Procedure. Municipalities may apply to the commission for grants. The
commission shall evaluate each application pursuant to the criteria developed in subsection
2 and, to the extent funds are available, shall award grants from the fund to support regional
fire service training programs.
    4. Payment of grants. Upon the award of a grant by the commission, the commission
shall direct the Maine Fire Service Institute within the Maine Community College System
to make the payment of the grant award to the municipality from the fund.
    Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §5217-F is enacted to read:
§5217-F. Employer support for volunteer firefighters and volunteer municipal
       emergency medical services persons
    For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, an employer who employs an
individual who is a volunteer firefighter, as defined in Title 30-A, section 3151, subsection
4, or a volunteer municipal emergency medical services person and who permits that
employee to respond to fire calls or emergency medical services calls, as appropriate,
during hours when the employee is scheduled to work without a reduction in pay is eligible
for a credit against the tax imposed by this Part equal to the compensation that is paid to
the employee at the employee's regular rate of pay during the time when the employee is
away from work due to firefighting or emergency response responsibilities. For the
purposes of this subsection, "volunteer municipal emergency medical services person"
means an emergency medical services person as defined in Title 32, section 83, subsection
12 who responds to emergency medical services calls from a municipality and who receives
no compensation from the municipality other than injury and death benefits.
    Sec. 6. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Revenue Services, Bureau of 0002
Initiative: Provides one-time funding for computer programming.
GENERAL FUND                                                      2021-22          2022-23
 All Other                                                             $0           $33,000
                                                               __________       __________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL                                                     $0           $33,000
                                    Page 2 - 130LR0342(05)
Statutes affected: 
Bill Text LD 731, SP 283: 5.3371, 36.6232
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 731: 5.3371