APPROVED CHAPTER
JULY 26, 2023 429
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE
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H.P. 235 - L.D. 384
An Act to Provide Emergency Aid to Dairy Farmers Affected by the Crisis in
Production Costs
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. Transfer from General Fund unappropriated surplus; Department
of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Milk Commission. Notwithstanding
any provision of law to the contrary, on or before July 30, 2024, the State Controller shall
transfer $500,000 from the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund to the Department
of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Milk Commission program, Other Special
Revenue Funds account to provide one-time pandemic volatility payments to Maine milk
producers who produced milk and reported production information to the Maine Milk
Commission in calendar year 2022 and are currently participating in the dairy stabilization
program under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 3153-B, also known as the Tier
Program. In calculating the payment, the administrator of the Maine Milk Pool shall
attempt to achieve, insofar as practical, a proportional distribution of the entire transferred
amount to farmers by basing the payments on a per hundredweight production basis and
limiting payments to a production limit of 5,000,000 pounds per farm. The administrator
of the Maine Milk Pool may use existing distribution methods within the Maine Milk Pool
program to expedite the distribution of payments.
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF
Milk Commission 0188
Initiative: Provides a one-time allocation to allow distribution of pandemic volatility
payments to Maine dairy farmers who meet specific milk production criteria.
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 2023-24 2024-25
All Other $500,000 $0
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OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL $500,000 $0
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