This bill does the following to support employee-owned businesses and cooperatives.
1. It excludes from Maine income tax the amount of gain, up to a maximum of $750,000, recognized by a business owner in transferring the business to an employee stock ownership plan, eligible worker-owned cooperative, consumer cooperative, affordable housing cooperative or agriculture producer cooperative.
2. It excludes from Maine income tax interest from loans that finance transfers of ownership from a business to an employee stock ownership plan, eligible worker-owned cooperative, consumer cooperative, affordable housing cooperative or agriculture producer cooperative.
3. It requires the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of Business Development to contract with a nonprofit development organization with relevant expertise to develop and manage the Maine Employee Ownership Center to provide information and programs to assist businesses in the transition to employee or cooperative ownership.
4. It specifies performance measures the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, the Government Oversight Committee and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters must consider in developing evaluation parameters to perform the review of the deductions provided under this bill as required by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, chapter 37.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1276, SP 513: 5.13062, 36.5206