CONCEPT DRAFT

SUMMARY

This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

The purpose of this bill is to address the significant disparity revealed by recent studies, which found that Maine dairy farmers spend significantly more on production costs than those in other Northeastern states.

This bill proposes to tax large retail stores and use the proceeds to aid the dairy farming industry. Under this bill, a tax would be imposed on so-called "big box" stores. Funds collected pursuant to the tax would be dedicated to a fund that would be disbursed to dairy farms to cover the true costs of production of milk by the first 44 cows owned by that dairy. This amount would equal $22.81 per hundred pounds of milk. Under the bill, no disbursements would be made with respect to milk produced after the first 44 cows.