Whereas, recent Dexter Shoe and Great Northern Paper, Inc. plant closings in the Town of Dexter, the Town of Millinocket and the Town of East Millinocket have resulted in the loss of more than 1,600 manufacturing jobs in Penobscot County and adjacent portions of Piscataquis County; and

Whereas, prior to the recent plant closings, the rate of unemployment in Piscataquis County exceeded the statewide unemployment rate; and

Whereas, there is a need to expand and diversify employment opportunities in Piscataquis County to mitigate the adverse economic effects of the Dexter Shoe and Great Northern Paper, Inc. plant closings; and

Whereas, the organized towns of Piscataquis County individually lack the tax base and financial resources to effectively encourage new economic development; and

Whereas, there is a need to encourage regional economic development efforts in Piscataquis County; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

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

Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §125 is enacted to read:

§125.__Economic development

1.__Budget authority.__Subject to the provisions of chapter 3, subchapter 1, article 6, the county commissioners of Piscataquis County may raise, appropriate, borrow and expend money for the purposes of county economic development, subject to the following provisions and limitations.

A.__As used in this section, "county economic development" means assisting or encouraging the creation or preservation of new or existing employment opportunities for residents of Piscataquis County, or any of its municipalities, through one or more of the following activities: