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An Act To Establish the Commission on Promoting Manufacturing in Maine
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§67-A  is enacted to read:
 
67-A.     
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA c. 15  is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 15
COMMISSION ON PROMOTING MANUFACTURING IN MAINE
§ 396. Commission established
The Commission on Promoting Manufacturing in Maine, as established in Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 67-A and referred to in this section as "the commission," is established to develop a plan to promote manufacturing in the State.
 
1.  Membership.     The commission consists of the following 15 members:
 
A.  Three Senators, 2 of whom must be members representing the party holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature, appointed by the President of the Senate;
 
B.  Three members of the House of Representatives, one of whom must be a member representing the party holding the 2nd largest number of seats in the Legislature, appointed by the Speaker of the House;
 
C.  The President of the Maine Community College System or the president's designee;
 
D.  The Commissioner of Labor or the commissioner's designee;
 
E.  The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development or the commissioner's designee;
 
F.  The Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's designee;
 
G.  The director of an apprenticeship program in manufacturing, appointed by the President of the Senate;
 
H.  Two members representing manufacturing businesses in the State, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the House; and
 
I.  Two members representing organized labor in the State, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the House.
 
2.  Terms; vacancies; limits.     Except for Legislators and commissioners and the President of the Maine Community College System, who serve terms coincident with their elective or appointed terms, members of the commission are appointed for 3-year terms. A vacancy must be filled by the same appointing authority that made the original appointment. Appointed members may not serve more than 2 terms. Members may continue to serve until their replacements are designated. A member may designate an alternate to serve on a temporary basis.
 
3.  Chair; officers; rules.     The first-named Senate member and the first-named House of Representatives member are cochairs of the commission. The commission shall appoint other officers as necessary and make rules for orderly procedure.
 
4.  Compensation.     Legislators who are members of the commission are entitled to receive the legislative per diem and expenses as defined in Title 3, section 2 for their attendance to their duties under this chapter. Other members are entitled to receive reimbursement of necessary expenses if they are not otherwise reimbursed by their employers or others whom they represent.
 
5.  Staff.     The Legislature, through the commission, shall contract for staff support for the commission, which, to the extent funding permits, must be year-round staff support. In the event funding does not permit adequate staff support, the commission may request staff support from the Legislative Council, except that Legislative Council staff support is not authorized when the Legislature is in regular or special session.
 
6.  Powers and duties.     The commission:
 
A.  Shall meet at least twice annually;
 
B.  Shall establish a plan to promote the State as a more desirable place in which to develop manufacturing businesses, to provide education and training to prepare workers for new manufacturing and to make manufacturing in the State more promotable;
 
C.  Shall hear public testimony and recommendations from the people of the State and qualified experts when appropriate at no fewer than 2 locations throughout the State each year on the actual and potential social, environmental, economic and legal impacts of manufacturing on the State;
 
D.  Shall every 2 years conduct an assessment of the impacts of manufacturing on working conditions and the business environment. The assessment must be submitted and made available to the public as provided for in paragraph E;
 
E.  Shall maintain active communications with and submit an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, municipalities, the State's congressional delegation and the National Conference of State Legislatures or its successor organization. The commission shall make the report easily accessible to the public by way of a publicly accessible site on the Internet maintained by the State. The report must contain information acquired pursuant to activities under paragraph C and must contain information acquired pursuant to activities under paragraph D;
 
F.  Shall maintain active communications with any entity the commission determines appropriate regarding ongoing developments in promoting, encouraging and developing new manufacturing in the State;
 
G.  May recommend or submit legislation to the Legislature; and
 
H.  May examine any aspects of promoting manufacturing that the members of the commission consider appropriate.
 
7.  Accounting; outside funding.     All funds appropriated, allocated or otherwise provided to the commission must be deposited in an account separate from all other funds of the Legislature and are nonlapsing. Funds in the account may be used only for the purposes of the commission. The commission may seek and accept outside funding to fulfill commission duties. Prompt notice of solicitation and acceptance of funds must be sent to the Legislative Council. All funds accepted must be forwarded to the Executive Director of the Legislative Council, along with an accounting that includes the amount received, the date that amount was received, from whom that amount was received, the purpose of the donation and any limitation on use of the funds. The executive director shall administer all funds received in accordance with this section. At the beginning of each fiscal year, and at any other time at the request of the cochairs of the commission, the executive director shall provide to the commission an accounting of all funds available to the commission, including funds available for staff support.
 
8.  Evaluation.     By December 31, 2019, the commission shall conduct an evaluation of its activities and recommend to the Legislature whether to continue, alter or cease the commission's activities.
Sec. 3. Staggered terms. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 10, section 396, subsection 2, the original member of the Commission on Promoting Manufacturing in Maine representing a manufacturing business appointed by the President of the Senate must be appointed for a one-year term and the original member representing organized labor appointed by the Speaker of the House must be appointed for a one-year term. An initial term of one year may not be considered a full term for purposes of limiting the number of terms for which a member may serve.
 
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Commission on Promoting Manufacturing in Maine. The commission is charged with establishing a plan to promote Maine as a more desirable place in which to develop manufacturing businesses, to provide education and training to prepare workers for new manufacturing and to make manufacturing in Maine more promotable.