HP0984
LD 1362
Session - 129th Maine Legislature
C "A", Filing Number H-608, Sponsored by
LR 1952
Item 2
Bill Tracking, Additional Documents Chamber Status

Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:

Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §20010  is enacted to read:

§ 20010 Opioid Use Stewardship Fund

1 Fund established.   The Opioid Use Stewardship Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established for the purpose of supporting opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery and is administered by the department. The fund consists of money received from proceeds of the opioid tax under Title 36, chapter 725 and appropriations, allocations and contributions from private and public sources. The fund must be held separate from all other money, funds and accounts. Eligible investment earnings credited to the assets of the fund become part of the assets of the fund. Unexpended balances remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year do not lapse and must be carried forward to the next fiscal year.
2 Uses of fund proceeds.   The proceeds of the fund must be used for opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery services, costs associated with the administration of this section and other purposes consistent with this section.
3 Report.   By April 1st of each calendar year, a manufacturer subject to the tax under Title 36, section 4941 shall report to the department in a form determined by the department the following information on opioids made by the manufacturer subject to the tax that were distributed in the State the previous calendar year:
A The manufacturer's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, website address and United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration registration number and any registration or identification number required by an agency of the State;
B The name, address and United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration registration number of the person to whom the opioids subject to the tax under Title 36, section 4941 were provided in the State and each date the opioids were provided;
C The gross receipts in dollars of all opioids distributed;
D The name and national drug code of each opioid distributed;
E The number of containers and the metric quantity of controlled substance in each container of opioids distributed;
F The total number of morphine milligram equivalents of opioids that were distributed; and
G Any other information determined necessary by the department.

The department shall forward the information received under this subsection to the State Tax Assessor for the administration of the tax under Title 36, section 4941. For purposes of this subsection, "distribution" has the same meaning as in Title 36, section 4941, subsection 1, paragraph A.

4 Rules.   The department, in consultation with the Maine Board of Pharmacy under Title 32, section 13711, shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section. Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 2. 36 MRSA c. 725  is enacted to read:

CHAPTER 725

TAX ON OPIOIDS

§ 4941 Opioid tax

1 Definitions.   As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
A "Distribution" or "distributed" means the final sale of opioids to a consumer.
B "Generic substitute" means a drug that is classified as being the therapeutic equivalent to another drug in the most contemporary version of a publication of the federal Food and Drug Administration that lists approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations and that is:

(1) The same active ingredient of the therapeutic equivalent identified by the federal Food and Drug Administration; and

(2) Equivalent in strength to the strength specified on the applicable prescription.

C "Manufacturer" means a person that makes opioids if more than 100,000 morphine milligram equivalents of that person's prescription opioid products are distributed in this State during the tax year.
D "Opiate" means the dried, condensed juice of a poppy, Papaver somniferum L., that has a narcotic, soporific, analgesic and astringent effect.
E "Opioid" means:

(1) An opiate;

(2) A synthetic or semisynthetic narcotic that has effects similar to natural opium alkaloids but is not derived from opium; or

(3) A derivative of an opioid described in subparagraph (1) or (2).

2 Tax rate.   Beginning January 1, 2020 and ending December 31, 2023, an excise tax is imposed upon a manufacturer on opioids manufactured by that manufacturer that are distributed in the State at the rate of:
A $0.01 per morphine milligram equivalent for a brand-name opioid; and
B $0.0025 per morphine milligram equivalent for a generic substitute.
3 Exemptions.   A person is exempted from the tax under this section:
A If the State is prohibited from taxing the person under the United States Constitution or laws of the United States or under the Constitution of Maine; or
B For opioids distributed in the State for the purpose of medication-assisted treatment of substance use disorder. The Maine Board of Pharmacy under Title 32, section 13711 periodically shall provide to the assessor a list of medications exempted under this paragraph.
4 Returns; payment of opioid tax required.   Annually, on or before May 15th and following the submission of the report to the Department of Health and Human Services required by Title 5, section 20010, subsection 3, a person subject to the tax imposed by this chapter shall file a return on a form prescribed and furnished by the assessor and pay to the assessor the tax due pursuant to this chapter for the preceding calendar year.
5 Revenue.   All taxes, interest, penalties and other amounts received by the assessor under this section must be credited to a General Fund suspense account. No later than the last day of each month, the State Controller shall transfer all revenues received by the assessor during the month under subsection 4 to the Opioid Use Stewardship Fund established under Title 5, section 20010.
6 Review.   By March 15, 2023, the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters shall review the tax imposed under this section and may submit a bill to the First Regular Session of the 131st Legislature to extend, amend or repeal the tax.

Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF

Revenue Services, Bureau of 0002

Initiative: Provides one-time funding for computer programming to create a new tax and related forms in the sales tax system.

GENERAL FUND 2019-20 2020-21
All Other
$100,000 $0
inline graphic sline.gif inline graphic sline.gif
GENERAL FUND TOTAL $100,000 $0

ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 2019-20 2020-21
GENERAL FUND
$100,000 $0
inline graphic sline.gif inline graphic sline.gif
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS $100,000 $0

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF

Opioid Stewardship Fund N314

Initiative: Provides allocations to support opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery.

OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 2019-20 2020-21
All Other
$0 $1,562,500
inline graphic sline.gif inline graphic sline.gif
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL $0 $1,562,500

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 2019-20 2020-21
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS
$0 $1,562,500
inline graphic sline.gif inline graphic sline.gif
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS $0 $1,562,500

SECTION TOTALS 2019-20 2020-21
GENERAL FUND
$100,000 $0
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS
$0 $1,562,500
inline graphic sline.gif inline graphic sline.gif
SECTION TOTAL - ALL FUNDS $100,000 $1,562,500

Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.

SUMMARY

This amendment makes the following changes to the bill.

1. It provides that the excise tax is a tax on manufacturers of opioids if more than 100,000 morphine milligram equivalents of the manufacturer's prescription opioid products are dispensed in the State in the tax year.

2. It changes the rate of the tax from 0.1¢ per morphine milligram equivalent to $0.01 per morphine milligram equivalent for a brand-name opioid distributed in the State or $0.0025 per morphine milligram equivalent for a generic substitute.

3. It removes the prohibition on passing the tax on to consumers.

4. It provides that revenue collected from the tax also may be used to fund the costs of administering the tax and provides necessary administrative details.

5. It provides that the tax is in effect until December 31, 2023 and requires the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters to review the tax. It authorizes the committee to submit a bill to extend, amend or repeal the tax to the 131st Legislature based on the review.

6. It adds an appropriations and allocations section.

FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)


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