130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 480		LR 646(03)
	An Act To Establish a Presumption of Entitlement to Counsel for a Person Who Is the Subject of an Adult Guardianship, Conservatorship or Other Protective Arrangement Proceeding
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Judiciary
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
State Mandate - Funded
			FY 2021-22	FY 2022-23	Projections  FY 2023-24	Projections  FY 2024-25
Net Cost (Savings)
	General Fund		$0	$818,604	$818,604	$818,604
Appropriations/Allocations
	General Fund		$0	$818,604	$818,604	$818,604
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	Requires Probate Courts to appoint an attorney for every adult in a guardianship, conservatorship or other protective arrangement proceeding unless the court finds that the adult knowingly and voluntarily refuses such representation.				County	$795,000
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill includes a General Fund appropriation of $715,500 beginning in fiscal year 2022-23 to a newly created County Probate Counsel Reimbursement Program in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to reimburse counties for 90% of the costs of mandated counsel appointed in Probate Court cases. The bill also includes General Fund appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services of $103,104 beginning in fiscal year 2022-23 for increased legal costs to the Department of Health and Human Services due to an expected increase in litigation.