§ 5 §13058 — Duties and responsibilities of commissioner

The department shall be administered by the commissioner. The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties.
1.
Employ and remove staff.
The commissioner shall employ and remove staff of the department. Persons employed in major policy-influencing positions, as defined in section 934‑A, and professional staff whose positions were formerly located in the State Development Office serve at the pleasure of the commissioner. The office directors serve at the pleasure of the commissioner.
2.
Accept federal funds.
The commissioner may accept for the State any federal funds appropriated under any federal law relating to the authorized programs of the department, including community and economic development in those nonentitlement areas and for those projects duly authorized under the United States Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Title 1, and its subsequent amendments. The commissioner may undertake the necessary duties and tasks to implement federal law with respect to the authorized programs of the department.
2-A.
Accept grants.
The commissioner may accept grant funds from other public or private sources to be used to carry out the duties of the department.
2-B.
Make grants; equity investments; loans; contractual arrangements.
The commissioner may make, alone or in participation or cooperation with other persons, direct equity investments in, grants or loans to or any other contractual arrangement allowed by law with private entities for the purposes of encouraging and supporting economic and business growth, rural manufacturing and industrial site redevelopment and implementation of a strategic plan. As a condition of a disbursement of funding in whatever form to a private entity for purposes described in this subsection, the department may require from the private entity satisfactory evidence that the private entity has invested matching funds in an equal amount for the same purposes. Matching funds may be in the form of debt or equity investment as long as the financial commitment is for a minimum of 5 years.
3.
Hold hearings and adopt rules.
The commissioner may hold hearings and adopt rules, in accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, with respect to the implementation of authorized programs of the department.
4.
Coordinate programs and services.
The commissioner shall coordinate the programs and services of the department. The commissioner shall coordinate the department's programs and services with those programs and services of other state agencies and regional planning and economic development organizations.
5.
Review of program; report to Governor and Legislature.
The commissioner shall review and evaluate the programs and functions of the department and the operation of the economic delivery system using the information available from the long-term economic plan for the State pursuant to Title 10, section 929‑A, subsection 1, the evaluation of state economic development investments pursuant to section 13070‑P and the evaluations of tax expenditures pursuant to Title 3, section 999. The commissioner shall report the commissioner's findings and recommendations with respect to the issues described in this subsection to the Governor and to the Legislature no later than February 1st of each first regular session of the Legislature. The commissioner shall conduct the review and evaluation with respect to the following:
6.
Responsible for oversight.
The commissioner shall be responsible for the oversight and implementation of the following:
7.
Commissioner to coordinate programs.
8.
Dependent care services.
9.
Designate and certify local and regional organizations.
The commissioner may designate and certify competent local and regional economic development organizations to implement state programs and services in whole or in part.
10.
Assistance to municipalities to generate economic growth.
The commissioner shall administer a program of assistance to municipalities to generate jobs and business development. Potential uses of this money include infrastructure development, planning and technical assistance, marketing and other types of capacity building.
10-A.
Maine Downtown Center.
11.
Federally mandated programs.
12.
Energy conservation standards.
13.
Approval or denial of certificates.
14.
Preparation of manual.
15.
Review and inspection.
16.
Administration of state standards.
17.
Rule-making authority.
18.
Commissioner's designee.
When the commissioner is explicitly empowered by statute to appoint a designee to replace the commissioner on any board, commission or similar body, none of which have a termination date, and the commissioner appoints a designee, the commissioner shall appoint that designee from within the commissioner's department. The commissioner shall make this designee known to the appointing authority and to the chair of the body to which the appointment is made, if that body exists at the time of appointment. The designee is the only person who may fill that appointee position until a successor is designated through the same appointment procedure.
19.
Coordinate assessment of transportation needs related to economic development projects.
The commissioner shall coordinate the activities of the department, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the Department of Transportation and regional planning and economic development organizations to ensure that the location of rail lines, potential use of passenger and freight rail and costs of transportation improvements related to development are considered during initial planning and locating of projects reviewed by the commissioner in administering economic development programs under this chapter.

Legislative History

PL 1987, c. 534, §§A17,A19 (NEW). PL 1987, c. 769, §A19 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 501, §DD16 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 857, §44 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 875, §§E7,L3,4,M4 ,13 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 349, §14 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 462, §A11 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 688, §7 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 530, §A34 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 776, §§4-6 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 790, §R1 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 703, §§2,3 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 498, §1 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 673, §§M3,4 (AMD). PL 2005, c. 425, §4 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 337, §3 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. JJ, §3 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. JJ, §41 (AFF). PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §5 (REV). RR 2015, c. 1, §3 (COR). PL 2017, c. 264, §6 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 501, §§1-5 (AMD).