§ 5 §3372 — Maine Length of Service Award Program

1.
Definitions.
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
2.
Program established.
The Maine Length of Service Award Program is established to provide paid length of service awards to eligible volunteers. The program is administered by the board as set out in this section.
3.
Board of trustees.
The following provisions govern the Maine Length of Service Award Program Board of Trustees, which is established to oversee the program.
4.
Program administration.
The program is administered by the board. The board shall contract with firms to provide administration, investment, custodial, trustee and auditing services for the program.
5.
Participation eligibility.
An eligible volunteer may participate in the program.
6.
Participation commencement.
Unless an eligible volunteer waives the right of participation pursuant to subsection 7, the eligible volunteer becomes a participant on the last day of the first calendar year during which the eligible volunteer meets the service credit requirements set forth in subsection 8 during a calendar year beginning after December 31, 2015.
7.
Waiver of participation.
An eligible volunteer may waive the right to participate in the program by filing with the board a written, signed and irrevocable waiver of participation that is signed by the chief of the department of which the eligible volunteer is a member.
8.
Service credit.
Service credit may be allowed in the program only for volunteer emergency service rendered as an eligible volunteer. The requirements to be met by an eligible volunteer to earn one year of service credit must be set forth in rules adopted by the board pursuant to subsection 21 and may be amended from time to time at the discretion of the board.
9.
Procedure for reporting service credit.
A department shall submit a list of all persons who were eligible volunteers during a calendar year to the board for review and approval by May 1st following the end of that calendar year. The list must indicate which eligible volunteers earned service credit during the calendar year and must be prepared, certified under oath by the chief of the department, posted in the department for at least 30 days and then submitted to and received by the board by May 1st. During the 30-day posting period, an eligible volunteer must be given the opportunity to dispute the service credit shown for the eligible volunteer in accordance with law. The chief shall indicate in writing to the board that the list was posted for at least 30 days and that all disputes regarding the service credit shown on the list as having been earned during the year have been resolved. The board, at its sole discretion, may audit a list prepared by a department under this subsection. If the list is not received by the board by May 1st, a contribution may not be credited to the program account of any eligible volunteer whose name was or should have been reported on the list as having earned one year of service credit during the calendar year, except as provided in subsection 12.
10.
Contributions to the program.
For each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2015, the program trust fund must accept contributions, if any, from the following:
11.
Subaccounts.
A participant's program account consists of the following subaccounts:
12.
Vesting schedule for a participant's accrued service award.
A participant's accrued service award becomes vested as set out in this subsection.
13.
Forfeiture of a participant's accrued service award.
The nonvested portion of a participant's accrued service award is permanently forfeited effective as of December 31st of the calendar year during which the participant has not been an eligible volunteer for 36 consecutive months. Service credit earned by a participant is never forfeited.
14.
Entitlement age.
The entitlement age for a participant is the earlier of:
15.
Payment to participant of accrued service award.
The following provisions govern the payment to a participant of an accrued service award.
16.
Investment of program funds.
The board shall establish a program trust fund within which the funds paid into the program must be deposited. A participant shall select investments for the amounts credited to the participant's program account from a menu of investment options. Distributions of accrued service awards must be made from the program trust fund in accordance with the program provisions. The program trust fund must be established and maintained in accordance with applicable sections of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Subject to review and approval by the Treasurer of State, the program trust fund investment options made available to participants must be selected by the board. Any unexpended balance in the program trust fund at the end of a year may not lapse and must be carried forward to be available for expenditure by the board in the subsequent year for program purposes.
17.
Program audits.
At the discretion of the State, either a state agency or a firm retained by the State shall audit the program at least once every 5 years.
18.
Notice of changes to laws governing the program.
Within 180 days after the effective date of legislation that changes the laws governing the program, a written notice and explanation of these changes must be distributed by the board to all persons who participate or are eligible to participate in the program. Copies of this written notice and explanation must be available upon request to the board to all other persons.
19.
Program termination.
Within 360 days after the effective date of legislation terminating the program, each program participant must be paid the participant's entire accrued service award to the date of payment in a single lump sum. Beneficiaries of deceased participants must be paid any amount owed to them under the program in the same manner within the same 360-day period.
20.
Program trust fund governed by certain provisions.
Until the United States Internal Revenue Code is amended to treat defined contribution length of service award programs as deferred compensation plans under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457, the program trust fund must be governed by all required provisions to ensure that a participating eligible volunteer or the eligible volunteer's beneficiary is not subject to federal income taxation on an accrued service award until actual receipt of payment by the participant or the beneficiary. After the United States Internal Revenue Code is so amended, the State and the board shall take all required actions to ensure the program complies with the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457 and the related United States Internal Revenue Service regulations.
21.
Rules.
The board shall adopt rules, which are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A, pertaining to the administration of the program.

Legislative History

PL 2015, c. 352, §1 (NEW). PL 2021, c. 556, §§1-13 (AMD). PL 2025, c. 202, §1 (AMD).