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An Act To Permit Funds for Prearranged Funerals To Be Invested under a Wider Range of Options
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §1401, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 2005, c. 65, Pt. C, §16, is further amended to read:
 
B.  The payee shall deposit the money in either a federally insured deposit or share account or a trust account; the type of account must be disclosed to the payor or the payor's representative and a deposit in a trust account may be invested in or used to purchase onlyan account in a financial institution authorized to do business in this State, as defined in Title 9-B, section 131, subsection 17-A, or a credit union authorized to do business in this State, as defined in Title 9-B, section 131, subsection 12-A, or in a trust account. The money deposited in a trust account may be invested only in the following:
 
(1) Federally insured deposit or share accounts;
 
(2) Securities issued, insured or guaranteed by the United States or by any agency or corporate or other instrumentality of the United States;
 
(3) Municipal securities that are exempt from registration under Title 32, section 16201, subsection 1; and
 
(4) Permanent life insurance, other than variable life insurance and annuities, from an insurer authorized to transact insurance in this State, subject to the provisions of Title 24-A, chapter 27. A payee or mortuary trustee may not receive any commission, fee or other consideration from an insurer in connection with the procurement or purchase of insurance permitted by this subparagraph.;
 
(5) Bonds, notes and bills that are issued by and are the direct obligation of the United States Treasury;
 
(6) Commercial paper rated as either "A-1" or "P-1" by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., Standard and Poor's Corporation or the rating equivalent of Fitch Investors Service, Inc. or any other nationally recognized statistical rating agency;
 
(7) Money market funds rated "AAm" or "AAm-G" or better by Standard and Poor's Corporation or the rating equivalent of any other nationally recognized statistical rating agency;
 
(8) Certificates of deposit issued by a duly chartered commercial bank or thrift institution in the State protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation if the bank or institution possesses assets of at least $100,000,000 and maintains a ratio of capital to assets equal to or greater than 6 1/2%;
 
(9) Bonds that are issued by United States corporations, corporations acceptable to the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Office of Securities or United States public entities and that are rated "A" or better by Standard and Poor’s Corporation, or the rating equivalent of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or Fitch Investors Service, Inc. or any other nationally recognized statistical rating agency; and
 
(10) Other investments specifically approved by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Office of Securities.
 
Except for fees allowed by this section, all investments made with trust assets remain trust assets.
 
SUMMARY
Current law permits funds held in prearranged funeral and burial plans to be invested in certain listed permissible investment categories. This bill expands those options by permitting these funds to be invested in the same categories of investments that are authorized under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 39-A, section 403, subsection 9 as permissible investments for trust funds for self-insurers under the laws governing workers' compensation.