PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
Amend the bill by inserting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 806, §3, is amended to read:
 
1. Establishment and membership.   There is established within the Department of the Attorney General the Victims' Compensation Board. The board consists of 35 members appointed by the Attorney General. One member must be a physician licensed to practice medicine in the State; one member must be an attorney licensed to practice law in the State; and one member must be experienced in working with victims of crime; and, beginning July 1, 2022, one member must be knowledgeable about insurance claims regarding property damage or replacement and one member must represent the public.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 806, §3, is amended to read:
 
6. Quorum.   Two members of the board constitute a quorum and, beginning July 1, 2022, 3 members of the board constitute a quorum.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 806, §3, is amended to read:
 
7. Rules.   The board may adopt rules pursuant to the Maine Administrative Procedure Act to carry out the purposes of this chapter and, beginning July 1, 2022, the purposes of chapter 316-C. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined by chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 4.  5 MRSA §3360-A, sub-§8  is enacted to read:
 
8.  Duties.    The board shall perform the duties assigned to it in this chapter and, effective July 1, 2022, the duties assigned in chapter 316-C.’
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3360-S in subsection 3 in the 4th and 5th lines (page 1, lines 33 and 34 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "Notwithstanding any other law, the court may not waive the imposition of the assessment required by this subsection."
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3360-S by striking out all of subsection 4 (page 2, lines 6 to 20 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘4.  Eligibility.     The board may award compensation under this chapter to an individual who:
 
A.  Suffers a property loss as a result of a crime; or
 
B.  Would otherwise be eligible for compensation, even though:
 
(1) The criminal conduct occurred in this State but within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; or
’
 
(2) The property loss resulted from conduct that violates a criminal law of the United States.
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3360-S in subsection 8 in the 2nd line (page 3, line 5 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "$5,000" and inserting the following: '$1,000'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3360-S in subsection 11 in paragraph B in the 2nd line (page 3, line 42 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "2020" and inserting the following: '2022'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3360-S in subsection 11 by striking out all of paragraph C (page 4, lines 1 and 2 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘C. The board is not authorized to process or pay claims under this chapter before July 1, 2022.’
Amend the bill by inserting after section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §2018, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 113, Pt. A, §2, is amended to read:
§ 2018.Restitution for benefit of victim
When compensation is awarded from the Victims' Compensation Fund pursuant to Title 5, chapter 316-A or the Victims' Property Compensation Fund pursuant to Title 5, chapter 316-C, the amount of any restitution ordered to be paid to or for the benefit of the victim and collected as part of a sentence imposed must be paid by the agency collecting the restitution in an amount not to exceed the amount of the payments from the fund, directly to the fund if, when added to the payments from the fund, the restitution exceeds the victim's actual loss.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
 
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
 
Courts - Supreme, Superior and District 0063
 
Initiative: Provides one-time funding for technology-related modifications to allow the courts to assess additional fees.

GENERAL FUND	2019-20	2020-21	
All Other	$10,000	$0	
			
GENERAL FUND TOTAL	$10,000	$0	
 
’
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment adds 2 members to the Victims' Compensation Board, amends its quorum from 2 to 3 members and clarifies that the board performs the duties assigned to it under the victims' property compensation program beginning July 1, 2022. The amendment allows the board to compensate a victim of a crime up to $1,000 for property losses or insurance deductibles paid pursuant to an insurance claim as a result of the property loss. The amendment provides July 1, 2022 as the date on which the board is authorized to begin to process or pay claims. The amendment removes from the bill the prohibition on the court's waiving the imposition of the assessment that funds the Victims' Property Compensation Fund. The amendment removes from the bill eligibility for an award for a person who is the victim of a crime that occurred in another state or a crime of terrorism that occurred outside of the country. The amendment provides for rulemaking for the Victims' Property Compensation Fund and designates rules for both this fund and the Victims' Compensation Fund as routine technical rules. The amendment amends the law on restitution for victims of a crime so that, once a victim has been compensated as allowed by law from either fund or a combination of a fund and restitution, any additional restitution payments are paid into the applicable fund. The provisions of law incorporating the Victims' Property Compensation Fund into the duties of the Victims' Compensation Board and increasing the membership of that board do not apply until July 1, 2022.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)