An Act To Fund Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons at the Maine State Library

Sec. 1. 27 MRSA §9  is enacted to read:

§ 9.  Blind and Visually Impaired News Access Fund

The Blind and Visually Impaired News Access Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established as a dedicated fund within the Maine State Library to be used to provide access to a news service provided by a national federation for blind and visually impaired persons. The fund is nonlapsing. The fund receives money transferred by the Public Utilities Commission from the state universal service fund pursuant to Title 35-A, section 7104, subsection 9. The Maine State Library may accept gifts or grants, including, but not limited to, federal grants, for the purposes of this section. Funds transferred from the state universal service fund pursuant to Title 35-A, section 7104, subsection 9 and all gifts and grants and authorized appropriations must be deposited in the fund.

Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §7104, sub-§9  is enacted to read:

Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.

LIBRARY, MAINE STATE

Blind and Visually Impaired News Access Fund N292

Initiative: Allocates ongoing funds to support access to the National Federation of the Blind's news network for blind and visually impaired persons.

OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS	2019-20	2020-21
All Other	$40,000	$40,000
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL	$40,000	$40,000

summary

This bill establishes the Blind and Visually Impaired News Access Fund as a dedicated fund within the Maine State Library to be used to provide access to the National Federation of the Blind's news network for blind and visually impaired persons. This bill directs the Public Utilities Commission to transfer $40,000 per year from the state universal service fund to the Blind and Visually Impaired News Access Fund to support the annual cost of providing access to the network.