Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §625-B, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:

3-A.__Payments due from employer that received significant public benefits.__Notwithstanding subsection 3, paragraph D or any other provision of this section to the contrary, an employer that has owned and operated a covered establishment for less than 2 years prior to termination or relocation of the covered establishment is liable for severance pay if the employer or its predecessors received significant public benefits in the 5 years prior to termination or relocation of the covered establishment.

A.__For purposes of this subsection, "significant public benefits" includes, but is not limited to, favorable tax treatment provided specifically to an employer or covered establishment, rental or other use of public property or other assets and participation of a public entity in the risk of the business.

B.__If severance pay is due solely as a result of this subsection, an employer is liable to each employee that has been employed at the covered establishment for at least 3 years prior to termination or relocation of the covered establishment.__The amount of severance pay due to each employee is one week's pay for each year of employment by the employee in that covered establishment.

C.__As an alternative to payment of severance pay under this subsection, an employer may elect to pay over to the director the full value of all significant public benefits provided to that employer or that employer's covered establishment during the 5 years prior to termination or relocation.__The value must be determined by the director with the assistance of the Director of the Bureau of Revenue Services within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, the Department of Economic and Community Development and any municipal authorities that have provided significant public benefits.__The director shall hold the funds in a dedicated account and, to the extent funds are available, pay to each employee the amount the employee would have been owed in severance pay under this subsection.__ Any funds remaining must be paid over to the municipality or other governmental entity that provided significant public benefits to the employer or the covered establishment.

Sec. 2. Retroactivity. This Act applies retroactively to July 1, 2001.