SUMMARY

This bill creates the Bicycling Assistance Loan Program within the Finance Authority of Maine to provide zero-interest loans to qualifying businesses for the purchase and installation of bicycle racks, showers and changing rooms for its employees. The authority is required to administer the loans through approved lenders and to charge the costs of the interest subsidy to the Fund for a Healthy Maine, contingent upon the availability of funds in the Fund for a Healthy Maine.

The bill requires the Finance Authority of Maine to adopt major substantive rules to implement the loan program. These rules must specify the criteria for determining qualifying lenders, eligibility requirements for participation in the program by businesses, the maximum amount of loan or interest subsidy permitted under the program and the maximum term of loans allowed under the program.