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LD1077 • 2025

An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax

An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax

Taxes
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Representative Chad Perkins
Last action
2025-06-17
Official status
Reports Read On motion by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence. PREVAILED Roll Call Ordered Roll Call Number 601 Yeas 18 - Nays 16 - Excused 1 - Absent 0 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax

An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax Sponsor: Representative Chad Perkins Reference committee: Taxation Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP/OTP-AM

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax Sponsor: Representative Chad Perkins Reference committee: Taxation Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP/OTP-AM

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Filed

Plain English: Page 1 - 132LR1538(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.

  • Page 1 - 132LR1538(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.
  • 1077 2 Date: (Filing No.
  • H- ) 3TAXATION 4 Reproduced and distributed under the direction of the Clerk of the House.
  • 5STATE OF MAINE 6HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 7132ND LEGISLATURE 8FIRST SPECIAL SESSION 9 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “ ” to H.P.

Bill History

  1. 2025-06-17 House

    Reports READ . On motion of Representative CLOUTIER of Lewiston, the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report was ACCEPTED . ROLL CALL NO. 537 (Yeas 75 - Nays 72 - Absent 2 - Excused 2) Sent for concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH.

  2. 2025-06-17 Senate

    Reports Read On motion by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot the Majority Ought Not to Pass Report ACCEPTED in concurrence. PREVAILED Roll Call Ordered Roll Call Number 601 Yeas 18 - Nays 16 - Excused 1 - Absent 0 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)

  3. 2025-06-16 Committee

    Reported Out; ONTP/OTP-AM

  4. 2025-04-08 Committee

    Work Session Held

  5. 2025-04-08 Committee

    Voted; Divided Report

  6. 2025-03-14 Committee

    Referred to Committee on Taxation.

Official Summary Text

An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax
Sponsor:
Representative Chad Perkins
Reference committee:
Taxation
Latest committee action:
Reported Out; ONTP/OTP-AM

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Printed on recycled paper
132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1077
H.P. 699 House of Representatives, March 18, 2025
An Act to Exempt Drinking Water from Sales and Use Tax
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 14, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PERKINS of Dover-Foxcroft.
Cosponsored by Senator GUERIN of Penobscot and
Representatives: ARDELL of Monticello, BABIN of Fort Fairfield, COLLINS of Sidney,
HYMES of Waldo, MCINTYRE of Lowell, MINGO of Calais, NUTTING of Oakland,
Senator: CYRWAY of Kennebec.

Page 1 - 132LR1538(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §1752, sub-§3-B, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. OOOO,
3 §2 and affected by §7, is repealed.
4Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §1752, sub-§3-B, as amended by PL 2019, c. 231, Pt. A, §§5
5 and 6 and PL 2021, c. 669, §5, is further amended by amending the 2nd blocked paragraph
6 to read:
7 "Grocery staples" includes drinking water that is placed in a container or package and is
8 intended for human consumption, bread and bread products, jam, jelly, pickles, honey,
9 condiments, maple syrup, spaghetti sauce or salad dressing when packaged as a separate
10 item for retail sale.
11SUMMARY
12 Under current law, water, including mineral bottled and carbonated waters and ice, is
13 excluded from the definition of "grocery staples" for the purposes of sales and use tax
14 exemption. This bill removes that exclusion and instead provides that "grocery staples"
15 includes drinking water that is placed in a container or package and is intended for human
16 consumption.
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