Committee gives unanimous, bipartisan support to Sen. Hickman bill to help small businesses affected by severe storms

Posted: March 01, 2024 | Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business, Senator Hickman

AUGUSTA – On Friday, the Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business (IDEA) Committee gave unanimous, bipartisan support to a bill from Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop. LD 2191, “An Act to Provide Relief to Small Businesses Affected by the Severe Weather-related Events,” would provide financial relief to local businesses that were impacted by December and January storms that cause severe flooding and damage.

Senator Craig Hickman

“As a small business owner myself, I know that small businesses undergird the infrastructure of our great state’s economy. We know that recovery from these severe weather-related events will be a long process and we know that there are more to come,” said Sen. Hickman. “These entrepreneurs and their employees are our families, neighbors and friends. We must, as empowered by the people we represent, do all we can to support them. It’s up to Mainers to have Mainers’ backs. That’s what this emergency legislation is about.”

As amended, LD 2191 would establish the Small Business Weather Emergency Relief Program, which would provide relief payments to small businesses in Maine that were affected by severe weather. The program, its $50 million fund and rules governing both would be overseen by the Department of Economic and Community Development. To be eligible for relief funding, a business must have 500 or fewer employees and have been established at the affected location for at least 6 months before the extreme weather event occurred, and plan to continue operating.  

Funds can be used to offset qualifying expenses, including:

  • Inventory damages or losses
  • Damage to business-related machinery and equipment
  • Property damage, including damage to structures, landscaping and hardscaping
  • Damage to trails, trailheads and trailside amenities
  • Lost revenue causes by closures

The amendment would also create the Wood Salvage Reclamation Program, also under DECD, that would provide grants to landowners and logging contractors to help with wood salvage and reclamation, as well as related road repair. This program’s fund of $2.5 million would be separate from the Small Business Weather Emergency Relief Program fund.

“This bill was crafted to help Maine’s small businesses survive the damage caused by this winter’s unprecedented storms,” said Rep. Raegan LaRochelle, D-Augusta. “They devastated Kennebec County right before the holidays, forcing many businesses to close for an extended time during one of the busiest times of the year. This legislation will help Mainers overcome some of these losses, continue to rebuild and better prepare for extreme weather events that we will likely face in the future.”

“Maine’s small businesses here in Kennebec County are having a hard time rebuilding and reopening in the wake of the significant flooding we experienced during the devastating storms in December and January,” said Rep. Dan Shagoury, D-Hallowell. “They can’t afford to wait for federal aid that, if it comes, won’t be available for months. They need help now, and I believe the state should step up and provide some of that help.”

“The December 18th storm washed-out roads and bridges across Maine and made certain routes impassable for crews to get to work and log trucks to get to their destinations. In some instances, log trucks were forced to take an 80-mile detour to get to mills, which equated to a loss of more than a trailer load of wood per day,” said Dana Doran, Executive Director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast. “These losses are not insurable, and to our knowledge, there are no relief programs (federal/ state) to help the logging community like there are for other agricultural businesses.”

“Maine’s retailers and small businesses have been through a lot for a few years now, but the storm that came through central, western and eastern Maine in December was an incredible blow to many of our small businesses. These small businesses lost holiday sales that they’ll never be able to recover,” said Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine. “We also heard from a number of Maine’s independent grocers who lost perishable food due to the prolonged power outages and equipment that has ceased operating due to flooding. Grocers operate on very small margins, so the loss of such significant amounts of produce and frozen goods was devastating.”

The bill now faces votes before the Senate and House.