An Act To Preserve Marine Resources Licenses for Active Duty Service Members
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6311, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 111, §2, is amended to read:
4. Limited application. This section applies Subsections 2 and 3 apply only if the member's service is in support of:
A. An operational mission for which members of the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces have been ordered to active duty without volunteering for that mission; or
B. Forces activated during a period of war declared by the United States Congress or a period of national emergency declared by the President of the United States or the United States Congress.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6311, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5. Inactive licenses. A valid license issued under this subpart and held by a person who is a member of the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard and the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces and the United States Coast Guard, and who is under an order to active duty for a period of more than 30 days becomes inactive upon receipt by the commissioner of a copy of the person's order to active duty in the United States Armed Forces for the period of time that the person is under the order to active duty. An inactive license under this subsection may not be used for fishing but preserves all other rights of a holder of an active valid license and is not subject to the payment of a fee for the license while the license remains inactive. A person who possesses an inactive license under this subsection may reactivate the license within 30 days of release from active duty upon providing notice of release from active duty to the commissioner, and upon activation the license remains valid until the end of the licensing period in which the person is released from active duty.
SUMMARY
This bill makes a valid license issued by the Department of Marine Resources inactive with no fee due for a holder who is a member of the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard and the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces and the United States Coast Guard, who is under orders for active duty. The license may be reactivated within 30 days of the holder's release from active duty and remains valid until the end of the licensing period in which the holder is released from active duty.