AUGUSTA - Certification of the citizens' initiative effort "An Act To Establish Universal Home Care for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities," is complete and Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap confirmed today that the effort has enough valid signatures to move forward.

The proponents of this legislation submitted 7,244 petitions with 74,552 signatures to the Elections Division on Friday, Jan. 26, and Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. The Elections Division of the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions has completed the process of certifying the petitions and found 64,842 valid signatures, while 9,710 were not valid. A minimum of 61,123 signatures from registered Maine voters is required.

The Maine Legislature will now consider this initiative, which would establish a new tax to support home care services.

Legislators can choose to enact the bill as written or to send it forward to a statewide vote on the November 6, 2018 ballot.

Petitions for this effort were issued for circulation on Oct. 24, 2017.

According to the proposed bill summary, this legislation seeks to provide in-home and community support services for all people with disabilities living in Maine who require assistance with an activity of daily living and people 65 years of age or older who are living in Maine and who require assistance with an activity of daily living, without regard to income, to be funded by a new tax of 3.8 percent on income and wages that exceed the maximum wages subject to social security employment taxes.

Visit http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/citizens/index.html to view the proposed legislation in its entirety.