Good Morning from Augusta,
With one month to go until the proposed statutory date of adjournment (June 21), the pace of activity in Augusta is at an all-time high. Public hearings are still being scheduled with very short notice on newly introduced bills and the race is on to beat the clock.
Committees have been told that they must vote on or carry over all bills by this Friday, May 26th, to move things to the floor of the House and Senate or deal with things in 2024. While the game of committee work always drags on beyond deadlines set by leadership, we will see the joint bodies (Senate and House) start to meet more than two days a week starting after Memorial Day. However, it is not expected that Committees will complete all of their work or carry over bills to next year this week, so stay tuned for more late session bill fun after this week.
As predicted, LD 1964, An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program, sponsored by Senator Maddie Daughtry (D-Brunswick), was finally introduced to the public this week. This dense, complicated and very expensive new bill has been scheduled for a public hearing this Thursday, May 25th at 1 pm in the Labor and Housing Committee.
The PLC will testify in strong opposition to this bill and we will ask all of our membership to do the same. Logging and trucking contractors simply cannot afford this new tax on their businesses, especially in light of the mandated earned paid leave bill passed in 2019 and the changes in workers comp. also enacted that same year. Enough is enough and we are asking all of our membership to testify to send a message to the liberal wing of the Democratic party that your businesses cannot afford any more increased costs or mandated social welfare. We will send out talking points and instructions to testify early in the week, but please do your best to plan on testifying by Zoom on Thursday. The Mills Administration has signaled their opposition to the bill, but the Democratic sponsors of the bill are pushing it anyway because of the threat of a referendum in 2024 by the Maine People’s Alliance to put this on the ballot for the Maine people to decide. We would rather take our chances with a referendum than have a gun pointed at our head at this point in time.
Last week, there were two bills up for public hearing on Monday, May 15th. LD 1849 An Act to Ensure Fair and Timely Payment in the Harvesting of Forest Products and LD 1874, An Act to Support Maine Loggers' and Truckers' Right to Work in Maine by Improving Labor Standards in the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. LD 1849 would mandate the Department of Ag., Conservation and Forestry to conduct random inspections to ensure service contractors are being paid timely and LD 1874 attempts to disallow the Bureau of Public Lands from holding land certification if the certification system doesn’t support labor standards.
The PLC testified in support of both bills and you can watch the public hearings here by fast-forwarding to 10:04 am. The one notable organization, in addition to the state that testified in opposition, has likely fabricated the truth regarding their affiliation to SFI in Maine and it will be interesting to see what Senator Jackson does with both bills, which are scheduled for work sessions on Wednesday, May 24th. Our testimony and a description of each bill is below.
1,993 of the expected 2,000 bills have now progressed on the path to legislation, transitioning from an LR# (Legislative Reference - bill request) to an LD# (Legislative Document - bill reviewed and approved by the Revisor's Office) and have been referred to committees of jurisdiction by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
I have updated our bill tracking spreadsheet so you can see the bills and the related language.
Last Week’s Legislative Activity May 15 – May 19, 2023
Public Hearing, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, LD 1849 An Act to Ensure Fair and Timely Payment in the Harvesting of Forest Products, This bill, sponsored by Senator Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry or a wood scaler under contract with the department to conduct random inspections to ensure that a contractor is paid within 15 days of weighing wood. The PLC testified in support that service contractors get compensated if harvested wood does not get transported within 15 days of being piled roadside.
Public Hearing, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, LD 1874, An Act to Support Maine Loggers' and Truckers' Right to Work in Maine by Improving Labor Standards, This bill provides that the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry may obtain certification from a forest certification program for state land only if the program requires labor standards for logging and trucking. The PLC submitted testimony in support of such a provision on state owned lands when those lands carry forest certification.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Work Session, Labor and Housing Committee, LD 1368, An Act to Ensure Fairness in Unemployment Benefits by Clarifying Laws Regarding Labor Organizations, This bill, sponsored by Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) establishes that a claimant for unemployment benefits who is a member of a bona fide labor union is considered to meet the requirement to actively seek work to maintain eligibility for unemployment benefits if that claimant uses and complies with the placement services of the union hiring hall in seeking employment. It also adds consideration of whether fringe benefits are substantially less favorable than those prevailing for similar work in the locality in determining whether work is suitable for purposes of the unemployment insurance program. Finally, it provides that work is unsuitable for a claimant if acceptance of that work would prevent that claimant from maintaining membership in a bona fide labor organization. The PLC did not testify on the bill but monitored it to see where the discussion would go. The Committee voted OTP/ONTP on straight party lines.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Work Session, Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, LD 1606, An Act to Finance Clean Energy and Infrastructure in Maine, This bill, sponsored by Senator Daughtry (D-Brunswick) directs the Maine Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to establish a dedicated grant program to finance energy audits and feasibility studies for renewable energy or energy efficiency retrofit projects in public elementary and secondary schools. It also directs the Efficiency Maine Trust to establish a pilot project to provide bridge funding for up to 2 years, in the form of zero-interest loans, for public elementary and secondary schools to finance the upfront costs of distributed generation solar or energy efficiency retrofit projects. The PLC testified in conditional support of the bill, but requested that it be amended to allow biomass projects to be eligible for funding in the two year bridge funding program for schools. The EUT Committee tabled the bill and did not act on it.
Public Hearing and Work Session, Taxation Committee, LD 1338, An Act to Amend the Maine Exclusion Amount in the Estate Tax, This bill, sponsored by Rep. Collings (D-Portland), is yet another attempt for the third session in a row, to return the exclusion amount, below which the Maine estate tax does not apply, to $2,000,000 from the $5,600,000 in current law for estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2024. The Treasurer of State must credit 100% of the revenues generated by the reduction in the exclusion amount to the Maine State Housing Authority to be used to support affordable housing. Twenty-five percent of the amount credited must be used to support affordable housing for veterans. The bill also creates an additional exclusion amount from the estate tax for family farms and aquaculture, fishing and wood harvesting businesses of up to $3,800,000. This additional exclusion applies to farmland or depreciable machinery and equipment used in agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or wood harvesting that is inherited by a family member and remains in commercial use for 5 years following transfer. The PLC testified in adamant opposition to the bill. The Committee voted ONTP/OTP with one Democrat, Rep. Joe Perry (D-Bangor) voting with all Republicans in opposition to the bill. While this bill will get reported out of Committee with a majority in opposition, it is likely to move the floor and Democrats will work to enact it. The Mills Administration is in opposition to this legislation .
Public Hearing, Taxation Committee, LD 1648, An Act to Make Changes to the Farm and Open Space Tax Law, This bill, sponsored by Rep. Boyle (D-Gorham) establishes a new method for the valuation of land under the farm and open space tax law. It extends eligibility for a reduced valuation to land managed under a carbon conservation management plan, which is a written agreement between the landowner and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that describes strategies to be used on a parcel of land at least 10 acres in size to increase carbon storage or improve carbon conservation. It removes the requirement that wildlife habitat land meet specific criteria to be eligible for a reduced valuation, such as being designated by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as supporting important wildlife habitat or identified by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry as supporting a natural vegetation community. Instead, such land is eligible for a reduced valuation if the landowner establishes and complies with a written management agreement between the landowner and either the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife or the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to ensure that the habitat benefits provided by the land are not lost. This bill establishes specific criteria for management plans, including requiring them to contain specific strategies for compliance, be sworn to and complied with by the landowner and renewed at least once every 10 years. This bill requires the State Tax Assessor to reimburse municipalities for revenue lost as a result of being enrolled under the farm and open space tax law in a manner similar to the method of reimbursement under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law. This bill also removes the provision limiting to no more than 15,000 acres the amount of land that may be enrolled by a landowner under the farm and open space tax law. The PLC testified in qualified support but insisted that changes are made to encourage forest management on open space to encourage the growth and harvest of more wood
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Public Hearing, Taxation Committee, LD 1894, An Act to Establish a Home Heating Tax Exclusion, This bill allows an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for costs incurred by the taxpayer for electricity, oil, wood or other fuel used to heat the taxpayer's primary residence located in this State. The PLC testified in support of this bill.
Work Session, Transportation Committee, LD 607, Resolve, To Direct The Department Of Transportation To Examine The Feasibility Of Extending Interstate 95 To The St. John Valley. Sponsored by Representative Robert Albert, LD 607 would direct the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of extending Interstate 95 to the St. John Valley and make a report of its findings to the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation no later than December 6, 2023. The PLC testified in support of this legislation. The Committee voted Ought to Pass and Maine DOT will continue investigating this option.
Next Week’s Legislative Activity May 22 – May 26, 2023
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Work Session, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 9 am LD 1849 An Act to Ensure Fair and Timely Payment in the Harvesting of Forest Products,
Work Session, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, 9 am LD 1874, An Act to Support Maine Loggers' and Truckers' Right to Work in Maine by Improving Labor Standards,
Work Session, Taxation Committee, 1 pm, LD 1894, An Act to Establish a Home Heating Tax Exclusion.
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Public Hearing, Labor and Housing Committee, 1 pm, LD 1964, An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program, sponsored by Senator Maddie Daughtry (D-Brunswick), this bill implements a paid family and medical leave benefits program based on the recommendations of the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program established by the 130th Legislature. The program provides up to 12 weeks of family leave and up to 12 weeks of medical leave to eligible covered individuals. No more than 16 weeks of family leave and medical leave in the aggregate may be taken in a 12-month period. An individual is eligible for leave under the program after earning at least 6 times the state average weekly wage in the preceding 4 calendar quarters prior to submitting an application or if the individual is self-employed and has elected to be part of the program. The maximum weekly benefit amount is capped at 120% of the state average weekly wage. The weekly benefit amount is 90% of the covered individual's average weekly wage.The bill establishes the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund to support the program. The funds for administrative costs and payment of benefits come from payroll contributions of no more than 1% of wages shared by employers and employees, except that employers with fewer than 15 employees are not required to make employer contributions to the program. The bill also authorizes employers to provide these benefits through a private plan as long as the benefits for family and medical leave provided to their employees are the same as provided in the program. The PLC will testify in adamant opposition.
Contact Your Representative or Senator
Don’t know who your Representative or Senator is? A complete roster, sortable by town, is available here: House Members Senators
In your message, clearly state the bill(s) you support and why each one is important to Loggers in Maine. Introduce yourself and/or company.
- Identify the town you live in or where your business is located. If you work in multiple towns, please identify those towns (we need to show that harvesting occurs across the state);
- # employees (gross pay roll figure would be good);
- # of subcontractors your business supports (e.g. how much you spend for repairs, fuel, how many logging crews you keep busy, etc.),
- Volume of wood you move annually;
Conclude your message by thanking the Representatives for their service to the state and asking them to support these bills.
Have a great weekend and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dana