Good Morning from Augusta,
The saga continues and the end is near but not in sight.
Unfortunately, the Legislature has still not left town yet and it looks like it’s going to be a few more weeks until they are gone for good. This past week, the House met on Monday, June 26th and the Senate met on Tuesday, June 27th to continue their push to the end. While they resolved a few notable pieces of the puzzle, more time is still needed (more on that later).
A complete update on the status of all of the bills the PLC is still following is below, but here is a summary of this last week’s activity as it pertains to issues the PLC is still involved with as well as an update on what will take place in the future.
First, the good news.
On Wednesday, we learned that the Governor signed into law, LD 1408, An Act to Reduce Maine's Dependence on Fossil Fuels and Carbon Footprint for Energy Production Using Waste Wood Fuel (PLC Supported). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Theriault (R-Fort Kent), will help expand markets for biomass with an expansion of combined heat and power plants in the state. More on this bill and what it will do is below, but we are very excited to get this across the finish line and thank Representative Theriault immensely for his hard work and dedication to this legislation.
Also in the good news category, on Thursday, we learned that LD 1849 An Act to Ensure Fair and Timely Payment in the Harvesting of Forest Products (PLC Supported) became law without the Governor’s signature and will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. The amended bill requires an entity that contracts with a company to harvest wood and place the wood roadside must pay the contractor within 30 days of fulfilling the contract and placing the wood roadside. The amendment also requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry or a wood scaler under contract with the department to conduct random inspections to ensure that entities are complying with this requirement. This law is not retroactive but does impact all service contract work after the law goes into effect.
Now, the bad news.
In the House this past Monday, the Paid Family Medical Leave Act (LD 1964), which the PLC has been lobbying against for weeks, was enacted in a straight party line voted of 74-52. On Tuesday, this bill then moved to the Senate, where it was placed on the Special Appropriations Table for deliberations on funding before a final vote of enactment could be taken.
Late on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations met and came to a deal on a Supplemental Budget with a bi-partisan vote of 12-1. Unfortunately, we learned that included in the Supplemental Budget is $25 million to fund administrative startup costs for LD 1964, the Paid Family Medical Leave Act. This was the first notable sign that this bill was going to move forward and get funded. On Thursday, the Governor issued an Op Ed in the Portland Press Herald, which signaled once and for all her support for the bill. As a result of the Governor’s announcement and the vote of the Appropriations Committee, it appears that the biggest social welfare program in the state’s history will become the law of the land when the bodies meet again and vote on a Supplemental Budget. If there is 2/3rd’s support for the budget, Paid Family Medical Leave will become law immediately and the process to create this new program will begin. A new payroll tax to fund the program will begin being collected from businesses in 2026.
As a result of a deal being struck on the budget, it appears that the House and Senate will return to Augusta on Thursday, July 6th to take votes on the budget, enact further outstanding legislation that is still in their possession, carry over bills to 2024 and deal with vetoes from the Governor that were issued in the last week (offshore wind and tribes). It is doubtful that they will complete their work in one day so it is likely they will finish on Friday, July 7th. The fun doesn’t end there though as they will undoubtedly need one more day in Augusta later in the month to deal with any vetoes that are issued by the Governor because of their work at the end of next week.
Things are close to wrapping up here in Augusta, but the fat lady hasn’t sung yet.
I have updated our bill tracking spreadsheet so you can see where all the bills we followed this session stand at this time and a full update on the 11 remaining bills that the PLC is following is below.
Bills the PLC is Following on the House and Senate Floor
PLC Opposed
LD 827, An Act to Allow Employees to Request Flexible Work Schedules (PLC opposed) Enacted in the House and sent by the Senate to the Special Appropriations Table for final deliberation over funding. The amended bill, does the following: 1. It combines the definitions of "private employer" and "public employer." 2. It allows an employee to request in writing, including by electronic means, a flexible work schedule. 3. It requires an employer to consider an employee's request for a flexible work schedule and whether the request can be granted in a manner that is not inconsistent with employer operations. It defines "inconsistent with employer operations." 4. It specifies that an employer and an employee must mutually agree on the duration of time and terms of a flexible work schedule. 5. It allows an employer to rescind a flexible work schedule with as much notice to an employee as is practicable. 6. It prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for exercising rights given under the subchapter enacted by the bill. 7. It specifies that a collective bargaining agreement may provide an employee with rights more expansive than rights established by the subchapter enacted by the bill.
LD 949, An Act to Protect Employees from Employer Surveillance (PLC Opposed) Enacted in the House and sent by the Senate to the Special Appropriations Table for final deliberation over funding. The amended bill specifies that an employer may use employer surveillance if the employer informs the employee before beginning employer surveillance. It prohibits an employer from using audiovisual monitoring in an employee's residence or personal vehicle or on the employee's property and provides that an employee can decline a request by an employer to install data collection or transmission applications on the employee's personal electronic devices for the purposes of employer surveillance. It also requires that an employer notify a prospective employee during the interview process that the employer engages in employer surveillance. It adds rule-making authority for the Department of Labor.
LD 993, An Act to Facilitate Stakeholder Input Regarding Forest Policy in Maine(PLC Opposed) Enacted in the House and sent by the Senate to the Special Appropriations Table for final deliberation over funding. The amended bill, which is the majority report, reduces the number of members on the Maine Forest Advisory Board from 21 to 10 and requires the Governor to appoint all members of the board. The amendment also requires that at least one member of the board be a professional forester. The amendment revises the duties of the board to advise and assist the Bureau of Forestry within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry in the development and implementation of the state forest action plan required under the federal Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The amendment also requires the director of the bureau to submit to the Governor and the Legislature a decennial report on the implementation of the state forest action plan, beginning January 1, 2025. This amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section.
LD 1190, An Act to Ensure a Fair Workweek by Requiring Notice of Work Schedules (PLC Opposed) Enacted in the House and sent by the Senate to the Special Appropriations Table for final deliberation over funding. This bill, sponsored by Senator Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), states that any employer with more than 10 employees would have to pay their employees for a minimum of two hours if they have to cancel a shift under any circumstance. The bill also includes penalties if employers don’t comply with certain provisions.
LD 1338, An Act to Amend the Maine Exclusion Amount in the Estate Tax (PLC Opposed) Voted ONTP in the House by a margin of 95-45 and was killed in the Senate (Dead).
LD 1964, An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program, (Opposed by PLC) Included in the supplemental budget that was approved by the Appropriations Committee and will be enacted later this week. The Governor has signaled her support. Sponsored by Senator Maddie Daughtry (D-Brunswick), the amended 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 and medical leave to eligible covered individuals. An individual is eligible for leave under the program after working 120 days for a company prior to submitting an application or if the individual is self-employed and has elected to be part of the program. 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 testified in adamant opposition along with PLC Board Member, Steve Hanington, Hanington Bros.
PLC Supported
LD 1303, An Act to Exempt Boats and All-terrain Vehicles Purchased for Qualified Commercial Fishing or Commercial Farming from State Sales Tax (PLC Supported) Enacted in the House and sent by the Senate to the Special Appropriations Table for final deliberation over funding. This bill exempts from sales tax sales of all-terrain vehicles used directly and exclusively in commercial fishing, commercial agricultural production or commercial timber harvesting to a qualified purchaser. The bill defines "qualified purchaser" to mean a purchaser who, pursuant to the law governing the refund of sales tax on depreciable machinery and equipment purchases, has obtained a certificate from the State Tax Assessor stating that the purchaser is engaged in commercial fishing, commercial agricultural production and/or commercial timber harvesting.
LD 1408, An Act to Reduce Maine's Dependence on Fossil Fuels and Carbon Footprint for Energy Production Using Waste Wood Fuel (PLC Supported) Signed into law by the Governor on June 28th. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Theriault (R-Fort Kent), will:
Expand the definition of net generating capacity to ensure it is clear that capacity sent to adjacent facilities behind the meter should not be considered electric output to the T & D system;
Expand the size of net generating capacity for a single participant from 10 MW to 15 MW. This would also make project size consistent with a requested change to the federal Community Wood Energy Program, authorized by Congress, which has currently been included in the Farm Bill reauthorization by Senator Collins;
Expand the total net generating capacity of all program participants combined from 20 MW to 30 MW to allow for more projects to bid in;
Expand the definition of projects that are eligible to negotiate a long term contract with an investor owned facility. This would allow projects that might be built in a consumer owned territory that is adjacent to an investor-owned utility to sell energy directly to the adjacent investor owned utility;
LD 1455, An Act to Establish the Weighing Point Preclearance Program (PLC Supported) Enacted in the House and Senate and sent to the Governor for signature. This bill establishes the Weighing Point Preclearance Program, which is operated by the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police and which uses an electronic system that verifies a commercial motor vehicle's size, weight, registration and safety records as the commercial motor vehicle drives on a highway and allows compliant commercial motor vehicles to bypass weighing points. The bill also provides that if the Department of Transportation administers a separate program that uses a preclearance system, the department must determine which weighing points must participate in that program, and all preclearance system providers' devices and platforms must be treated equally and used concurrently at participating weighing points.
LD 1849 An Act to Ensure Fair and Timely Payment in the Harvesting of Forest Products (PLC Supported) Became law without the Governor’s signature on Thursday, June 29, 2023. The amended bill requires an entity that contracts with a person to harvest wood and place the wood roadside so that the entity is able to have the wood hauled away for use or processing to pay the person within 30 days of the person's fulfilling the contract and placing the wood roadside. The amendment also requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry or a wood scaler under contract with the department to conduct random inspections to ensure that entities are complying with this requirement.
LD 1874, An Act to Support Maine Loggers' and Truckers' Right to Work in Maine by Improving Labor Standards (PLC Supported) Enacted in the House and Senate and on the Governor’s desk. The Governor has until Saturday, July 1st to sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without her signature or veto the bill. 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.
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