Good Morning from Augusta,
The legislature was in session on Tuesday and Thursday again this week with another light workload. The bulk of the work remains with committees who are concentrating on finishing up their work as soon as possible. This week, the PLC followed six different bills in four different policy committees, so there was plenty of diversity to keep us involved.
The Labor Committee started the process of dealing with a carry over bill from last year that could have an impact upon the membership. LD 513, “An Act Regarding Overtime Protections for Certain Maine Workers”, had an initial work session on Tuesday, January 23rd. Senator Tipping, the sponsor, brought forward a new amendment that would change the original bill language. It adds, “an employee that works in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity must earn $55,086 in salary, beginning January 1, 2025, to be exempt from the laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay. The bill was tabled and is awaiting more information from outside parties. It will be scheduled for work session again within the next couple of weeks. This bill will make Maine an outlier, by increasing this threshold to being one of, if not the highest in the country.
Next week, there are only a couple meetings on the schedule, but that will be subject to change as committees can make adjustments to work sessions at a moments notice.
The bills the PLC are following are highlighted below and you can always find more information from our bill tracking spreadsheet here.
Last Week’s Legislative Activity January 22-26, 2024
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
LD 1648, "An Act to Make Changes to the Farm and Open Space Tax Law", Work Session – Taxation Committee
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. Last year PLC testified in qualified support but insisted that changes be made to encourage forest management on open space to encourage the growth and harvest of more wood, not less, and not make land a haven for carbon management (no harvest).
An update was given at the work session on Tuesday by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the primary supporter of the bill. TNC updated the committee on a working group the PLC is part of that has been working on a revised version of the bill. The bill was tabled by the Committee to a future date.
L.D. 401, “An Act to Improve Transportation in Maine”, Public Hearing – Transportation Committee
This bill is a concept draft carried over from last session. A public hearing was held on LD 401 and the sponsor (Senator Chipman) shared no information about the bill prior to the hearing, therefore the PLC had nothing to review in advance. Senator Chipman brought forward a bill that had been worked on multiple times over the last few years. The bill would remove the requirement to inspect new vehicles for the first 2 years of use and increase the fee to $25. This bill is unlikely to receive support from the Committee and will likely die.
L.D. 402, “An Act to Change Maine's Transportation Laws”, Public Hearing – Transportation Committee
This bill is a concept draft carried over from last session. A public hearing was held on LD 402 and the sponsor (Senator Chipman) shared no information about the bill prior to the hearing. The concept bill will deal with an issue regarding passenger rail and will not be supported by the Committee.
LD 513, “An Act Regarding Overtime Protections for Certain Maine Workers”, Work Session – Labor and Housing Committee
The bill, sponsored by Senator Mike Tipping (D-Bangor) annually raises the minimum salary that an employee who works in an executive, administrative or professional capacity must earn in order for that employee to be exempt from the laws governing the minimum wage and overtime pay until it is, when converted to an annual rate, greater than 4,500 times the State's minimum hourly wage on January 1, 2026. It provides that the overtime pay requirement applicable to employees of nonprofit corporations may be met through compensatory time agreements. It directs the Department of Labor to adopt routine technical rules, including rules regarding compensatory time for employees of nonprofit corporations. The PLC testified in opposition to this bill.
LD 513 had an initial work session on Tuesday, January 23rd and Senator Tipping brought forward an amendment that would do the following, “an employee that works in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity must earn $55,086 beginning January 1, 2025, to be exempt from the laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay. Includes and annual adjustment starting January 2026 based on the percentage of annual increase in certain earnings published by the US DOL”. The bill was tabled due to the need for more information from outside parties. It will be scheduled again within the next couple of weeks.
LD 1487, “An Act to Ensure That Residents of the State Have the Right to Repair Their Own Electronic Devices”, Work Session - Innovation, Development and Economic Advancement Committee.
The PLC testified Neither for Nor Against this bill in 2023 and is monitoring it. The membership feels strongly that information must be provided by the OEM’s but it should not be provided for free.
A work session was held on Friday, January 26, 2024. The committee will need more time to work this bill. They are planning on concentrating more on personal devices such as cell phones, tablets, computers, etc. We will continue to monitor this bill until it no longer includes off-road equipment.
LD 1815, “An Act to Protect Maine's Consumers by Establishing an Abuse of Dominance Right of Action and Requiring Notification of Mergers”, Work Session - Innovation, Development and Economic Advancement Committee
A public hearing was held on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 1pm in the Innovation, Development and Economic Advancement Committee. The PLC testified in opposition to this legislation.
LD 1815 was tabled in committee.
LD 1896, “An Act to Index Workers' Compensation Benefits to the Rate of Inflation”, Work Session – Labor and Housing Committee
This bill requires benefits awarded under the Maine Workers' Compensation Act of 1992 to be annually increased to account for inflation by the amount of increase in the Consumer Price Index compiled by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The committee voted 5-4 in favor of moving the bill to a study. The amendment turned the bill into a resolve to identify and analyze benefits provided to individual claimants and any other relevant data and reports available in order to make recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and Housing. The report would be due back to the committee no later than February 2025.
Next Week’s Legislative Activity January 29 – February 2, 2024
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
LD 499, “An Act to Change Maine's Tax Laws”, Public Hearing – Taxation Committee at 1pm
This bill is a concept draft carried over from last session. PLC staff has reached out to the sponsor (Senator Chipman) regarding language for the bill, but he didn’t have any prepared. We will continue to monitor the legislation through the committee process.
LD 1606, “An Act to Finance Clean Energy and Infrastructure in Maine”
Work Session - Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee at 1:30pm
The PLC testified in support of this bill in 2023 and has actively engaged the sponsor to amend it and include ALL renewable energy options into the bill, which would ensure consideration of wood energy sources. The sponsor provided us with the amendment and has changed it to a resolve that should not have a concern to the logging industry.
Rule Making and Regulatory Issues
Maine Department of Labor: Paid Family and Medical Leave Listening Sessions
The Maine Department of Labor held its first informal listening session on Thursday, January 26, 2024, providing an opportunity for interested parties to share feedback about components of the new Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation. Each of the four scheduled listening sessions will cover a different scope within the program, and Thursday it was “Contributions”. Around 20 – 25 members of the public and representatives of the industry voiced their opinions on the proposed law.
The meeting was moderated by Reggie Parson, Deputy Director for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program and Dillon Murray, Legislative Liaison to the Department of Labor, with Luke Monahan, Director for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, in attendance. Reggie gave a very brief overview of the contributions. Below is a screenshot of the one slide they showed at the beginning highlighting the main contributions that will have to be made to be in compliance with the new law:
There was an array of differing opinions that weighed in, including, the Maine Chamber of Commerce, Maine Women’s Lobby, Hospitality Maine, Maine Retailers, Maine People’s Alliance, and local elected officials. It was clear who was in opposition to the law and who was in favor just by the statements and questions being presented.
Those in opposition commented:
- Encouraging the Department to set the contribution rate and the employer/employee split in a timely manner.
- How will this new law mesh with current employer offered medical leave plans?
- Will the state complete an actuarial study to determine the real cost of the program? MN saw the cost of their program double over the cost of 4 years.
- There were concerns about the 1% payroll penalty regarding enforcement.
- What will staffing look like for the program to answer all the questions businesses will have.
Those in support:
- Wants to ensure all workers can participate
- Wants a public entity to implement the program
- Making sure contributions are paid in full by employers
- Encourage strong enforcement
- Increased transparency in the contribution process
There will be 3 more listening sessions over the next month, the links to the upcoming sessions are below:
- February 1, 2024 from 5:30pm-7pm: Register for the listening session
- February 12, 2024 from 5:30pm-7pm
- February 28, 2024 from 5:30pm-7pm
Have a great weekend, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dana