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Good morning from Augusta,
Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend our Annual Legislative Breakfast in Augusta on Thursday. We had a wonderful turnout, and it was great to see everyone engaged in our political agenda for the 132nd Legislative Session. Our membership was well represented by the large group of contractors in attendance. It is always inspiring to see how much all of you care about the industry and your dedication to this profession is what keeps me motivated to continue to fight for your best interests in the legislature. The majority of the Legislature has no idea how complex your businesses are and having so many in attendance is critical to getting positive legislation passed. Thank you!
Thursday was an extremely busy day. Not only did we have the PLC Legislative Breakfast, but two of our priority bills (LD 417 and LD 195) were scheduled for work sessions. LD 417, An Act Regarding the Confidentiality of Certain Records Belonging to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Related to the Bureau of Forestry, would ensure records acquired by the Maine Forest Service (MFS) during an investigation or from service to the public will remain confidential. Unfortunately, this bill did not go as well as we had hoped. Even though members of the committee agree that the MFS has shared contractor information with outside groups, they refused to stand up to the administration to make a substantive change in law to protect your business’ rights. The vote as of yesterday was 7-1 in opposition to the bill. The minority report will include our common-sense amendment limiting the policy to only logging and trucking contractors. There could be a chance that the bill has some life on the floor of the House, but most likely it will be dead on arrival when it gets to the House.
You can find the video to the LD 417 work session here. The work session starts at the 2:59pm mark of the video.
Also scheduled for a work session on Thursday was, LD 195, An Act to Create the Small Business Capital Savings Account Program. This bill creates a pilot program for businesses in the farming, fishing, and forestry industries to set aside revenue tax-free, up to $250,000 at one time in a savings account to be used in the future for capital expenditures. By creating these accounts, your business can save and later re-invest without paying state income taxes and not be forced to spend that money all in the same tax year. The PLC testimony can be found here.
LD 195 received a lot of positive support from the Housing and Economic Development Committee. The committee members were all in agreement and voted unanimously to send the bill to the Taxation Committee for review. This bill will be vetted by the Taxation Committee regarding its functionality and to work out any discrepancies before sending it back to the Housing and Economic Development Committee for a final vote. We will continue to work with Senator Stewart and members of both policy committees to garner support for this important legislation.
You can find the video of the LD 195 work session here. The work session starts at the 5:53pm mark of the video.
You can also follow along this session with our most recent bill tracker that can be found here.
Again, I want to thank all of you for your continued support of the work we do here at the PLC and if there are issues affecting your businesses, big or small, we want to hear about them.
Best Regards,
Dana
If you are interested in testifying on any piece of legislation no matter the subject, please reach out to Ben Grant and he would be happy to assist you. He can be reached on his cell at 207-598-6223 or his email at ben@plcloggers.org. Senators and Representatives like to hear from the people in their districts as it helps provide knowledge to shape policy decisions.
Last Week’s Legislative Activity – March 3 – March 7, 2025
Tuesday, March 4
LD 54, “An Act to Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges and Maintain Records of Employees' Pay Histories”, (Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) Work Session, Labor Committee. (Oppose)
This bill requires an employer with 10 or more employees to include on a job posting a statement that lists the prospective range of pay the employer will offer to a successful applicant. The bill also requires an employer, upon request of an employee, to disclose the range of pay it offers for the position the employee holds and requires the employer to maintain a record of each position held by an employee and the employee's pay history during the employee's employment and for 3 years after the employee's termination of employment.
The PLC testified in opposition to LD 54.
This bill was voted on in the Labor Committee along party lines. The majority report was Ought To Pass as Amended with very minor changes made to the bill. The minority report was Ought Not to Pass.
LD 60, “An Act to Allow Employees to Request Flexible Work Schedules”, (Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) Work Session, Labor Committee. (Oppose)
This bill does the following:
- It allows an employee to request in writing, including by electronic means, a flexible work schedule.
- It requires an employer, which may be a private employer or public employer, to consider an employee's request for a flexible work schedule and whether the request may be granted in a manner that is not inconsistent with employer operations.
- It specifies that an employer and an employee must mutually agree on the duration of time and terms of a flexible work schedule.
- It allows an employer to rescind a flexible work schedule with as much notice to an employee as is practicable.
- It prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for exercising rights given by the bill.
- It specifies that a collective bargaining agreement may provide an employee with rights more expansive than rights established by the bill.
The PLC testified in opposition to LD 60. This is an unnecessary piece of legislation as there is nothing in the bill that cannot already done. It is just increasing administrative work for a small business.
LD 60 was voted on in the Labor Committee along party lines. The majority report was Ought To Pass as Amended with very minor changes made to the bill. The minority report was Ought Not to Pass.
LD 61, “An Act to Regulate Employer Surveillance to Protect Workers”, (Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) Work Session, Labor Committee. (Oppose)
This bill specifies that an employer may use employer surveillance only 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 requires that an employer notify a prospective employee during the interview process that the employer engages in employer surveillance. It gives rule-making authority to the Department of Labor. It also creates a private right of action for persons aggrieved by a violation by an employer.
The PLC Testified in Opposition to LD 61. The sponsor’s intention is to have this only apply to personal devices, but the language remained unclear. We are advocating that the telematics, gps, and audio/visual surveillance for safety purposes be explicitly excluded.
LD 61 was voted on in the Labor Committee along party lines. Suggestions we made during the public hearing were not taken into consideration, even though the committee analyst agreed with us and stated the language was confusing and could be interpreted differently. The majority report was Ought To Pass as Amended with very minor changes made to the bill. The minority report was Ought Not to Pass.
Thursday, March 6th
LD 417, “An Act Regarding the Confidentiality of Certain Records Belonging to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Related to the Bureau of Forestry”, (Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan) Work Session – Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee. (Support)
More information on this bill above.
LD 195, “An Act to Create the Small Business Capital Savings Account Program”,(Sen. Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) Work Session, Housing and Economic Development. (Support)
More information on this bill is above.
Next Week’s Legislative Activity – March 10 – March 14, 2025
Wednesday, March 12th
LD 799, “An Act to Report Gender Wage Gaps”, (Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) Public Hearing - Labor Committee. (Monitor)
This bill requires employers with at least one employee within the State and at least 250 employees in the United States to annually report for a one-week period between October 1st and December 31st of the preceding year the number of male, female and nonbinary employees in the employer's employ, the median hourly equivalent rates of pay of all male, female and nonbinary employees in the employer's employ and the gender wage gap calculated by dividing the median hourly equivalent rate of pay of all the male employees by the median hourly equivalent rate of pay of all the female employees.
We are waiting for clarification on the language to determine whether the bill would apply to small businesses in Maine. The PLC will be in opposition if applicable to Maine businesses with one or more employees.
Thursday, March 13th
LD 750, “Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 27: Standards for Timber Harvesting and Timber Harvesting Related Activities Within Unorganized and Deorganized Areas of the State, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry”, (Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren)) Public Hearing – ACF Committee (Support)
This resolve provides for legislative review of portions of Chapter 27: Standards for Timber Harvesting and Timber Harvesting Related Activities Within Unorganized and Deorganized Areas of the State, a major substantive rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry.