State House Items

Notable Legislation

Printing of new legislation has dwindled to a trickle as legislators scramble to get committee work done and turn full attention to action on the Senate and House floors.

• Enact the Maine Online Data Privacy Act (LD 1822)
• Create a Tax Incentive Pilot Project to Encourage Businesses to Adopt a 4-day Workweek (LD 1865)
• Lower Property Taxes by Allowing a Local Option Sales Tax on Recreational Cannabis Sales (LD 1869)
• Establish a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program to Impose Penalties on Climate Polluters (LD 1870)
• Enact the All Maine Health Act (LD 1883)
• Promote Responsible Outdoor Lighting (LD 1934)

https://legislature.maine.gov

Committee Majority Rejects Pro-Employer PFML Changes

A majority of Labor Committee members voted last week to support only two bills to amend Maine’s controversial new Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) law that began collecting taxes in January and will begin paying benefits to qualifying workers in May 2026.

• LD 894, which makes technical changes requested by the Department of Labor.
• LD 1221, which proposes amending the Maine Constitution to prohibit PFML funds being used for any other purpose.

Several bills were unanimously opposed by committee members (LD 539, LD 575, LD 1249).

The committee’s partisan majority voted against other PFML bills.

Business interests received minority support for a slate of 10 improvements:

• Clarify “undue hardship” protection for employers
• Standardize application timeline
• Clarify employee contribution responsibility
• Align paid leave tax treatment with unemployment benefits
• Establish 120-day attachment to employer before taking leave
• Align private and public sector collective bargaining agreements
• Clarify that state leave is concurrent with federal leave
• Grant the Department of Labor discretionary penalty authority
• Modify return to work requirements
• Cap costs of private plan applications, set time limitations for application determinations, and make refunds for approved private plans

The slate of changes sought by business were proposed as an amendment to LD 894, LD 1333, and LD 1712.

Any changes favorable to employers will face strong opposition from worker advocacy groups as well as the Department of Labor (testified against all PFML bills except LD 894).  Senate President Mattie Daughtry, who with Rep. Kristen Cloutier pushed the paid leave law through the legislature in 2023, testified in strong opposition to all bills except LD 894.

Business interests hope the bipartisan support of LD 1712 (by Rep. Tiffany Roberts) shows that a majority of legislators are willing to make sensible changes in the hugely impactful paid family leave law that as currently written, provides very little protection for employers from disruptions and costs of employees being absent for up to 12 weeks (60 working days taken incrementally).  Worker advocates made clear they don’t even want very small employers to have “undue hardship” protection, at least not without the employer’s hardship judgement being second-guessed by the Department of labor.

Please contact David Clough (david.clough@nfib.org), NFIB state director in Maine, for more information on what you can do to help get pro-employer ideas supported by legislators.