03-06-2025
Proposed constitutional amendment to protect paid leave fund one step closer to ballot
Supporters of paid family and medical leave policy rallied on the steps of the Maine State House in June 2023. One month later the policy became law. (Courtesy of Maine Women's Lobby)
The entire Maine Legislature is so far taking the recommendations of the Labor Committee to reject significant changes to the state's paid family and medical leave program.
On Monday, the Senate voted 20-14 to back a proposal (LD 894) to tweak the program, but rejected other bills by the same margin, including one to exempt agricultural employees from the program and another to suspend remittance for companies that plan to use private plans. That bill now advances to the House of Representatives.
Both chambers also followed the lead of the committee by backing a proposal for a constitutional amendment prohibiting the Legislature from using the program funds for any other purpose.
Though LD 1221 was passed under the hammer by the House and Senate, it will require a two-thirds vote from each chamber for the next round of enactment votes. If secured, it would then be sent to the voters to ultimately decide on the November 2025 ballot.
LD 894, which was also endorsed by the committee, proposes a series of amendments to the current law to create certain enforcement mechanisms and penalties, as well as clarify intermittent leave. Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) introduced the bill on behalf of the Labor Department to make specific refinements to the policy that were noticed during the rulemaking process.
'This is a bill that does the quiet, but essential work of ensuring that Maine's paid family and medical leave program is implemented successfully,' said Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) on the Senate floor.
Though it isn't expected to be available until May 2026, the paid family and medical leave program will allow eligible public and private sector workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for reasons such as illness, to care for a loved one or the birth of a new child.
Tipping said LD 894 is the only bill that 'strengthens the program without destabilizing it.'
Sen. Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec) urged his colleagues to support a different version of the bill that he argued would help small businesses. While Sen. Cameron Reny (D-Lincoln) said while some of those suggestions are reasonable, they seem too substantial to make for a program that hasn't been fully implemented yet.
'Making major structural changes at this stage before a single benefit has been paid and without knowing what's working or not working, it's like you're trying to redesign a plane while we're on the runway,' Reny said.
Across the State House, lawmakers rejected bills to repeal the program (LD 406), make it voluntary (LD 1273) and make a series of other structural changes (LD 1333 and LD 1712).
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