During the second session we on the Joint Committee on Labor had a fairly small agenda but, it contained some very large issues.
There were several matters to make technical changes to issues relating to the retirement system and unemployment as it related to federal legislation. We also saw proposals to change the minimum wage, more enforcement authority for the workers comp commission, changes to how unemployment is paid in relationship to use of vacation time and issues relating to bonded laborers in the forest industry.
Early in the sessio nwe were informed of a problem relating to legislation we approved at the end of last year LD 1468 was a clearer definition of independent contractors. The result was a new form for pre-determination which required far more data, including 3 years of tax returns and a filing on a per job basis as opposed to the prior process which allowed for annual pre-determinations. This caused much consternation and confusion in the construction industry as many saw this as a added burden which did little to improve the process. After much deliberation and several meetings with stakeholder groups a good resolution was found and a committee bill was drafted to correct the problem.
The most visible issue was the discussion of Senate president Elizabeth Mitchell’s bill LD 1665 titles an Act to Prevent the Spread of the H1N1 Virus" which was commonly referred to as "paid sick leave". It generated the largest turnout for a public hearing with many business and industry representatives in attendance. The sponsors and the national group heading the effort lobbied aggressively but failed to bringing compelling evidence of real problems here in Maine. Unfortunately they chose to try and push their way through with a twice amended bill while not reasonably engaging in discussions with the Maine business community. The result was a decision by the Labor Committee to vote it out with a majority report of "Ought Not to Pass". This sent a strong message to the full Legislature that the bill had limited merit in its present form. To me this showed an example of how the business community can effectively express themselves on issues of concern and how the process will work well in limiting legislation that does not respect our state. I feel many efforts like this to use Maine as a platform for social experiments in launching "first in the nation" landmark bills only works when there is a true and broad problem affecting Maine people.
Overall this session’s Labor Committee continued in its efforts to hear legislation and come to a decision in a thoughtful and respectful manner. My thanks to my colleagues on the committee and my compliments to the chairs for the manner in which they conducted themselves. I want to give special thanks Rep Tuttle for his willingness to take some positions which were difficult but appropriate during these challenging times.