In a surprise move this Monday afternoon, a majority of the Labor Committee voted OUGHT NOT TO PASS on LD 1665. There was no discussion of last week’s Mitchell amendment, presented to the committee on March 18.

As you may know the Portland Press Herald and its Augusta/Waterville sister publications editorialized against the bill.

www.kjonline.com/opinion/editorials/OUR-OPINION-Sick-time-bill-best-addressed-in-Congress.html

More news and information will be forthcoming.

Labor Committee vote tally:

Ought to Pass as Amended (March 18 amendment)
Rep. Blodgett
Rep. Gilbert

Ought Not to Pass
Sen. Jackson
Sen. Gerzofsky
Sen. Mills
Rep. Tuttle
Rep. Clark
Rep. Driscoll
Rep. Cushing
Rep. Hamper
Rep. Thibodeau
Rep. Bickford

Not (Yet?) Voting
Rep. Butterfield

Senate President Mitchell would require “large” businesses in Maine to provide up to 52 hours paid family sick leave a year, and half that amount for smaller firms. The bill’s expressed purpose is to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, but the leave could be taken for numerous health and domestic violence-related purposes. Maine would become the first state to mandate paid family medical leave.

Representative Walsh Innes of Yarmouth is a major piece of environmental legislation that expands the concept of establishing responsibility for end-of-life product recycling, an idea Maine has already applied to electronic products such as televisions and computers and is attempting to apply to the recovery of unused prescription drugs. This proposal would empower environmental officials to pursue any number of products sold in Maine.

This bill replaces LD 1088 and incorporates changes suggested by Governor Baldacci. This bill has been passed and was signed by the Governor.

Representative Tuttle of Sanford would increase the Maine Minimum wage to $8.90 an hour in two steps by October 1, 2011. Presently, the wage is scheduled to increase from $7.25 to $7.50 an hour on October 1, 2009. Under the new proposal, it would increase to $8.20 an hour in 2010 and to $8.90 in 2011. At that point it would be placed on “automatic pilot” to be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.