Workers’ Compensation is a lifeline designed to help protect injured workers from losing everything. During the legislative session, scores of injured workers shared their personal stories about terrible injuries at work, the difficulty of navigating the current Workers’ Comp system and fighting with insurance companies. LD 1913 will make life even more difficult for severely injured workers. This legislation drastically reduces the duration of disability benefits available to severely injured workers. It caps benefits for almost all injured workers at ten years, even if their injury results in permanent earnings loss or prevents them from returning to work. The bottom line: Almost all injured workers most deserving of long-term wage replacement protection will lose it under this bill. This is particularly galling given that Workers Comp premiums have dropped 56% since 1993 and more than 7% in 2011 alone. LD 1913 followed a long, contentious path to enactment. Following the wishes of the insurance industry, the bill was amended dramatically for the worse in committee at the eleventh hour. The Senate ultimately made changes to slightly mitigate the damage, but this bill remains very harmful for seriously injured workers.

LD 1207 was carried over from last session, when it lacked the support to pass. This bill repeals the right to form a union for workers at large scale, industrial egg processing factories, including the former DeCoster Egg Farms. These workers do some of the dirtiest, most dangerous work in our state and with the passage of LD 1207 they no longer have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions. As originally proposed, LD 1207 would have also stripped overtime and minimum wage for these workers. The amended version repealed collective bargaining rights only. This bill was passed in both chambers along party lines and signed into law by the Governor.

LD 1725 was another case of misplaced priorities. During the worst recession in 80 years, LD 1725 sought to weaken the unemployment insurance system and penalize laid-off workers. The ultimate fight on this bill was on unemployment insurance and vacation pay – namely whether a worker who has earned vacation pay on the books when they are laid-off should have their unemployment delayed week for week. We don’t think they should. Vacation pay is pay that workers earn before getting laid off. People have earned this and it should not delay their unemployment check. The original version of LD 1725 delayed unemployment week for week for any earned vacation time on the books. The final version that passed penalizes a laid-off worker for weeks of earned vacation pay over four weeks. For example, a worker who has six weeks of earned vacation at the time of layoff would have to wait two weeks longer than other workers to collect unemployment insurance. The bill also forces laid-off workers into lower paying jobs faster. Grassroots pressure from union members and allies limited the damage of this bill, held it up for weeks in the Senate and ultimately forced it to be amended.

A strong childcare system is essential to our children, working families and to Maine’s economy. In 2008, home-based child care providers sought a stronger voice to enhance the quality of the childcare system. They succeeded in passing legislation granting them the right to organize and to collectively bargain with the state over issues of critical importance to childcare providers including payment procedures, reimbursement rates, training needs & standards and more. They formed an association, Kids First, and successfully bargained with the state. LD 1894 repealed the collective bargaining rights of home-based childcare providers.

LD 849 has been referred to as another TABOR-like proposal - something Maine voters have rejected at the ballot three times in recent years. LD 849 ratchets down state revenues by implementing an auto-pilot system that reduces the top income tax rate to 4% over time, thus cutting the state’s income tax revenues in half over time. This would mean a huge loss in funding to our schools, bridges, roads, and towns. These tax cuts are essentially unfunded, leaving future Legislatures to figure out how to pay for them. Many of the costs will have to be shifted to be paid for and will result in higher property taxes. The proposal overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest 1% of Mainers. After initially failing in the House, an amended version of this bill was passed and signed by the Governor.

LD 1833 doubles the ratio of electricians helpers that may work under a journeyman or master electrician from one to two. The electrical industry is strictly regulated and the one to one ratio is common throughout our region for very good reason – electricity can be very dangerous when not properly installed or understood. This bill will undermine safety in the electrical industry. It will also drive down wages in the field.

The state budget for the coming year, June 2012 - June 2013, makes drastic cuts in services to Maine’s working families, elderly, and children. Through cuts to Maine’s Drugs for the Elderly and Medicare Savings Program, it will reduce access to medicine and medical care for more than 5,000 seniors and people with disabilities. It includes major cuts to Head Start early childhood education programs for children, and childcare subsidies affecting as many as 1,800 children whose parents are trying to work and care for them. The cuts also eliminate health care for 7,000 19 and 20-year-olds. The budget also eliminates MaineCare coverage for another 14,500 low income working parents.

LD 225 would have invested $20 million to create new high tech jobs in agriculture, forestry, boat-building, fisheries, precision manufacturing and others key sectors. The research and development bond was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan margin in the Maine Legislature only to have it vetoed by Governor LePage. This bond, which would have required approval from the voters, would have created jobs for Maine workers. LD 225 had support from business, labor, and environmental groups. Ultimately, the Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto and sustain the bill, but the House failed to override the Governor’s veto and therefore the bond will not go before voters in November.