The Labor & Housing Committee held its deliberations on carried-over bills this past week and voted on LD 513, LD 1496, and LD 1896.
During the work session, held on February 15th, the committee voted Ought to Pass as Amended with 6 in favor and 4 in opposition, on LD 513: An Act Regarding Overtime Protections for Certain Maine Workers. This bill would require overtime protections which would increase minimum salary for exemptions from overtime pay. The committee voted the bill along party lines with the Democrats supporting an amended version of the bill and all of the Republicans voting ought not to pass.
The committee also voted on LD 2176: An Act to Ensure the Workers’ Compensation Board’s Allocations are Properly Funded, resulting in an anticipated divided report of Ought to Pass with 6 in favor and 4 in opposition. The majority report supported by the Democrats would remove the existing cap on assessments to employers to fund the operations of the Board.
In addition, the committee voted Ought to Pass, also along party lines, on LD 2184: Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 9: Rules Governing Administrative Civil Money Penalties for Labor Law Violations, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards.
This bill has become highly partisan and controversial after the new director of the Bureau testified at the hearing seeking authority to conduct “proactive” investigations of employers without complaints or evidence of violations. Republicans have demanded the new director be fired by the Commissioner due to his obvious bias against employers.