State House
The Second Regular Session of the 131st Legislature began on January 3, 2024.
Legislative leadership announced that committees would be required to vote on all legislation carried over from the 1st Regular Session by the end of January 2024. This has been the primary focus of the committees this month.
Legislative Priorities
The Labor & Housing Committee, which deals with most of the priority legislation for the retail lumber industry, held its deliberations on carry-over bills this past week and voted on LD 513, LD 1496, and LD 1896.
During the work session held on January 25th, the committee discussed 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 bill remains tabled in the Labor & Housing Committee, waiting for an amendment from the Senate Chair of the committee, the primary sponsor of the bill.
LD 1496: An Act to Prohibit Noncompete Clauses, was voted in the Labor & Housing Committee along party lines with the Democrats on the committee supporting an amended version of the bill despite the Department of Labor opposing any change to the current law.
Finally, the Labor & Housing Committee voted on LD 1896: An Act to Index Workers’ Compensation Benefits to the Rate of Inflation. The vote on the amended version of this bill was primarily along party lines with all of the Republicans voting ONTP and Representative Russell (D) joining the Republicans opposing the amended version of the bill which would require the Workers Compensation Board to study cost of living adjustments.
The Taxation Committee will be taking up corporate tax disclosure legislation next week. These bills remain a priority concern for the RLDAM.
RLDAM’s Annual Lobby Day
On January 16th, the RLDAM held its annual Lobby Day in the Hall of Flags of the State House, with several members of the association joining with NRLA staff and outside counsel to have coffee and conversations with legislators before the legislative session beginning that morning. For a full recap of this year’s event, read: Championing Change: RLDAM’s Advocacy Triumphs in Augusta.