Republican lawmakers and some Maine business groups continue to press for changes to the state's paid family medical leave law before it kicks in next year.
State lawmakers are considering multiple bills to expand, repeal or tweak the law that was a top priority for Democrats in 2023. The law will allow eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for themselves or a sick family member or to bond with a newborn, an adopted child or a foster child.
The program is paid for with a wage tax of either 0.5% or 1%, depending on the size of the business, that is jointly paid by employers and workers. Those wage withholdings began this year in order to begin amassing a reserve before employees can begin taking paid leave next year.
But Nate Cloutier with the trade group Hospitality Maine said Tuesday that the law is the top concern his organization hears about from the restaurants and hotels that they represent. He said Maine's tourism and hospitality industries account for $9 billion a year in direct spending.
"We are small mom and pop businesses . . . they do right by their employees but they need to have a program that works so that they are able to continue employing these individuals," Cloutier said during a press conference organized by Republican lawmakers. "Right now there is not a great mechanism in the law to help employers with the undue burden of absences. When you have two or three employees that are on leave at the same time, that is going to create a tremendous difficulty."
Cloutier said the pool of eligible employees is too broad. He also supports a proposal to require employees to work at least 120 days before becoming eligible.
David Clough, Maine state director of the National Federation for Independent Businesses, said one-size-fits-all regulations do not necessarily work for businesses. He said businesses in rural areas that border Canada have limited pools of replacement workers. Clough also said the law's "undue hardship" determination process that businesses can use to potentially decline a paid leave request is too complicated.
"Maine is a small business state and it's very important that whatever is done, if there's to be a law, has to work for small employers," Clough said.
Republican lawmakers once again called for the law to be repealed or at least be changed to become voluntary, similar to the law that New Hampshire has on the books. But the backers of the law and Democratic legislative leaders have pushed back hard against such proposals.
During a press conference last week, Senate President Mattie Daughtry of Brunswick, who was the lead sponsor on the bill that became law in 2023, said the program was built after years of painstaking analysis and lawmakers should only consider small, technical changes.
"To pull the rug out now, to repeal it, to make it voluntary or carve out broad exemptions without the back work, would be an enormous betrayal. It would undermine the commitment this legislature has made to the people of Maine," Daughtry said last week.
The Legislature's Labor Committee is considering several bills to change the law this session. Cloutier with Hospitality Maine said he is hopeful that the various sides will come to an agreement.
"I really appreciate the bipartisan nature that we are seeing this session around this issue," Cloutier said. "There are common-sense changes that are being proposed."
