Maine’s business community feels compelled to set the record straight on claims that it supports the paid family and medical leave program, a new bureaucratic entitlement, recently signed into law by Gov. Mills, that will be funded through a new payroll tax levied on Maine businesses. Many other organizations that represent small businesses such as those that we represent – consisting of thousands of employers statewide – did, in fact, support a reasonable version of the program – one much more workable than the final product. However, as has become commonplace in politics, compromise is a foreign concept. Maine’s business community could not support this extreme proposal for several reasons.
In their celebrations, proponents claimed they reached a compromise that incorporated Maine businesses’ concerns. However, it should be noted that no business association in the state supported the final product, and the concerns raised by actual employers were dismissed and left unanswered.
Nate Cloutier is director of government affairs for HospitalityMaine, and Curtis Picard is president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine.
A cautious and deliberative legislative process is essential in good policymaking. A good example is L.D. 369 in 2019, from then-Sen. Rebecca Millett. L.D. 369 created an earned paid leave program that provided 40 hours of leave annually to employees. The legislative process for this bill had multiple work sessions, spanning...
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