Gov. Janet Mills threw cold water on a plan to create paid family and medical leave in Maine when she called on lawmakers last week to limit the wages that workers could receive when they take time off to take care of a newborn or a sick family member.
The Mills administration is floating a potential wage replacement rate of 66% when someone takes leave, significantly lower than the 90% of wages proposed in LD 1964, which is a top priority of legislative Democrats and progressive groups this session.
That would mean that if a worker makes $16 per hour, they would get $10.56 per hour before taxes in paid leave.
Proponents of the bill say Mills’ plan would make the program potentially unusable for many low-income workers who wouldn’t be able to make ends meet with such a small portion of their normal wages.
“I’m confident it would disadvantage low-wage workers,” said James Myall, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy.
As Beacon previously reported, LD 1964 — sponsored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) and Assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier (D-Lewiston) and co-sponsored by 100 other lawmakers — was unveiled last week at a public hearing where child advocates, parents’ groups, labor organizations and other Mainers across the state argued that it is long past time for such a program, which exists in around a dozen other states and most industrialized countries around the world.
The original bill would allow...
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