Democrat lawmakers are looking to add new penalties and enforcement measures to Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program that went into effect earlier this year.

The bill introduced by President of the Senate Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) and cosponsored by Rep. Kristen Cloutier (D-Lewiston) would also establish a Bureau of Paid Family and Medical Leave within the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL) to administer the program.

This program, enacted last year as part of a spending bill, has imposed a one percent payroll tax on most working Mainers and their employers to fund paid leave for all employees statewide, with benefits not scheduled to begin until May of 2026.

Mainers began contributing to the program on January 1 of this year, sixteen months ahead of when benefits are first scheduled to become available.

Under LD 894, civil action may be taken against an employer to collect unpaid premium contributions and penalties.

The state would also be authorized to collect a levy against a third party that has “possession or control” of property in which the employer “may have an interest.”

This bill would further establish penalties for employers who have been approved for a private plan substitution but allow their policies to lapse.

Should this legislation be approved, employers who are out of compliance with a substitution agreement would be required to pay a fine equal to the amount of premiums that would have otherwise contributed, as well as a penalty worth 1 percent of the employers total payroll for the period in which their policy had lapsed.

The Commissioner of Labor would also be tasked with administering the program through a newly created Bureau of Paid Family and Medical Leave, for which a list of enumerated and “other actions” could be taken if they are deemed “necessary or suitable.”

This legislation also seeks to establish liability for premium contributions and penalties owed by employers that are acquired by other individuals or organizations.

Finally, the bill would clarify that “intermittent leave” of less than one work day may not be taken unless both the employee and employer agree to it.

LD 894 has been referred to the Labor Committee for further consideration, but a public hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Click Here for More Information on LD 894

This, however, is not the only bill introduced so far this session that aims to amend the state’s new paid leave program.

Another Democrat-led bill looks to prevent Maine business owners from having a say in when their employees take leave under the program.

The laws and related rules underlying this program currently require that employees’ leave must be scheduled in such a way that it does not create “undue hardship” for their employers.

This provision would be repealed, however, if LD 575 — sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) and cosponsored by Rep. Amy J. Roeder (D-Bangor) — were to be approved.

On the other hand, a group of Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would repeal the program entirely.

Under the proposed language, the program would be eliminated, and the MDOL would be directed to return all contributions to this program made by employers and self-employed individuals. Employers, in turn, would be required to turn over to employees the share of these contributions that had been withheld from their paychecks.

This means that any money that employers, employees, and self-employed individuals have paid into this program so far would be returned to them in full.

Furthermore, whatever remains of the $25 million appropriation for setting up the PFML program would be transferred into the General Fund.

Although two bills seeking to accomplish this have been introduced with apparently identical language, Rep. Joshua Morris (R-Turner) was the first to sponsor legislation repealing this program, having announced his intention to do so back in December.

“I believe that this new tax should be repealed because it’s time to lower Mainers’ cost of living as much as possible as quickly as possible,” Rep. Morris said in a statement at the time.

“Mainers are still dealing with the effects of high inflation, high gas, grocery, healthcare, and energy costs caused by Democrats’ out of touch big government policies, Republicans must fight harder than we ever have against these costly bad ideas and on behalf of Maine’s workforce,” said Morris.