Special loans and loan insurance available for eligible Maine small businesses affected by COVID-19
 
The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) is partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and local Maine lenders to offer special, limited-time loans and loan insurance to eligible Maine businesses affected by COVID-19.

Session finished at an accelerated pace

Like much of the rest of the country, and the world, Maine is grappling with the impact of the spreading COVID-19, or the Coronavirus.  As of this writing, Maine has more than 70 confirmed cases for the virus and will likely see more in the days and weeks to come. The virus has disrupted the lives of hundreds of millions of people from coast to coast and around the globe, and the confirmation of Maine’s first illness this week was the first domino to fall here.

Governor Janet Mills has introduced, and on March 17 the Legislature passed, emergency legislation to support workers and businesses economically impacted by COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. This legislation enhances the flexibility of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. These temporary measures will help relieve the financial burden of temporary layoffs, isolation, and medically-necessary quarantine by making unemployment benefits available to individuals whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19. This helps not only individuals, but also employers by helping them retain their workforce and stabilizing local economies.

LD 402 would devastate Maine’s economy and employers, hindering job growth and new opportunities
 
On Wednesday, March 11, more than 40 organizations representing thousands of Maine employers joined together in strong opposition to LD 402, An Act To Restore Overtime Protections for Maine Workers, proposed legislation that would make Maine’s overtime threshold one of the highest in the nation – and the highest in New England. LD 402 and any artificial increase in Maine’s overtime threshold would hinder job growth and new opportunities in Maine and undermine essential goals in the 10-year economic growth plan for Maine recently announced by Governor Janet Mills.

On Tuesday, March 17, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) took immediate steps to ensure access to critical services and benefits for Maine people while protecting the health of employees and the public in response to the 2019 novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Maine Department of Labor (MDOL) will begin to implement new flexible unemployment insurance (UI) measures that will benefit both workers and businesses thanks to emergency legislation from Governor Janet Mills that was enacted by the Legislature on Tuesday, March 17. These temporary measures will help relieve the financial burden of temporary layoffs, isolation, and medically-necessary quarantine by making unemployment benefits available to individuals whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19.