FINAL SUMMARY 2022: Legislators wrap-up their second “pandemic session”

Carryover bills and new issues keep lawmakers busy this year

Despite the pandemic restrictions remaining in place for the vast majority of the 2022 session, the 130th Maine Legislature was able to plow through roughly 600 bills, relatively on time and with only a one-day extension. The 600 or so bills represent both carryover bills from the First Regular and Special Sessions in 2021, as well as new legislation submitted in this “emergency” session.

Despite the pandemic restrictions remaining in place for the vast majority of the 2022 session, the 130th Maine Legislature was able to plow through roughly 600 bills, relatively on time and with only a one-day extension. The 600 or so bills represent both carryover bills from the First Regular and Special Sessions in 2021, as well as new legislation submitted in this “emergency” session.

Along the way, legislators and those Statehouse regulars like the Maine State Chamber’s advocacy team had to contend with a continuation of the virtual public hearing and work session format, irregular meetings of the full legislature, masks in the Statehouse when they did meet, COVID-19 outbreaks (although this was relatively minor until the final days of the session), some good bills, some bad bills, and a state surplus and subsequent supplemental budget of more than a billion dollars. All of this resulted in a busy, and once again, highly unusual legislative session.

Entering 2022, the Maine State Chamber recognized that little in terms of the legislative process was likely to change from the first session, and this proved to be the case. Once again, both public hearings on new legislation, and work sessions on both new and carryover bills were all done virtually. The process could be frustrating at times. Once again, obtaining new bill language or amendments on bills prior to a committee’s consideration proved to be challenging. This was particularly true early in the session. And lobbyists, including the Maine State Chamber, spoke up. In fact, it became a topic of conversation at our annual Leadership Summit in early February. Whether this discussion impacted the changes that we did see in this area as the Second Session went on is hard to know, but access to important documents and to work sessions did improve.

However, like the First Session, the ability to actually impact the outcome of a bill through virtual formats proved to be difficult, and in the case of some committees, near impossible. For those regular readers of IMPACT who have never spent time in the Statehouse, it is impossible to over emphasize the importance of a brief conversation between a legislator of either party before a public hearing, or more importantly, a work session. That brief interpersonal exchange can help bridge the knowledge gap, provide a crucial question that needs to be asked in committee, or allow a critical clarification on position. Any one of these can alter the outcome on a bill, and that opportunity either rarely or never happened this session.

The result was numerous divided reports on many bills – that’s the bad news. The good news is that, with only a few exceptions, most bills of concern to the business community and followed by the Maine Chamber on behalf of our members worked out the way we had hoped.

In the Labor committee, bills to require cash out of vacation time and to raise the monetary threshold dividing hourly versus salaried employees were successfully negotiated to minimally impact employers, especially small businesses. In the Taxation committee, a bill to tax second homes in Maine was rejected, along with bills to increase the top individual income tax rate and to tax more of Mainers’ estates. At the same time, legislation was passed to improve the Education Tax Credit. On the health insurance front, the legislature unfortunately approved the most expensive, health insurance mandate in two decades, but also rejected bringing back the Health Insurance Tax.

In the Environmental and Energy committees, where the action was fast and furious all session long, legislation was successfully negotiated and enacted that is designed to hold Maine’s two largest electricity providers to certain customer-friendly standards or face fines and penalties. The legislature also passed legislation that will, depending on with whom you speak, either require or give preference to unionized workers when it comes to bidding on certain renewable energy projects. Maine also enacted a “first of its kind in the nation” law regarding so called “forever chemicals” or PFAS. The full impact of this legislation will take time to both understand and implement. It is one of the bills, like the union preference legislation, with which we remain very concerned.

When it came time to deal with and negotiate the Governor’s supplemental budget proposal, and how to spend over a billion dollars in surplus, Democrats and Republicans found common ground – rather than breaking down into partisan bickering – ultimately agreeing to return $850 to an estimated 800,000+ qualifying Maine taxpayers, for a total of $729 million in direct tax relief. In addition, they agreed to increase reimbursement rates to nursing home and childcare workers and provide two years of free community college for the graduates of high school classes of 2020 through 2023 who enroll in a Maine community college full-time. Yes, both parties also funded some of their pet pieces of legislation. At the same time, there was no where near enough money remaining after the budget was approved to fund all of the hundreds of bills that lay on the Appropriations table. Therefore, numerous bills that the Maine State Chamber was opposed to, died a quiet death.

Our members may remember we characterized last session as a “session like no other.” That is just as true now as it was then. It is unlikely that the 131st Legislature will fully conduct its business virtually next year. Yes, it is probable future committee work will have a hybrid component to it, but we believe we will be able to meet face to face, where the outcome is better public policy. For some, this will be an awakening; for some freshman legislators, the past two years is all they know. Fortunately, there is a better way.

This was a challenging session, in terms of process and issues. Working closely with local chambers of commerce, our members and legislators, the Maine State Chamber was successful in preventing truly bad legislation from passing, improving critical proposals, and making sure your voices were heard when it mattered most. We will be there for you again in 2023 when the 131st Legislature convenes, ensuring the Voice of Maine Business is heard in Augusta.