Committees Advance Bills on Shutdown Loans, Mental Health Worker Retirement & Transit Safety

This week the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee voted 11-1 to pass a bill that will improve a new law that provides access to state-backed, no-interest loans for federal and state workers who have to work without pay during government shutdowns.  LD 2102, An Act to Clarify and Strengthen the Government Shutdown Loan Guarantee Program, sponsored by Kristi Mathieson (D-Kittery), makes improvements to the loan program based on workers' experiences during last fall’s federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, lasting 43 days.

At the public hearing for the bill, federal workers applauded the existence of the program and testified that implementation of the loan program fell short because few banks and credit unions participated in the program. Only three lenders offered loan options for people who were not members of that institution prior to the shutdown, and some of those lenders had county specific geographic residency requirements.

The amended version of LD 2102 makes several fixes in the law to ensure federal workers are able to secure loans during state and federal government shutdowns by:

• Ensuring that eligibility is not dependent on applying for unemployment benefits, credit checks, membership status, or in-person appearance.
• Raising the cap on guaranteed payments from 10 percent to 50 percent
• Providing an additional $250,000 allocation to strengthen the fund.

The bill faces further votes in the Maine House and Senate. It will also need the Appropriations Committee to approve funding for the measure.
 

Committee Votes Advances Bill to Allow Mental Health Crisis Workers to Retire in Dignity

The Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee has voted to advance legislation that would allow state community mental health workers to retire with dignity with the same benefits as other first responders and psychiatric mental health care workers in Maine. LD 2067, “An Act to Include Certain Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan for Retirement,” sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), would enroll community response workers in the State’s 1998 Special Retirement Plan. It would allow them to retire at age 55 with 10 years of service in the field or 25 years of covered service, as is allowed for other workers in challenging positions, including police officers, firefighters and liquor inspectors.

During the public hearing on the bill, crisis care workers from across the state shared stories of the difficulty in serving their clients and injuries they’ve suffered on the job. Committee Democrats voted in favor of the bill; four Republicans — Sen. Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec) and Reps. Gary Drinkwater, Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) and Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) — voted against the bill.

Committee Backs Transit Driver Safety Legislation

The Legislature’s Transportation Committee voted unanimously to advance a bill to protect transit drivers from violent passengers. LD 2062, An Act to Enhance the Safety of Public Transit Bus Operators Through the Installation of Vehicle Security Barriers, sponsored by Sen. Teresa Pierce (D-Cumberland), would require public transit agencies to install vehicle security barriers that protect transit bus operators from assaults. The measure would also provide grants to public transit agencies for the purchase, installation and maintenance of vehicle security barriers.

Transit drivers with the ATU Local 714 described how they had experienced harrowing assaults by disturbed passengers at the bill’s public hearing last month.