2023 Legislative Priorities
MECEP’s legislative priorities in 2023 aim to advance economic justice and opportunity, including racial equity. We want to bring fairness and accountability to the corporate tax code, ensure Mainers have access to affordable child care and paid family leave, and build a budget that helps families who need it most.
LD 258: Funding Maine’s future with the state budget – WIN
We are living through the recovery of an economy built on a foundation of inequality. We now have a choice to make better policy decisions that intentionally fund the brightest future for the Mainers who face significant hardships and barriers.
Learn more:
- MECEP blog (1/24/2023): Gov. Mills budget protects wellbeing. Lawmakers should choose to do more.
- MECEP blog (1/9/2023): Yes, a budget can change lives
- MECEP blog (1/5/2023): New year, new budgets, new ways to put working families first
- MECEP blog (5/18/2023): Legislators can build on Governor’s change package to boost economic vitality for Maine families
- MECEP statement (6/28/2023): MECEP statement on bipartisan budget deal
Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) – WIN
LD 1964: Paid Family and Medical Leave
Mainers shouldn’t have to choose between spending time with their newborn and paying their rent, or between putting food on the table and caring for their aging parents. A statewide paid family and medical leave policy would solve this problem.
- MECEP blog (2/22/2022): Surveys show strong support and widespread need for paid family and medical leave
- MECEP blog (2/14/2023): Legislative commission recommends strong, progressive paid family leave program for Maine
- MECEP explainer (4/5/2023): Paid Family and Medical Leave
- MECEP blog (6/9/2023): 5 reasons Maine shouldn’t look to New Hampshire on Paid Family & Medical Leave
Supporting Maine families with kids – WIN
LD 1544: Establishing the Maine Dependent Tax Credit
The federal experiment of monthly, direct aid to families led to a massive reduction in child poverty. We can do that on the state level as well by modernizing and increasing Maine’s existing child tax credit and making it accessible to people who need it most.
Learn more:
- MECEP blog (5/13/2022): MECEP report shows the Child Tax Credit made a tangible difference for Maine families
- MECEP report (5/13/2022): How the Child Tax Credit was spent in Maine
- MECEP op-ed (4/18/2023): Stronger Maine child tax credit is key for a more prosperous future
- MECEP explainer (5/2/2023): The Child Tax Credit
Strengthening Maine’s child care system – WIN
LD 1726: Supporting Child Care for Working Families
Maine needs more child care opportunities in more places that is more affordable. This package we’re supporting with partners in the Right from the Start coalition will immediately seek to increase subsidies for the current providers while seeking better, actionable information about how to strengthen the child care system as a whole in the long term.
Learn more:
- MECEP State of Working Maine (2022): Recognizing the value of labor
- In the words of workers: Bouncing Bubbles Child Care, Creative Play Childcare, Youth and Family Outreach
- MECEP blog (5/9/2023): Child care legislation to benefit Maine workers and families
Other priority bills include
LD 2004: An Act to Restore Access to Federal Laws Beneficial to the Wabanaki Nations – VETOED
The Wabanaki Nations in Maine are the only federally-recognized tribes in the United States that are denied the rights and protections guaranteed under Federal Indian Law. We stand with the Wabanaki Nations’ call to reform the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and the Maine Implementing Act which limit their inherent rights to self-govern. When the Wabanaki Nations have the tools they need to thrive, all who live within Maine borders benefit.
Learn more: MECEP blog (2/25/2022)
LD 7: An Act to Update References to the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Contained in the Maine Revised Statutes and Change the Standard Deduction and References in the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit
Uses the momentum created by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to create a new minimum tax for large, profitable corporations who currently pay little to no taxes.
Learn more: MECEP blog (3/27/2023)
LD 1337: An Act to Require a Corporation That Files a Tax Return in the State to File a Tax Disclosure Statement
Taxpayers and legislators should know whether or not the millions of dollars that are being spent on tax breaks for corporations are effective and which companies are actually paying what they owe.
Learn more: MECEP blog (7/5/2022)
LD 513: An Act Regarding Overtime Protections for Certain Maine Workers
People should be paid fairly for time worked.
Learn more: MECEP blog (3/22/2021)
LD 525: An Act to Protect Farm Workers by Allowing Them to Organize for the Purposes of Collective Bargaining
The status quo is both harmful and rooted in racism. People who grow our food and power our agricultural economy deserve the same rights as everybody else.
Learn more: MECEP blog (5/2/2023)
LD 398: An Act to Make Agricultural Workers and Other Related Workers Employees Under the Wage and Hour Laws – VETOED
The status quo is both harmful and rooted in racism. People who grow our food and power our agricultural economy deserve the same rights as everybody else.
Learn more: MECEP blog (4/7/2021): , MECEP blog (5/2/2023)
LDs 827 and 1190: Scheduling Reform
Mainers have a right to safe work schedules that honor their humanity.
Learn more: MECEP blog (4/10/2019) , MECEP blog (4/3/2023)
LD 936: An Act to Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges and Maintain Records of Employees’ Pay History
Greater transparency in wages during the hiring process gives more power to workers and helps address racial and gender inequality.
Learn more: MECEP blog (5/4/2023)
