Analysis: GOP plan would reduce paid sick protections for 190,000 Maine workers

An initial analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy found that 57,000 Maine workers who would be covered by Sen. Millett’s bill would be denied any ability to earn paid sick time under the Republicans’ plan. With the slower accrual rate, another 133,000 part-time workers would lose guaranteed access to the maximum amount of earned paid sick days set by Millett’s bill.

Millett’s bill is estimated to cover 90 percent of Maine workers.

“All told, 190,000 Mainers, or more than one third of the private sector workforce, would be worse off under the Republican proposal,” said MECEP policy analyst James Myall.

Myall’s analysis of publicly available state workforce data also shows that the Republicans’ plan would disadvantage workers in less well-off parts of the state. In Cumberland County, for example, 33 percent of private-sector workers would fare worse than under the Millett’s bill, while 41 percent in Kennebec County and 47 percent in Androscoggin County would be worse off.

Myall cautioned that the analysis is a conservative estimate of the number of workers affected, as he could not find reliable data concerning per diem workers.

Click here to read the full story, published March 12, 2019, in Beacon.