Under the Dome: Challenging Bills Ahead

May 2, 2023 | Member's Only, News, Under the Dome

Dear MEA Members –

The MEA continues to operate on full blast during this legislative session and we continue to make progress on key goals.  Here is the rundown of the week.

Pension Improvement Update:

On Wednesday of this week the Labor Committe voted UNANIMOUSLY to support LD 1096, a bill by Representative Dodge designed to improve pension benefits for current and future retirees.  The amended version of the bill will provide an additional 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for current and future retires.  The idea is to make sure our pensions make up ground – inflation has far outpaced the maximum COLA over the past two years, causing our pension benefits to erode in purchasing power.  This bill will not make up for all the ground we lost, but it represents progress.  The bill now heads to the House and the Senate for votes. 

The House and the Senate have already passed LD 70 and LD 112 sponsored by Representative Dodge.  LD 70 proposes to increase the COLA, so it applies to the first $40,000 in pension earnings, and LD 112 increases the amount the state pays for retired teacher and ed tech II and III healthcare.  Both bills received strong roll call votes and now sit on the Special Appropriations Table.  This is where all bills go that cost money.  At the end of the legislative session, the Appropriations Committee will review all the bills that cost money and send them to the Senate for a final vote before going to the Governor for approval.  Currently, the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn during the third week of June, but they could go past this date.

Guns in Schools?  No Thank You!

This week, MEA President Grace Leavitt testified against four bills designed to arm school employees with guns or otherwise bring more guns into schools.  You can read more about the four bills here:

  • LD 52: An Act to Allow Certain School Employees to Carry Firearms on School Property
  • LD 518: An Act to Allow Armed Security in Schools
    • Found here: getPDF.asp (mainelegislature.org)
  • LD 1326: An Act to Increase School Security Through Design and Protocol
  • LD 1557: An Act to Increase and Enhance School Safety by Allowing Individuals with Concealed Carry Permits to Possess Handguns on School Property

Due to the position adopted by the delegates at the MEA Representative Assembly in 2018:

“That the MEA believes school property and buildings must remain gun- free, with the only exception made for trained law enforcement officers. Our primary focus as educators must remain the education, safety, and general welfare of students and staff. At no time should parents, students, educators, or others be encouraged, permitted or required to carry firearms on school property. (Adopted 2018) “

The MEA opposes all of these bills.  The solutions to shootings in schools is not to allow for more guns in schools.  If you want to express your opposition to these bills, please consider emailing the Committee and expressing your opposition to more guns in schools.  You can email the members of the Committee by sending your message to EDU@legislature.maine.gov

Freedom of Access, Freedom to Harass?

The MEA has seen an uptick in Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests targeting specific educators, especially LGBTQI+ educators.  The MEA’s General Counsel, Ben Grant, testified in support of a bill that would offer greater protections for educators and school districts who are facing relentless fishing expeditions against educators through FOAA.  And he testified against LD 1699 – a bill that would do the opposite.  We believe LD 1699 will put more of a target on educators and lead to more specious FOAA requests against educators.  You can read about the bills here: 

The public hearings on these bills were held this week and we can expect the Committee to debate these bills in the coming weeks. 

Pay Attention, Bad Bills this Week:

There are a number of really bad bills scheduled for public hearing this week in the Education Committee. 

One bill, LD 123, has been heavily amended and as written could subject educators to criminal charges for teaching content deemed “obscene” – although we remain unclear who gets to decide if something is obscene. 

Another bill, LD 618, proposes to eliminate “critical race theory,’ “social and emotional learning” and “diversity, equity and inclusion” from all school curricula. 

And LD 1008 proposes a rating system for books and then prohibits certain books from certain school libraries. 
You can read more about the bills here:

Public Hearings Thursday May 4th 1pm – Education and Cultural Affairs Committee:

If you can come to Augusta on Thursday and want to testify against these bills, please reach out – I can help you.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all you do. 

In Unity,

John Kosinski
Government Relations Director
Maine Education Association

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