Dear MEA Members,
Today, Friday, February 7th, MEA members from the UMaine System and PreK-12 public schools are preparing to testify before the Appropriations and Education Committees about the Governor’s two-year budget proposal. This is critical. The Governor’s budget proposal sets the stage for the entire legislative session. Everything we are advocating for this session – raising the minimum teacher salary, better mentoring programs for new teachers, paid student teaching, more mental health supports for students, and an increase in state funding for the UMaine System – all will cost money and must be included in the budget.
Public comment is the most important part of the legislative process. Our members often deliver powerful personal stories through their testimony, and their firsthand experiences help move our priorities forward.
How a Bill Becomes a Law Training: In order to help members feel more confident about testifying before Legislative Committees, the MEA is hosting a “How a Bill Becomes a Law” training on Thursday February 20th – this is during the preK-12 winter break. This all-day training in Augusta will help members better understand the legislative process. Space is limited. We have capped attendance at 25. If you are interested in participating, please email me and I will be back in touch with more information.
Bills This Week and Next Week: This week there were several bills the MEA has been watching closely.
MEA’s General Counsel Ben Grant testified against a new bill that would require school districts and other governmental entities to respond to any Freedom of Access (FOAA) requests within 30 days. The MEA supports the Freedom of Access Act to make sure citizens can access what their government is doing. However, we have seen a plethora of nuisance FOAA requests that are nothing more than “fishing expeditions” targeting specific educators and/or administrators.
Next week, we have another key bill scheduled for a public hearing – LD 111, An Act to Increase the State’s Share of Retired Teacher Health Insurance. This bill, if passed and funded, would continue our efforts to have the state pay more toward the cost of the retired teacher health care program.
LD 111 will increase the amount the state pays from the current 60% of the cost of the MEA BT Medicare Advantage Plan to 65% starting July 1, 2025, and then 70% starting July 1, 2026 for all eligible retired teachers Ed Tech IIs and IIIs.
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, February 12th at 10 am in the Labor Committee, located in the Cross Office Building next to the State House. You can testify in person or via Zoom. If you want to testify, please reach out and I can help you.
The bill proposes to increase the amount the state pays from the current 60% of the cost of the MEA BT Medicare Advantage Plan to 65% starting July 1, 2025, and then 70% starting July 1. 2026 for all eligible retired teachers and Ed Tech IIs and IIIs.
Run for School Board: Did you know there are HUNDREDS of school board seats on the ballot in 2025? Some towns hold school board elections in March. Many hold elections in June. Others in November.
If you want to run for school board, please reach out to me right away – we can help. In fact, the NEA has an excellent program called “See Educators Run.” This three-day program is designed to help our members run for local office.
To be clear, you can not serve on a school board if you (or your spouse) work in the school district. However, if you work in one district but live in another, you can run for school board where you live.
If you work in a school district that has school board seats up this year, reach out and we can help you screen candidates. Now more than ever, we need to make sure we elect the best candidates for our local school boards.
Legislative Organizing Committee: The MEA has convened a Legislative Organizing Committee (LOC) comprised of MEA members from all over the state. The LOC will be the best way for members to stay informed about the latest happening in the State House. We will meet via Zoom every other Monday at 7 pm our next meeting is this Monday,
February 10th at 7 pm. Use the link below to sign up to join.
Join the Legislative Organizing Committee
The Legislative Organizing Committee will receive updates on all issues impacting public education in the State House. You can see the key priorities for the MEA this session here: https://maineea.org/leg2025/
As always, thanks for all you do and please reach out with any questions you may have.
Best,
John (Jan) Kosinski
Government Relations Director
Maine Education Association
