| New 2007 Maine Laws That Could
Impact You & Your Business
Following are brief summaries of laws enacted by the Maine Legislature
in its 2007 session. Unless otherwise specified, most of the measures
will become effective 90 days after adjournment (September 20, 2007).
New statutes that carry an emergency label became effective upon the signature
of the governor and shall be noted in the summaries. Texts of the new
laws may be downloaded from the Maine Legislature website:
http:///janus.state.me.us/legis
. That should bring you to the Maine Legislature Page where you can key-in
the LD #, then bill text/other doc, and finally enacted law. Should you
have trouble negotiating the site, legislative information can be helpful
at 207-287-1692. However, if you are unable to secure the text in that
fashion, contact Jim McGregor at 207-623-1149 or jim@mmamall.org.
Please request by LD #. The summaries do not include all measures enacted
by the 122nd Maine Legislature in the 2007 regular session. If you would
like to determine if legislation dealing with a specific subject matter
was dealt with in the session, we would be happy to attempt to make that
determination for you.
Prepared by Maine Merchants
Association
Final 2007 Report
Automotive
LD 1487 Tinted Glass: Details specifications for window-tinting materials.
LD 643 Aftermarket Equipment: Speaks to aftermarket equipment that may
be placed on vehicles used on public ways.
LD 938 Inspections: Specifies the effective date of changes to motor vehicle
inspection rules.
LD 666 Abandoned Vehicles: Makes several technical changes to abandoned
vehicle laws.
LD 1295 Dealerships: Clarifies overtime qualifications for automobile
salespersons and parts clerks.
LD 513 Motor Vehicles: Makes several changes to motor vehicle laws, including
definition of sports utility vehicles.
LD 1929 Oil Change Fee: Imposes a fee of $1 to $3 per oil change to fund
the clean-up of four old waste motor oil sites in the state.
(Consideration of LD 1210, a much-discussed bill designed to level the
playing field between dealerships and independent repair shops, was postponed
until the January 2008 session.)
Alcohol/Tobacco
LD 70 Fire-Safe Cigarettes: Provides that beginning January 1, 2008, only
cigarettes deemed as fire-safe may be offered for sale in Maine. Retailers
will be permitted to sale old stock.
LD 859 Tobacco Specialty Shops: Outlines regulations for smoking of water
pipes and hookah, and the sale of food, in specialty shops.
LD 1124 Liquor Licenses: Outlines the procedure for transferring a liquor
license when a business is sold.
LD 620 Liquor Samples: Outlines when a manufacturer or supplier may provide
liquor samples to retailers. (Next Page Please)
LD 725 Tobacco Licenses: Requires a retailer to show proof of a license
prior to purchase of tobacco products.
LD 846 Liquor Store Location: The legislature rejected the original language
that would narrow the distance an agency store could be from a school,
but directs a study of where products are placed within a store.
LD 1361 Tobacco Bans: Directs the attorney general to adopt rules leading
to the ban of candy-flavored cigarettes, cigars, and “hard”
snuff.
Banking & Insurance
LD 1869 Predatory Lending: is a comprehensive measure designed to protect
homeowners from “predatory lending” practices.
LD 866 Tort Damages: increases the amount of allowable damages from $400,000
to $500,000.
LD 951 Credit Cards: will permit consumer payments at any time without
penalty.
LD 1829 Retail Banking: Stipulates that an out-of-state financial institution
may not establish or maintain a branch in Maine within 1.5 miles of an
affiliate where the affiliate engages in commercial activity.
Business Regulation/Workplace
LD 208 Tax Increment Financing: Directs the Department of Economic and
Community Development to evaluate the effect of Tax Increment Financing
for retail businesses on economic development. Maine Merchants Association
had opposed the original bill that would have denied such financing to
retail developments. The measure is expected to be reconsidered in 2008.
LD 1810 Large Retail Development: Will mandate that developers of retail
projects in excess of 75,000 square feet must post a $40,000 escrow account
to pay for an impact study, a public hearing, and the salaries of municipal
employees when they process permits.
LD 224 Overtime/Domestics: Requires minimum wages and overtime for certain
domestic employees hired through agencies.
LD 1261 Family Leave: Permits employees to take family leave intermittently.
LD 1138 Federal ID: Prohibits Maine from participating in the federal
REAL ID Act of 2005.
LD 375 Family Leave: Adds domestic partners to the Maine family medical
leave law.
LD 1006 State Bids: Provides that any state purchase of $100,000 or more
be made from a seller licensed in the state.
LD 830 Business Signs: Liberalizes Maine law regarding the use of pictorial
graphics and photographs on changeable signs.
LD 955 Drug Testing: Outlines procedures for drug testing of temporary
employees.
LD 1678 “Clean Clothes”: Permits a collection of a 1 % fee
from vendors on sales made to the state under its Code of Conduct Laws.
LD 1837 Do-Not-Call: Attempts to harmonize state and federal laws regarding
do-not-call lists.
LD 547 Wireless Phone Cards: Outlines a procedure for collecting fees
from sale of the cards to help fund Maine’s E-9-1-1 service. Retailers
are permitted – but not mandated – to negotiate with vendors
to provide collection services.
LD 24 Seat Belts: Makes failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense
in Maine.
LD 161 Cell Phones: Will prohibit the use of cell phones by minors while
driving.
LD 1468 Milk/Grocers: Will increase the milk handling fee in an effort
to assist dairy farmers.
LD 1445 Living Wage: Directs the Department of Labor to conduct an annual
study to determine what a “livable wage” would be should Maine
require one as an alternative to a minimum wage.
LD 1884 Unemployment Premiums: This was a major bill for Gov. John E.
Baldacci. It creates a “cluster” job training program using
some unspent unemployment funds. Maine businesses are expected to see
unemployment premiums drop some $68 million over the next two years. Also
under the labor/business/AARP compromise package, part-time employees
will remain eligible for unemployment benefits, and a Social Security/Pension
Offset against benefits will be repealed.
LD 392 Severance Pay: Increases fines for violation of Maine’s severance
pay law.
LD 1027 Disability: Clarifies the definition of “physical or mental
disability” under the Maine Human Rights Act in keeping with a Maine
Supreme Court ruling in Whitney vs Wal-Mart, a workers’ compensation
appeal.
LD 1791 Propane: (Emergency) Authorizes the creation of a limited energy
auditor technician license.
LD 1086 Clothing & Equipment Requirements: Attempts to clarify when
a business can or cannot require employees to furnish their own equipment
and clothing. Labor Committee officials say the state law will closely
mirror federal statutes.
LD 256 Employee Leave: Requires firms with 15 or more employees to grant
family leave to family members of deployed military personnel.
LD 1675 Internet: Orders a study relative to “full, fair, and nondiscriminatory
access to the internet.”
LD 528 BETR: Makes certain used property eligible for reimbursements under
Maine’s Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Program.
Environmental
LD 1717 Cell Phones: Requires firms that sale cellular phones to take
used ones for recycling, but late amendments removed language that would
have required retailers to report annually to the state.
LD 758 Anti-Freeze: Would require a bittering agent to be placed in anti-freeze
sold in Maine if and when three other Northeastern state enacted similar
laws. The law is intended to discourage pets from drinking anti-freeze.
LD 907 Flammable Liquids: Requires a permit to establish a retail motor
fuel facility that dispenses flammable liquids.
LD 916 Mercury: Permits the use of certain used mercury-added products.
LD 109: Mercury: Requires a model radon standard for new residential construction.
LD 587 Phosphorus Fertilizer: Beginning January 1, 2008, requires stores
selling phosphorus fertilizer or detergent to post signs outlining the
proper and safe use of the products.
LD 1234 Fluorescent Lamps: Requires the Department of Environmental Protection
and Public Utilities Commission to develop a program for recycling.
LD 861 Pesticides: Expands the requirement to have licensed applicators
to use pesticides in food stores to include non-public areas such as storage
rooms.
LD 1798 Pesticides: Establishes a Pesticides Education Fund, but does
not specify funding sources. MMA successfully opposed a provision that
would have required retailers to collect a 15 cent fee on each pesticides
item sold.
LD 1658 DECA: Bans the sale of mattresses and pads containing the flame
retardant DECA in Maine beginning January 1, 2008, and imposes the same
ban on televisions and computers containing the chemical on January 1,
2010.
LD 1929 Oil Change Fees: Will mandate a fee of $1 to $3 per oil change
to fund the clean-up of four old waste oil disposal sites in Maine.
LD 1851 Greenhouse Gases: Outlines the several steps Maine will take for
its participation in the Greenhouse Gas Initiative Act of 2007.
Pharmacy
LD 4 Pharmacy Data: Establishes guidelines for the sharing of patient
information for marketing purposes.
LD 411 Unused Prescriptions: Establishes a pilot program to examine the
issue of returning unused prescription drugs by mail.
LD 807 Co-Pays: Stipulates that “a pharmacy benefits manager or
insurer shall require a contracted pharmacy to charge to an enrollee or
insured person the pharmacy’s usual and customary price of filling
the prescription or the contracted co-payment, whichever is less.”
LD 1786 Hypodermic Needles: Directs the Maine Center for Disease Control
and Prevention to adopt rules establishing requirements for exchange programs.
(Next Page Please)
LD 1440 Drug Advertising: Beginning January 1, 2008, it will become illegal
for a person to sale or distribute in the state computer software designed
to influence a prescribing decision.
LD 720 Schedule W Drugs: Clarifies that a combination of certain drugs,
as well as the drug itself, belongs on the schedule.
LD 883 Generics/Brands: Permits a cash-paying customer to purchase name
brand drugs rather than generics, unless generics are require under private
or government insurance plans. The change was a major priority of the
Maine Pharmacy Association, Pharmacy Group of New England and Maine Merchants
Association.
LD 1575 Pharmacist Health Program: (Emergency) Authorizes the Maine Board
of Pharmacy to create a pharmacist health program to assist professionals
that might become disabled or impaired.
LD 1198 Over-The-Counter Meds: Authorizes an educational initiative to
determine whether the use of over-the-counter meds in the Medicaid program
is economical and appropriate.
LD 839 Academic Drug Detailing Program: Directs the Department of Health
and Human Services to establish a prescription drug academic detailing
program by January 1, 2008.
LD 1425 Crime Reporting: Attempts to shield from liability pharmacists
and other health professionals who report to authorities individuals they
believe are attempting to illegally purchase drugs.
-0-
(Pharmacists: The Health & Human Services Committee chose to postpone
until the January 2008 legislative session action on the pharmacy-backed
LD 405 that seeks an upward adjustment of Medicaid dispensing fees.)
Special Legislative Session ?
Only hours after the 123rd Legislature adjourned its January to June regular
session speculation began as to whether Gov. John E. Baldacci would call
a special session (s) this fall to reconsider tax reform and health care
packages that died in the waning hours of the 2007 regular session.
The governor said he would develop a tax reform package of his own to
submit to lawmakers, but has not stipulated whether it would be offered
at a special session, or next January.
There were indications that additional funding for the governor’s
controversial Dirigo Health Insurance Program might be more urgent, and
in need of action at a special session.
Maine Merchants Association and almost 60 other firms and business organizations
helped defeat the “tax reform” package that died in the final
days of the session. They argued that the plan called for a tax shift,
not reform, and failed to address spending reductions. The ill-fated package
would have extended the state’s 5 % sales tax to hundreds of services,
authorized local option sales taxes. and increased the state’s meals
& lodging tax from 7 to 8 %, but promised to lower income and property
taxes. (Please see the Commentary on Page 1 of this Newsletter.)
The governor gives every indication that he continues to be committed
to his Dirigo Health Plan even though it has failed to meet enrollment
expectations and has remained unpopular with many legislature, including
some from his own Democrat Party. Failed proposals to increase revenues
and boost enrollments included controversial items such as a play-or-pay
fee on employers who do not provide health insurance for employees, a
surcharge on hospital bills, and a cigarette tax increase. Each of the
proposed revenue sources was opposed by Maine Merchants Association.
The governor did receive some good news when the Maine Supreme Court ruled
that the current source of Dirigo funding – a premium tax on private
policies – was not unconstitutional.
Notes
The Maine Legislature considered some 1930 bills during its 2007 Legislative
Session. Almost 175 of them were not acted upon, and will be considered
in the 2008 session beginning next January.
The carry-over items impacting Maine Merchants Association members include
bills: to extend “free speech” rights to malls and shopping
centers, to increase the minimum wage and authorize annual indexing of
the wage, to mandate paid sick leave, to clarify the definition of independent
contractors, to extend “right to repair” to independent auto
shops, and to encourage customers to use propane professionals for repairs
and installations.
Also remaining alive for future legislative consideration are a MMA-backed
bill to extend repeal of the Business Equipment Tax to some small retailers,
and a MMA-opposed measure that would deny municipal tax increment financing
to retail developments.
In the new year, lawmakers will also take another look as a proposal to
license home building and improvement contractors
(Maine Merchants Association encourages members who have an interest
in these topics, and information or insights to offer, to please make
contact prior to the beginning of the legislative session.
Key Kills
Several MMA-opposed bills that were mentioned in previous legislative
reports over the past six months, were killed.
They included measures: to ban the use of carpet in schools, to impose
a retailer-collected fee on the sale of pesticides, to alter the rules
governing which stores may open on Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter,
to prevent the “political and religious” intimidation of employees,
and to limit employee terminations to narrowly-defined misconduct. Had
the later bill been enacted, it would have eliminated Maine’s status
as an employment at will state. Also defeated were measures that would
have required some businesses to provide a year’s notice before
closing, and to pay individuals receiving unemployment benefits a bonus
to find a new job more quickly quickly.
Also failing to pass legislative muster were at least two bills that would
have required employers to pay workers for the time they are on-call.
Maine Merchants Association also joined with Maine Grocers to defeat a
bill to prohibit “price-gouging” in the mile industry, a move
the association felt would lead to retail price controls.
Either in the ill-fated tax package or separate proposals, there were
literally dozens of unsuccessful attempts to increase the sales tax, expand
the sales tax to hundreds of services, to increase the meals & lodging
tax, and to authorize local governments to enact local option sales taxes.
The good news is that all the sales tax proposals died; but the bad realization
is that they’ll all be back in 2008, if not sooner.
-0-
Forbes Ranks Maine 48th
For Business
The magazine looked at 32 criteria. Here’s how Maine
ranked in key categories:
Overall Rank: 48th
Business Costs: 43rd
Labor: 27th
Regulatory Environment: 46th
Economic Climate: 30th
Growth Prospects: 42nd
Quality of Life: 16th
-0-
|