Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday vetoed her own proposed bill that aimed at establishing a minimum hourly wage for Maine’s agricultural workers, citing an amendment to the bill that would allow for farmworkers to sue their employer over alleged labor law violations.
Gov. Mills’ veto comes after she “reluctantly” vetoed a similar agricultural minimum wage bill last July, over concerns regarding the scope and impact of the legislation.
Following her veto last legislative session, Mills signed an executive order establishing the Agricultural Worker Minimum Wage Committee to develop recommendations for a new bill to implement a minimum wage for the state’s farmworkers, to be introduced for the Legislature’s second session.
As a result of the committee’s recommendations, in March of this year Mills introduced her own bill, LD 2273, which proposed setting the hourly minimum wage for Maine’s farmworkers at $14.15 beginning Sept. 1, 2024, aligning it with the minimum wage under current state law.
Beginning in 2025 — and each subsequent year — that minimum wage would increase proportionally to any increase in the cost of living.
[RELATED: Maine Governor Introduces Legislation to Establish Minimum Wage for Farm Workers…]
In her Tuesday veto message to state lawmakers, Mills wrote that she is “deeply disappointed” to reject her own bill, but that she believes “the Legislature’s changes to the bill” left her no choice.
LD 2273 as originally introduced, wrote Mills, was “simple and straightforward,” and “it took into account a diverse set of perspectives and appropriately balanced the need to establish a minimum wage for farm workers with the unique and diverse challenges of running a farm in Maine.”
“If the Legislature had sent me the bill I introduced, I would have been pleased to sign it into law, but unfortunately, that is not what happened,” Mills wrote.
Gov. Mills justified her veto of LD 2273 by citing the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee’s amendment to the bill that would allow for farmworkers to privately initiate litigation against their employers over alleged labor law violations.
While Mills agreed that “workers should have the right to pursue recourse for alleged labor violations,” she argued that her original bill provided an “adequate enforcement remedy” by entrusting the Maine Department of Labor with investigating any alleged labor law violations and to take action against employers where appropriate.
“I do not believe Maine farmers should face the prospect of privately initiated lawsuits, which would almost certainly lead to losing more farms in the long run,” Mills wrote in her letter to lawmakers, adding that the Maine Potato Board withdrew its support of the bill in response to the amendment.
Mills stated that she remains “strongly supportive” of establishing a “clean state minimum wage” for farmworkers.
Co-sponsor of LD 2273 and co-chair of the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) took to X Tuesday to say that he is “disappointed” in the governor’s decision to veto the proposal, calling her actions “beyond ridiculous.”
“I am disappointed that [Gov. Mills] has vetoed the minimum wage for farmworkers,” Sen. Tipping wrote. “It is beyond ridiculous for her to call stakeholders together to meet for months, develop a policy recommendation endorsed by her own Department of Agriculture and then veto it.”
“By inventing new issues at the 11th hour and vetoing her own bill, the governor is unfortunately continuing a long and awful history of excluding farmworkers from basic workplace protections,” Tipping wrote.
Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director Matt Schlobohm released a statement Tuesday saying Mills’ veto “sends a clear message to farm workers that they are of second class status and are not worthy of the same rights and protections other workers enjoy.”
“This veto is an embarrassment to the state of Maine and a continuation of a long history of exclusion and exploitation,” Schlobohm said. “In harvesting the food we put on our tables every day, farmworkers do some of the most essential work in our society. They deserve dignity and fair wages and deserve so much better from Maine’s Chief Executive.”
The bill will now head back to the Legislature where it will require a two-thirds majority to overturn the governor’s veto.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="27568 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=27568">7 Comments
So the state knows how much a farmer can afford to pay to manage his farm and make a living from it. Here’s a unique idea. How about we let the farmer and the farmworker decide how much the labor is worth. If the farmer doesn’t offer a competitive wage the worker will go somewhere else.
WOW! See, this is why nobody in gov’t can be allowed to have one cent more than their poorest constituent.
The biggest threat to Maine, that needs to be vetoed, is Ms Mills, and her leftist cohorts who are systematically destroying this state. Unfortunately, Maine voters were duped into supporting “Ranked Choice Voting” and this is what they have to look forward to forever because of it. Maine should be more worried about how to attract new people, and business to this frozen wasteland, rather than driving them away. And whatever did happen to the Maine GOP ? Apparently they’ve all retired, or are on board with this lunatic “governor”.
Nice pic– Mills posing in front of a giant turd — perfect.
She did the right thing this time. LaPage would be annilated for doing the same thing.
Where is MIlls, all I see are a couple of potatoes
1. Why do farm workers have a different minimum wage at all? Can’t use the service industry’s tips excuse.
2. How much is current farm worker minimum wage?
3. Are these farm workers under age?
4. Are these farm workers illegal migrants?
Funny how the girl governor vetoes her own bill when the potato lobby complained about lawsuits for “allegedly” abusing their cheap labor. She responds that the govt will take care of any complaints. Ha! That’s a laugh. Her govt did nothing to protect the community from Robert Card.
The pharma industry also has protection from lawsuits against their inherently dangerous vaccines. Thanks to the pharma lobby. And her govt does nothing to protect the coerced that are suffering from accelerated cancer, heart disease and reproductive problems.