GOP Lawmakers Look to Repeal Maine’s New Mandatory Paid Leave Program

Republican lawmakers are making a push to repeal Maine’s new mandatory Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Program, which went into effect last month.

This program, enacted last year as part of a spending bill, has imposed a one percent payroll tax on most working Mainers and their employers to fund paid leave for all employees statewide, with benefits not scheduled to begin until May of 2026.

Mainers began contributing to the program on January 1 of this year, sixteen months ahead of when benefits are first scheduled to become available.

Should either of the bills introduced by Republican lawmakers so far this session be approved, this program would be eliminated and all payments that have been made by employers and employees would be refunded.

Over the summer, Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a budget into law that included, among other things, legislation establishing this program with a starting appropriation of $25 million for the MDOL.

Beginning in the spring of 2026, Maine workers will be eligible to take up to twelve weeks of paid leave to care for a sick family member, as well as to bond with a newborn baby or newly adopted child. Also eligible for leave are those who are experiencing a serious health condition and are rendered unable to work for an extended period, and anyone serving as a caregiver for someone who meets the other conditions.

Employers and employees began contributing a new one percent payroll tax to the state on January 1, 2025, sixteen months ahead of when benefits are scheduled to first become available.

Click Here for More Information on the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

Both bills bills to repeal PFML are currently before the Legislature’s Labor Committee for consideration were introduced as emergency legislation, noting that “to stop economic harm to employers and employees, contributions must stop and be refunded to employers and employees as soon as possible.”

Should either of these bills be approved by at least two-thirds of both the House and Senate, they would take immediate effect after being approved by the governor.

Typically, bills take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns for the session.

Should these bills be unable to reach that threshold, the emergency designation could be removed, and they could be passed by a simple majority.

Under the language proposed in these bills, the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL) would be directed to return all contributions to this program made by employers and self-employed individuals. Employers, in turn, would be required to turn over to employees the share of these contributions that had been withheld from their paychecks.

This means that any money that employers, employees, and self-employed individuals have paid into this program so far would be returned to them in full.

Furthermore, whatever remains of the $25 million starting appropriation would be transferred into the General Fund.

Rep. Joshua Morris (R-Turner) was the first to sponsor legislation repealing this program, having announced his intention to do so back in December.

“I believe that this new tax should be repealed because it’s time to lower Mainers’ cost of living as much as possible as quickly as possible,” Rep. Morris said in a statement at the time.

“Mainers are still dealing with the effects of high inflation, high gas, grocery, healthcare, and energy costs caused by Democrats’ out of touch big government policies, Republicans must fight harder than we ever have against these costly bad ideas and on behalf of Maine’s workforce,” said Morris.

[RELATED: Republican Lawmaker Seeks to Repeal Impending Payroll Tax for New Paid Leave Program]

Cosponsoring LD 406 alongside Morris are Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin), Rep. Nathan M. Carlow (R-Buxton), Rep. Michael J. Lance (R-Paris), Rep. Laurel D. Libby (R-Auburn), Rep. Reagan L. Paul (R-Winterport), Assistant Minority Leader Katrina J. Smith (R-Palermo), Rep. Nathan Wadsworth (R-Hiram), Sen. Stacey Guerin (R-Penobscot), and Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot).

LD 539, which currently contains language identical to LD 406, was sponsored by Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield) and cosponsored by Rep. Quentin J. Chapman (R-Auburn), Rep. Jack Ducharme (R-Madison), Rep. John Eder (R-Waterboro), Rep. Lance, Rep. Tracy L. Quint (R-Hodgdon), Rep. Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips), Rep. Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington), and Sen. Susan Bernard (R-Aroostook).

Republicans, however, are not the only ones who have introduced legislation this session related to the new paid leave program.

Rather than repealing PFML, two Penobscot County Democrats have proposed a bill that would make it even more onerous for employers by eliminating a clause in the current regime allowing them to have a say in when their employees take leave under the auspices of the program.

[RELATED: Maine Lawmakers Propose Repeal of Employer Protections in Brand New Paid Leave Program]

While the MDOL was given a great deal of leeway with regards to implementation, the requirement that leave schedules be made in such a way as to prevent “undue hardship” for employers was directly mandated by the Legislature in the last session.

Under the MDOL’s final rules for the program, employers are given the opportunity to assert that the timing or duration of an employee’s requested leave creates an undue hardship that cannot be overcome.

Despite this, employees still retain “the ability to take leave within a reasonable time frame relative to the proposed schedule,” and “a good faith attempt” must be made to work out a schedule that would not be disruptive of the employer’s operation.

If medical leave is requested, the final schedule agreed upon by the employer and the employee must “be sufficient to accommodate the healthcare needs of the employee” as determined by the employee’s healthcare provider.

[RELATED: Maine’s New Paid Leave Rules — Here’s What Businesses and Workers Should Expect]

LD 575, introduced by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) and Rep. Amy J. Roeder (D-Bangor), however, would revoke this option from employers.

Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Patrick Woodcock told the Maine Wire that the Chamber “unequivocally” opposes the elimination of this provision allowing employers say in when employees take their leave, although they would like it to be further clarified by the Legislature.

Both LD 575 and the two bills aimed at bringing an end to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program have been referred to the Legislature’s Labor Committee for further consideration.

Public hearings have not yet been scheduled for any of these bills.