Almost everyone agrees doing business in Maine is much harder than it needs to be. According to the Maine Jobs Council, it is the ninth worst state in America, and unless you loathe capitalism as much as Hallowell’s cafe society does, this is the sort of statistic that ought to be flashing red for trouble.
So when the new one percent tax on employers to fund a Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program went into effect at the beginning of this year, businesses sat bolt upright at yet another fiscal and regulatory burden laid across their shoulders. Will the PFML turbo-charge Maine’s already dismal rating as one of the worst states in America for the private sector, maybe raising it to seventh, fifth or even first place?
[RELATED: Bath Iron Works, Maine Chamber Sue State Over Paid Leave Rules]
That’s why Bath Iron Works and the Maine Chamber sued the Maine Department of Labor in January over PFML and the conflicts it poses for employers who already offer their workers comparable benefits.
Representing Maine businesses across the board and charged with defending their interests before government, such an action made sense for the Chamber. What made less sense, though, is a recent video the Chamber posted glorifying state Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland), the very sponsor of the bill over which it is suing the state, as leader on business issues.
Extolling Sen. Daughtry as a champion of small business is a little like bestowing a human rights award on Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, or even Maine Governor Janet Mills. But to the point, the Chamber’s gauzy tribute to Daughtry had, a full 24 hours after they posted it, garnered a total of ten likes. In other words, few in the business community seem to be taken by this curious, and arguably misdirected, charm offensive.
[RELATED: Maine’s New Paid Leave Rules: Here’s What Businesses and Workers Should Expect]
As Maine businesses struggle to cope with the largest tax increase they’ve faced in decade, their lobby group in Augusta may have wagered that a bit of reverse psychology might soften the blow of future assaults on an already endangered and consequential segment of the state’s economy. Those buying such logic have probably been in Augusta too long, the men and women who make payroll each week in Maine probably agree.
