Courtesy / Maine AFL-CIO
Cynthia Phinney
July 16, 2021
New law sets out to modernize Maine unemployment insurance system
Photo / Ezra Schreiber-MacQuaid
Business curtailments and closures, like this one in Bar Harbor last year, resulted in a flood of unemployment claims that supporters of recent legislation said highlighted weaknesses in the state’s unemployment insurance system.
By Staff
Among dozens of bills signed into law this week by Gov. Janet Mills is an act restructuring Maine's unemployment insurance system with changes some people say are years overdue.
LD 1564, “An Act To Strengthen the Unemployment Insurance System To Better Serve Maine Workers," was sponsored by state Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Sagadahoc.
The new law prevents workers who must leave work because of a family emergency, such as a loss of child care or transportation, from being disqualified from unemployment insurance for many weeks and helps workers connect to training and apprenticeship programs, among other things (see sidebar).
The legislation came after Maine experienced a flood of unemployment claims as a result of the pandemic. But thousands of Mainers had difficulty accessing benefits due to understaffing, technology glitches and outdated rules.
During public hearings and in statements afterward, the bill received widespread support from labor advocates.
“This is one of the most significant and meaningful pro-worker reforms to Maine’s unemployment insurance system in decades,” Cynthia Phinney, president of the Maine AFL-CIO, said in a news release.
“It will modernize Maine’s unemployment insurance program to ensure that Maine workers will receive timely and adequate unemployment benefits and that our system runs smoothly to help people get back into good paying jobs and high-quality apprenticeship and training programs."
Other bills signed by Mills this week addressed a range of issues.
They included initiatives to allow hunting on Sunday, form a commission on the status of racial, indigenous and Maine tribal populations and update the voter registration process.
In addition, career and technical education teachers will be included in the state's minimum $40,000 salary initiative; and firefighters will be provided with personal protective equipment.
Other laws aim to improve investigations of child sexual abuse; provide services to reduce domestic violence; establish a workforce, research, development and student achievement institute; improve municipal recycling programs; and support children’s healthy development and school success.
Among the bills that Mills vetoed was LD 1708, “An Act to Create the Pine Tree Power Co.,” legislation that would have replaced Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power with a a nonprofit, consumer-owned electric utility.
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