Many new laws take effect August 9^th but key vetoes by Governor Janet Mills and legislative scheduling problems spared small business from several onerous proposals.

Bills enacted into law:

• Increase enforcement of wage violations (LD 372)
• Study the adoption of a pass-through entity income tax option (LD 1891)
• Study adequacy of workers’ compensation benefits (LD 1896)
• Require legislative review of new zero-emission rules for “clean cars” and light-duty trucks (LD 2261)
• Establish an automotive right-to-repair working group (LD 2289)

Bills vetoed:

• Adjust personal income tax brackets and add 8.45% top bracket (LD 1231)
• Prohibit (with limited exceptions) use of non-compete agreements (LD 1496)
• Set a $500 threshold for felony theft prosecution of a repeat offender (LD 2246)

Bills held by the Governor or tripped up by end-of-session problems:

• Increase salary threshold for payment of overtime and index annually (LD 513)
• Require posting of salary ranges for job openings, restrict pay history questions, and require maintaining pay history records for 3 years (LD 936)
• Require (with some situational exceptions) minimum pay for reporting to work at private employers with at least 10 employees (LD 1190)

Bills defeated:

• Allow municipalities to establish a local option sales tax (LD 996)
• Allow a local option sales tax on short-term lodging (LD 1298)
• Remove the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits (LD 1464)
• Create a consumer data privacy and protection law (LD 1977, LD 1973)

Information on these bills is available here https://legislature.maine.gov/

Hundreds of bills were carried over to a special session; however, there are no plans for such a session and if none is held prior to the new legislature convening, those bills and ones held by the Governor will be dead.

Old is new, and various unsuccessful bills, such as those held by the Governor or tripped up on the session’s last day, likely will be reintroduced in the new legislature.

The 132th Legislature convenes on December 4, 2024.