Paid Family Leave Tax Compliance

Maine labor department officials announced recently a plan to help employers manage tax compliance in 2026.  “As businesses prepare to implement the Paid Family & Medical Leave program in 2026, we’ve chosen an option that makes compliance with the recent IRS tax rules as simple and supportive of businesses as possible,” said Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman.  A labor department press release notes this for employers:

“For the portion of medical leave benefits that are subject to payroll taxes, the Department will cover the responsibility of calculating and paying the required employer payroll tax matches. The Administrator will remit payroll taxes and issue Forms W-2 to employees as needed, on behalf of the Department. The Department will assume this responsibility and associated costs during the initial phase of the program to reduce complexity in the tax treatment of benefits. The Department acknowledges that employers already comply with the payroll tax requirements for short-term disability programs and reserves the right to adopt a comparable process for PFML benefits in the future.”

More information can be found here: www.maine.gov/paidleave

New Bills for 2026 Session

Legislative leaders have voted to allow 98 new bills to be introduced in the 2026 session out of the 358 requested by legislators.  These will be combined with 90 new bills from state agencies.  Hundreds more bills were carried over from the 2025 session.  A listing of key proposals will be included in the early January edition of Maine Capitol Update.

Electric Bills to Rise in January

Maine utility regulators have approved Standard Offer supply rates for 2026 Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), Versant-Bangor Hydro District (V-BHD), and Versant-Maine Public District (V-MPD).

Residential and small business:

• CMP – 12.72 cents per kWh (10.61 cents in 2025);
• V-BHD – 12.95 cents per kWh (10.56 cents in 2025); and
• V-MPD – 14.87 cents per kWh (11.65 cents in 2025.

Medium-size business:

• CMP – 12.36 cents per kWh (10.47 cents in 2025);
• V-BHD – 12.80 cents per kWh (10.39 cents in 2025); and
• V-MPD – 14.67 cents per kWh (15.02 cents in 2025).

Information about all customer classes and rates may be found on the Maine Public Utilities Commission website: www.maine.gov/mpuc