130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
LD 824 LR 901(03)
An Act To Extend the Protections Provided to State Employees upon the Expiration of Labor Contracts to Other Public Sector Employees
Fiscal Note for Bill as Engrossed with:
C "A" (S-121)
Committee: Labor and Housing
             
Fiscal Note
Current biennium cost increase - local units of government
Current biennium cost increase - higher educational institutions
Fiscal Detail and Notes
This bill provides that during the interim between the expiration of a municipal, judicial and public higher education employee collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and before the effective date of any subsequent CBA the employees covered by the expired agreement must receive step and/or merit increases in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the expired agreement. Assuming the increases would not be granted in the absence of this bill, these increases would represent a cost to municipal, school, county and higher education employers. No estimate of this cost is available at this time and no funding is provided in the bill. The Judicial Branch has indicated that in recent years without this bill, such increases may have been delayed but not foregone. The delay was only until a new CBA had been reached, at which time increases were made retroactively. Therefore, no additional costs are anticipated for the Judicial Branch.