132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 82		LR 39(01)
	An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Laws by Extending Indefinitely the Presumption Applying to Law Enforcement Officers, Corrections Officers, E-9-1-1 Dispatchers, Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services Persons Diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
	Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
	Sponsor: Rep. Mathieson of Kittery
	Committee: Labor
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded Potential current biennium cost increase - All funds
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	Making permanent the requirement that shifts the burden of proof that a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services worker, corrections officer or E-9-1-1 dispatcher diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder by a psychiatrist or psychologist developed that condition as a result of work stress from the claimant to the employer and/or the employer's insurer may continue to necessitate a more vigorous and costly legal defense by municipalities and counties and potentially increase the number of cases lost.				Municipality County	Significant statewide
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This legislation may also result in additional costs to the State as a direct reimbursement employer and to the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Corrections associated with increased payments of workers' compensation benefits and legal and administrative expenses.  The impact will depend on actual experience.