An Act To Address Maine's Direct Care Worker Shortage
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1013
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: EDER
Amends: 5 MRSA §3305, 5 MRSA §330, 22 MRSA §1718

Legislative Document 
No. 1013 
H.P.734 
House of Representatives, February 25,2003 
An Act To Address Maine's Direct Care Worker Shortage 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative EDER of Portland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
111~ 
1??11!dC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3305, sub-§l, ,N, as amended by PL 1997, c. 
393, Pt. B, §4, is further amended to read: 
N. 
Coordinate the development of solid waste management 
policy including: 
(1) 
Collecting and analyzing solid waste management 
and recycling data from all available sources including 
commercial and municipal entities; 
(2) 
Preparing a solid waste management and 
plan 
to 
be 
submitted 
to 
the 
Governor 
Legislature 
by 
January 
1, 
1998 
and 
every 
thereafter; and 
recycling 
and 
the 
years 
(3) 
Providing 
municipalities 
activities; ase 
technical 
in 
waste 
and financial assistance to 
reduction 
and 
recycling 
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §3305, sub-§l, ,0, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
625, Pt. A, §10, is amended to read: 
O. 
Own, 
design, 
develop 
or 
operate, 
or 
contract with 
private parties to operate, a solid waste disposal facility, 
as provided in Title 38, chapter 24, subchapter IVT 4; and 
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §330S, sub-§l,'P is enacted to read: 
P. 
Report annually to the Legislature on the subject of 
poverty in the State. 
(1) 
The 
report must include information on poverty 
among 
children 
and 
adults, 
regional 
differences 
in 
poverty rates 
and indicators, 
conditions 
responsible 
for changes from the prior year, expectations for the 
coming year and the economic condition of the State's 
communities. 
(2) 
The 
report must 
include an annual basic needs 
budget 
for 
households 
of 
different 
sizes 
and 
compositions, 
developed 
in 
cooperation 
with 
the 
Department of Human Services, including the following 
expendi ture categories: housing, transportation, child 
care, health care insurance and out-of-pocket health 
care 
expenses, 
clothing, 
food, 
personal 
care 
ancl 
recreation. 
This 
annual 
basic 
needs 
budget 
must 
include a brief description of the expense assumptions 
used for 
each of 
the expenditure categories 
and 
a 
Page l-LR0332 (1) 
calculation of the annual, monthly, weekly and hourly 
income needed to meet this basic needs budget. 
Sec. Ii. 22 MRSA §1718 is enacted to read: 
§1718. 
Livable wage 
The payment of a 
livable wage to health care workers is 
governed by this section. 
1. 
Definitions. 
As 
used 
in this 
section, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings. 
A. 
"Employ" has the same meaning as in Title 26, section 
663, subsection 2. 
B. 
"Employee" has the same meaning as in Title 26, section 
663, subsection 3. 
c. 
"Health care" has the same meaning as in section 1711-C, 
subsection 1, paragraph C. 
D. 
"Health care facility" 
has 
the 
same 
meaning 
as 
in 
section 1711-C, subsection 1, paragraph D. 
E. 
"Health care practitioner" has the same meaning as in 
section 1711-C, SUbsection 1, paragraph F. 
F. 
"Livable wage" means the wage, stated as hourly income, 
necessary for an employee to earn the income necessary for 
financial independence of the employee's household uniL as 
determined pursuant to subsection 3. 
2. 
Livable wage requirement. 
Beginning January 1, 2004, a 
health care facility or health care practitioner that receives 
state funds for the provision of health care to patients and that 
employs an employee in the provision of health care to patients 
shall pay to the employee a livable wage. 
3. 
Calculation of livable wage. 
The Executive Department, 
State Planning Office shall calculate and publish a listing by 
county of a livable wage for an employee living in that county. 
The calculation must be baseq on the basic needs budget prepared 
pursuant to Title 5, section 3305, subsection 1, paragraph P and 
must 
state 
the 
livable 
wage 
for 
financial 
independence 
for 
household units of different size. 
Sec. 5. Resolve 1997. c. 36. as amended by Resolve 1999, c. 62, 
§§1 and 2, is repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires health care facilities and health care 
practitioners that receive state funding for the provision of 
health care to patients to pay to their employees a livable wage 
beginning January 
1, 
2004. 
This bill repeals 
provisions 
of 
Resolve 1997, chapter 36 that require the State Planning Office 
to submit an annual report to the Legislature on a basic needs 
budget 
and 
reenacts 
those 
provisions 
in 
the 
Maine 
Revised 
Statutes, Title 5. 
The bill requires the State Planning Office 
to calculate a livable wage based on the basic needs budget.