An Act To Facilitate Debarment of State Contractors with Serious or Repeated Labor Violations
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1087
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: TUTTLE, STRIMLING, BLANCHETTE, DRISCOLL, FISHER, GERZOFSKY, HANLEY, JACKSON, PILON, BRYANT
Amends: 26 MRSA §1402

Legislative Document 
No. 1087 
H.P.805 
House of Representatives, March 6, 2007 
An Act To Facilitate Debarment of State Contractors with Serious 
or Repeated Labor Violations 
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative TUTTLE of Sanford. 
Cosponsored by Senator STRIMLING of Cumberland and 
17/~/J?~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BLANCHETTE of Bangor, DRISCOLL of Westbrook, FISHER of Brewer, 
GERZOFSKY of Brunswick, HANLEY of Gardiner, JACKSON of Allagash, PILON of Saco, 
Senator: BRYANT of Oxford. 
Prinled on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §1402, as amended by PL 1999, c. 57, Pt. B, §§6 and 7, is 
further amended to read: 
§1402. Debarment from state contracts 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context indicates otherwise, the 
following terms have the following meaBiBg meanings. 
A. 
"Repeated violation" for purposes of subsection 2 means a violation of any legal 
requirement under the United States Code, Title 29, Chapter 15, wflet:e when a 
previous violation of the same requirement was found whl6h that involved a 
substantially similar hazard. "Repeated violation" for purposes of subsection 3 means 
a violation of any legal requirement under this Title or under the federal Davis-Bacon 
Act, 40 United States Code, Sections 3141 to 3148 (2006) and related acts, when a 
previous violation was found that involved a substantially similar requirement. 
B. 
"Serious violation" for purposes of subsection 2 means a violation wflet:e in 
which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could 
result from a condition whl6h that exists, or from one or more practices, means, 
methods, operations or processes whl6h that have been adopted or are in use, in that 
place of employment, unless the employer did not, and could not with the exercise of 
reasonable diligence, know of the presence of the violation. "Serious violation" for 
purposes of subsection 3 means a violation involving more than $500 in unpaid 
wages and benefits or taxes for any individual or more than $2,000 in unpaid wages 
and benefits or taxes for any group of workers. 
C. 
"Willful violation" means a violation committed intentionally or knowingly with 
an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, legal requirements under the 
United States Code, Title 29, Chapter 15. 
2. Debarment for safety and health violations. The Department of Labor shall 
may, after hearing, debar from participation in state contracts for 2 years any person, 
partnership, corporation or other public or private entity found to have committed a 
serious, willful violation or serious, repeated violations of a standard under the United 
States Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, United States Code, Title 29, Chapter 
15, and either the time for filing an appeal of the determination of that violation has 
expired or the appeals process has been exhausted. 
3. Debarment for labor standards. The Department of Labor may, after hearing, 
debar from participation in state contracts any person, partnership, corporation or other 
public or private entity found to have committed a serious or repeated violation under this 
Title or under the federal Davis-Bacon Act, 40 United States Code, Sections 3141 to 3148 
(2006) and related acts. 
4. LeDinh of debarment. The first debarment under this section may be for no more 
than 3 years. Any subsequent debarment may be for no more than 5 years. 
5. Removal of debarment order. Any person, partnership, corporation or other 
public or private entity debarred under this section may petition for removal of the order 
of debarment after 113 of the debarment period has been completed. 
6. Rules. The Department of Labor may adopt rules to implement this section. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
The department may make an exception to this section if the condition giving rise to 
the violation has been abated. 
SUMMARY 
This bill broadens the Department of Labor's authority to debar contractors seeking 
state contracts if these contractors have serious or repeated violations of state labor laws 
or certain federal laws.