An Act To Address the Unmet Workforce Needs of Employers and To Improve the Economic Future of Workers
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0669
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: KATZ, PIERCE, DAVIS, GRATWICK, LANGLEY, LIBBY, DeCHANT, HARRINGTON, MASTRACCIO, RYKERSON

Legislative Document
No. 669
S.P. 231
In Senate, February 28, 2017
An Act To Address the Unmet Workforce Needs of Employers and 
To Improve the Economic Future of Workers
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator KATZ of Kennebec.
Cosponsored by Representative PIERCE of Dresden and
Senators: DAVIS of Piscataquis, GRATWICK of Penobscot, LANGLEY of Hancock, LIBBY 
of Androscoggin, Representatives: DeCHANT of Bath, HARRINGTON of Sanford, 
MASTRACCIO of Sanford, RYKERSON of Kittery.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
CONCEPT DRAFT 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. 
This bill proposes to enact a comprehensive package of proposals designed to address 
the unmet workforce needs of employers and to improve the economic future of workers.  
These proposals may include, but are not limited to, proposals to: 
1.  Identify workforce needs; 
2.  Connect businesses with trained workers; 
3.  Maximize the benefits of educational assessment funding by focusing the funds on 
the students; 
4.  Provide incentives for educational institutions receiving state training funds to 
place graduates into the employment or school of the graduates' choice; 
5.  Strengthen the ability of the Maine Quality Centers, established in the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 12725, to fulfill their mission of meeting the 
workforce education and training needs of new and expanding businesses in the State and 
providing new employment and career advancement opportunities for Maine people; 
6.  Design diverse programs to meet the needs of Maine employers; 
7.  Prepare untrained workers to meet immediate and long-term needs; 
8.  Allow military training to count towards required training for certain certifications 
and licenses; 
9.  Establish a clearinghouse to connect workers with employers; 
10.  Identify educational programs necessary for specific types of employment and 
create a process to preemploy prospective workers while they are being trained; 
11.  Provide to people receiving public assistance the opportunity to permanently 
leave poverty behind by providing skills training that offers academic degrees, 
certifications or credentials and leads to employment with wages that can sustain 
families; 
12.  Establish workforce training programs targeted exclusively at individuals who 
are on public assistance or whose incomes meet certain criteria and provide transitional 
benefits including child care, health care, transportation supports and educational 
supports; 
13.  Align Maine's system of learning results with technical skills for current 
employment needs, support technical courses in high schools and integrate those courses 
with the high school curriculum and identify for middle school and secondary school 
students career paths that include alternatives that do not require college educations; 
14.  Identify barriers to the reentry by older citizens into the workforce; 
15.  Establish a program to identify and eliminate unfavorable tax policies with 
respect to retirement income and pensions and tax policies that discourage older citizens 
and retirees from returning to the workforce; and 
16.  Promote education to allow seniors to develop new skills.