An Act To Change the Compensation Structure of the Maine Labor Relations Board and the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0494
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: SYLVESTER
Amends: 26 MRSA §931, 26 MRSA §968

Legislative Document
No. 494
H.P. 357
House of Representatives, February 19, 2021
An Act To Change the Compensation Structure of the Maine Labor 
Relations Board and the State Board of Arbitration and 
Conciliation
Submitted by the Maine Labor Relations Board pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 17, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Labor and Housing pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SYLVESTER of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §931, first ¶, as amended by PL 2007, c. 175, §1, is further 
amended to read:
The State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation, in this subchapter called the "board," 
consists of 3 members appointed by the Governor from time to time upon the expiration of 
the terms of the several members, for terms of 3 years.  One member must be an employer 
of labor or selected from some an association representing employers of labor, and another 
must be an employee or selected from some a bona fide trade or labor union.  The 3rd 
member must represent the public interests of the State and serves as chair. Vacancies 
occurring during a term must be filled for the unexpired term.  Members When meeting to 
deliberate or vote with respect to a matter before the board, members of the board are 
entitled to receive $150 a day per meeting for their services for the time actually employed 
in the discharge of their official duties.  For all other purposes, members of the board are 
entitled to receive $300 a day for their services for the time actually employed in the 
discharge of their official duties.  They are entitled to receive their traveling and all other 
necessary expenses. The costs for services rendered and expenses incurred by the State 
Board of Arbitration and Conciliation and any state allocation program charges must be 
shared equally by the parties to the proceedings and must be paid into a special fund 
administered by the Maine Labor Relations Board.  Authorization for services rendered 
and expenditures incurred by the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation is the 
responsibility of the Executive Director of the Maine Labor Relations Board.  All costs 
must be paid from that special fund.  The executive director may estimate costs upon receipt 
of a request for services and collect those costs prior to providing the services.  The 
executive director shall bill or reimburse the parties, as appropriate, for any difference 
between the estimated costs that were collected and the actual costs of providing the 
services.  Once one party has paid its share of the estimated cost of providing the service, 
the matter is scheduled for hearing.  A party who has not paid an invoice for the estimated 
or actual cost of providing services within 60 days of the date the invoice was issued is, in 
the absence of good cause shown, liable for the amount of the invoice together with a 
penalty in the amount of 25% of the amount of the invoice.  Any penalty amount collected 
pursuant to this provision section remains in the special fund administered by the Maine 
Labor Relations Board and that fund does not lapse.  The executive director is authorized 
to collect any sums due and payable pursuant to this provision section through civil action.  
In such an action, the court shall allow litigation costs, including court costs and reasonable 
attorney's fees, to be deposited in the General Fund if the executive director is the prevailing 
party in the action.  The executive director shall, annually, on or before July 1st, make a 
report of the activities of the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation to the Governor.  
The board shall from time to time adopt rules of procedure as it determines necessary, 
including rules of procedure for proceedings under chapter 18.  Rules adopted pursuant to 
this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §968, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2019, c. 184, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Maine Labor Relations Board.  The Maine Labor Relations Board, established by 
Title 5, section 12004‑B, subsection 2, consists of 3 members and 6 alternates appointed 
by the Governor, subject to review by the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over labor matters and to confirmation by the Legislature.  The 
Governor, in making appointments, shall name one member and 2 alternates to represent 
employees, one member and 2 alternates to represent employers and one member and 2 
alternates to represent the public.  The member and alternates representing employees may 
not have worked in a management capacity or represented employer interests in any 
proceedings at any time during the prior 6 years.  The member and alternates representing 
the public may not have worked in a management capacity or represented employer 
interests in any proceedings or have worked for a labor organization or served in a 
leadership role in a labor organization at any time during the prior 6 years.  The member 
representing the public serves as the board's chair and the alternate representing the public 
serves as an alternate chair.  Members of the board are entitled to compensation according 
to the provisions of Title 5, chapter 379.  The alternates are entitled to compensation at the 
same per diem rate as the member that the alternate replaces.  The term of each member 
and each alternate is 4 years, except that of the members and alternates first appointed, one 
member and 2 alternates are appointed for a term of 4 years, one member and 2 alternates 
are appointed for a term of 3 years and one member and 2 alternates are appointed for a 
term of 2 years.  The members of the board, its alternates and its employees are entitled to 
receive necessary expenses.  Per diem and necessary expenses for members and alternates 
of the board may be paid from the board's General Fund appropriation if, in the discretion 
of the executive director, doing so would not create a financial hardship for the board; 
otherwise, per diem and necessary expenses for members and alternates of the board, as 
well as state cost allocation program charges, must be shared equally by the parties to any 
proceeding at which the board presides and must be paid into a special fund administered 
by the board from which all costs must be paid.  The executive director may estimate costs 
upon receipt of a request for services and collect those costs prior to providing the services.  
The executive director shall bill or reimburse the parties, as appropriate, for any difference 
between the estimated costs that were collected and the actual costs of providing the 
services.  Once one party has paid its share of the estimated cost of providing the service, 
the matter is scheduled for hearing.  A party who has not paid an invoice for the estimated 
or actual cost of providing services within 60 days of the date the invoice was issued is, in 
the absence of good cause shown, liable for the amount of the invoice together with a 
penalty in the amount of 25% of the amount of the invoice.  Any penalty amount collected 
pursuant to this provision subsection remains in the special fund administered by the Maine 
Labor Relations Board, and that fund does not lapse.  The executive director is authorized 
to collect any sums due and payable pursuant to this provision subsection through civil 
action.  In such an action, the court shall allow litigation costs, including court costs and 
reasonable attorney's fees, to be deposited in the General Fund if the executive director is 
the prevailing party in the action.  At its discretion, the board may allocate all costs to a 
party that presents a frivolous complaint or defense or that commits a blatant violation of 
the applicable collective bargaining law.  When the board meets on administrative or other 
matters that do not concern the interests of particular parties or when any board member 
presides at a prehearing conference, the members' per diem and necessary expenses must 
be paid from the board's regular appropriation for these purposes.  The executive director 
and legal or professional personnel employed by the board are members of the unclassified 
service.
SUMMARY
This bill adjusts the compensation structure for members of the State Board of 
Arbitration and Conciliation and the Maine Labor Relations Board.  For the State Board of 
Arbitration and Conciliation, the bill changes the per diem compensation for members of 
the board to provide that, when meeting to deliberate or vote with respect to a matter before 
the board, members receive $150 a day per meeting for their services for the time actually 
employed in the discharge of their official duties and, for all other purposes, members 
receive $300 a day for their services for the time actually employed in the discharge of their 
official duties.  For the Maine Labor Relations Board, the bill provides the board's 
executive director the discretion to provide the members' per diem compensation and 
related costs from the board's General Fund appropriation, rather than requiring the parties 
to a case to share the costs.