An Act to Establish Minimum Pay for Educational Technicians and Other School Support Staff
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0974
Committee Amendment CA_C_H927 (House)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §4016, 20-A MRSA §15677

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" G" to H.P. 621, L.D. 974, "An Act to Establish 
Minimum Pay for Educational Technicians and Other School Support Staff'' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §4016 is enacted to read: 
§4016. Minimum hourly wage for educational technicians and other school support 
staff 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Educational technician" has the same meaning as in section 13001-A, subsection 
~ 
B. 
"Other school support staff' means a public school employee who is not an 
educational technician and who is paid on an hourly basis. 
2. Minimum hourly wage, Except as provided in subsection 3, for the school year 
starting after June 30. 2025 and for each subsequent school year. the minimum hourly wage 
for educational technicians is equal to 150% of the minimum hourly wage established in 
Title 26, section 664, subsection 1 and the minimum hourly wage for other school support 
staff is equal to 125% of the minimum hourly wage established in Title 26, section 664, 
subsection 1. 
3. 
Wage increases. If, pursuant to the requirements of Title 26. section 664, 
subsection 1, the minimum hourly wage is increased on January 1st of any year. the 
minimum hourly wage for educational technicians and other school support staff is 
increased beginning July 1st of the same year in an amount equal to 150% of the increased 
minimum hourly wage under Title 26, section 664, subsection 1 for educational technicians 
and in an amount equal to 125% of the increased minimum hourly wage under Title 26, 
section 664. subsection 1 for other school support staff. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROS 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" C,, "to H.P. 621, L.D. 974 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §15677, sub-§2, ,0, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 504, Pt. A, 
§6, is amended to read: 
B. For fiscal year 2006-07 Em:d each subsequent year until fiscal year 2025-26, the 
commissioner shall update the previous year's salary matrix to reflect appropriate 
trends in the Consumer Price Index or other comparable index, 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §15677, sub-§2, ,re is enacted to read: 
C. For fiscal year 2025-26 and for each subsequent fiscal year, the commissioner shall 
update the previous year's salary matrix to reflect appropriate trends in the Consumer 
Price Index or other comparable index and to reflect any increase in the minimum 
hourly wage of educational technicians and clerical staff in accordance with section 
4016, subsection 3. 
Sec. 4. Incorporation into essential programs and services. The Department 
of Education shall incorporate the minimum hourly wage under the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 20-A, section 4016 into the essential programs and services funding model 
under Title 20-A, chapter 606-B. 
Sec. 5. State contribution. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
20-A, chapter 606-B, for the 2025-2026 school year only, the State shall provide 100% of 
the additional funding necessary to achieve the minimum hourly wage for educational 
technicians and other school support staff established under Title 20-A, section 4016.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill and provides that, beginning in the school year 
starting after June 30, 2025, the minimum hourly wage for educational technicians is 150% 
of the state minimum hourly wage and the minimum hourly wage for other school support 
staff who are paid hourly is 125% of the state minimum hourly wage. If the state minimum 
hourly wage is increased on January 1st of any year, the minimum hourly wage for 
educational technicians and other school support staff is increased beginning July 1st of the 
same year. 
The amendment provides that, beginning in fiscal year 2025-26 and for each 
subsequent fiscal year, the Commissioner of Education is required to update the salary 
matrix to reflect any increase in the minimum hourly wage of educational technicians and 
clerical staff. The Department of Education is directed to incorporate the minimum hourly 
wage into the essential programs and services funding model. 
The amendment also provides that for the 2025-2026 school year only, the State shall 
pay 100% of the additional funding necessary to achieve the minimum hourly wage. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 04/01/24 .::tPae!. 
LD974 
LR 2257(05) 
An Act to Establish Minimum Pay for Educational Technicians and Other School Support Staff 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment't tt { H-7:J 1) 
• 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
, 
',l,1 ,, 
, ' 
:•II, 
. Future biennium cost increase - local school administrative units 
~ Net ~Q.st, (~ayings) 
.. . O~:ti;t;iral Fund .. • 
Appropr-iations/Allocatfons 
Gehefa! Fund- . • 
FiscalDetail and· Notes 
FY 2023-24 
$0. 
$0 
FY 2024-25 
$0 
$0 
Projections 
FY 2025-26 
$15,441,724 
$15,441,724 
Projections 
FY 2026-27 
$8,747,737 
$8,747,737 
\. .. 
1:'his bill requ.ir~s that, beginning with the school year starting after June 30, 202°5, the minimum hourly wage for ' 
~ducatiohal techniciatrs is 150% of the state minimum hourly wage and the minimum hourly wage for other school 
support st~ff who are paid hourly is 125% of the state minimum hourly wage. The total cost of this provision is 
estimated to be $15,441,724 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $15,904,976 in fiscal year 2026-27. The General Purpose Aid 
for Local Schools program within the Department of Educ&tion will require ongoing General Fund appropiiations 
beginning in fiscal year 2025-26 for the State's share of the cost. Details of the future General Fund appropriations are 
provi.ded below. 
Public Law 2023, chapter 412. included ·a one-time General Fund appropriation of $80,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 to 
• the Department of Education to support the collection of current wage infonnation for school support staff in order to 
estimate the cost of any wage increase on the State and municipalities. The department indicates that it was able to 
collect data from 89% of the school administrative units surveyed. Based on the data collected, the department 
estimates the total cost of the wage increase for educational technicians and oth~r school support staff to be 
$14,781,013 in fiscal year 2025-26. Assuming a 3% increase in ,vage costs for fiscal year 2026-27, the total cost is 
estimated to be $15,224,443. This bill requires the State to fund 100% of the cost of this wage increase in fiscal year 
2025-26 only. Given this requirement, the General Purpose Aid for Local Schools program will require a one-time 
General Fund appropriation of $14,781,013 in fiscal year 2025-26 and ongoing General Fund appropriations of 
$8,373,444 per year beginning in fiscal year 2026-27 for the State's share of the cost. 
LR2257(05) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of2 
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The increase in ·s•afaries will 11n.:rease the employer contribution for the norrnal cost component of the Maine Public 
Employers Retirement System (MainePERS). The rate for the nom1al cost component for fiscal year 2024-25 is 
4-.4-7%. Utilizing this rate as a proxy for the 2026-2027 biennium, the additional amount local scliool administrative 
units will have to pay to MainePERS for the normal cost of teacher retirement is estimated to be $660,711 in fiscal 
year 2025~26 and $680,533 in fiscal year 2026-27. The General Purpose Aid for Local Schools program will require a 
one-time GeneralFlind appropriation of $660;711 to reimburse 100% of this cost in fiscal year 2025-26 only and 
ongoing General Fund appropriations of $374,293 per year beginning in fiscal year 2026-27 to fund the State's share 
of this cost. 
It is important to note that certain cost components within the EPS funding model are expenditure driven, while other 
cost components are not. For those components that are expenditure driven, it will be 2 years before the salary 
increase will be reflected in the total cost of education as dete1mined by the model. Until then school administrative 
units will be responsible for funding 100% of the cost of this initiative. The methodology used by the department to 
collect cu11'ent wage info1mation for educational technicians and other school support staff did not allow for the data 
to be sorted by these components, so no estimate of the costs by expenditure driven and non-expenditure driven 
components is available. 
Although not addressed in the bill, incrementally increasing minimum salaty thresholds may put pressure on SAU's to 
raise salaries for other employees who are already above the minimum. Any additional salary increases SAU's may 
choose to provide would be fully funded by the SAU's unless the Commissioner of Education recommends adjusting 
the salaty matrix within the essential programs and services funding model and these changes get implemented, 
LR2257(05) - Fiscal Note - Page 2 of2