An Act to Ensure Transparent and Accountable Temporary Nurse Agencies
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0451
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: BALDACCI
Amends: 22 MRSA §2131

Legislative Document
No. 451
S.P. 205
In Senate, February 6, 2023
An Act to Ensure Transparent and Accountable Temporary Nurse 
Agencies
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BALDACCI of Penobscot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §2131, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 621, §2, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Registration; renewal.  A temporary nurse agency shall register with the 
department and renew the registration as required by rule thereafter annually. In the event 
of a change of ownership, operation or location, the temporary nurse agency shall update 
the registration in accordance with rules adopted by the department. For purposes of this 
chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, "temporary nurse agency" means a business 
entity or subdivision thereof that provides nurses to another organization on a temporary 
basis within this State.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §2131, sub-§1-B is enacted to read:
1-B.  Employee quality assurance.  A temporary nurse agency shall ensure that each 
employee the agency assigns or refers to a health care facility for a position meets the state 
and federal qualification requirements for that position and has the appropriate work 
experience for that position. A temporary nurse agency shall maintain a record for each 
employee that must include documented evidence of credentials and required 
immunizations and documentation of any orientation, in-service education and completion 
of training or an educational program required by law. On request, a temporary nurse 
agency shall make available a record described in this subsection to the department. On 
request by a health care facility and with justification according to rules adopted by the 
department, a temporary nurse agency shall provide a record described in this subsection 
for an employee of that health care facility to that health care facility.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §2131, sub-§1-C is enacted to read:
1-C.  Predatory recruitment prohibited.  A temporary nurse agency may not require, 
as a condition of employment, assignment or referral, that an employee of the temporary 
nurse agency or staff contracted to the temporary nurse agency recruit new employees for 
the temporary nurse agency from among the permanent employees of the health care 
facility to which the temporary nurse agency employees or contracted staff have been 
assigned or referred.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §2131, sub-§1-D is enacted to read:
1-D.  Annual reporting.  A temporary nurse agency shall provide an annual report to 
the department that includes:
A. The number of total employees placed, the health care settings into which they were 
placed, the average duration of the placements and the state of licensure for those 
employees;
B. The total and average amounts charged during each quarter of the reporting period 
to a health care facility for each category of health care employee providing services 
to the health care facility;
C. The total and average amounts of wages paid during each quarter of the reporting 
period to health care employees for each category of health care employee;
D. The total and average amounts of stipends paid during each quarter of the reporting 
period to health care employees for each category of health care employee;
E. Documentation showing that the temporary nurse agency has documentation that 
each employee contracted to a health care facility during the reporting period had a 
current, unrestricted license or certification in good standing and met the training and 
continuing education standards required by state and federal law for the position with 
the health care facility throughout the entirety of the reporting period; and
F. Documentation showing that the temporary nurse agency has documentation that 
each employee contracted to a health care facility had successfully completed all 
background checks required by federal and state law relating to the health care position 
and health care facility in which the employee was placed during the reporting period.
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §2131, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2009, c. 590, §3, is further 
amended to read:
3.  Fee.  The initial and annual fee for registration is $25 $1,000.
The department may adopt rules necessary to implement this subsection.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 6. Report; legislation. No later than December 6, 2023, the Department of 
Health and Human Services shall provide to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and 
Human Services a summary report of the temporary nurse agency annual reports required 
by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 2131, subsection 1-D.
SUMMARY
This bill requires temporary nurse agencies to renew registration annually and to update 
the registration if a temporary nurse agency changes ownership, operation or location. The 
bill increases the cost of registration for a temporary nurse agency from $25 to $1,000.   
The bill requires that temporary nurse agencies ensure that each employee it refers to a 
provider for a position meets the state and federal qualification requirements for that 
position, and maintains records to that effect. This bill prohibits agencies from requiring 
employees to recruit other employees.
The bill requires temporary nurse agencies to submit an annual report to the 
Department of Health and Human Services, which is then required to submit a summary 
report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services.