Maine Paid Sick Leave Initiative (2020)
| Maine Paid Sick Leave Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Labor and unions | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Maine Paid Sick Leave Initiative was not on the ballot in Maine as an indirect initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The ballot initiative would have required employers to provide employees with earned paid sick leave at a rate of no less than 1 hour per 30 hours worked.[1]
Text of measure
Petition summary
The summary of the initiative that was included on the petition form is as follows:[1]
| “ | This initiated bill requires all private and public employers to provide eligible employees earned paid sick leave at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked by an employee. Eligible employees may use earned paid sick leave for illness or medical care of the employee or the employee’s family. The initiated bill allows employees to take up to 40 hours of earned paid sick leave each year and requires employers to allow employees to carry forward at least 40 hours of unused earned paid sick leave to the following year.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Sponsors
The Maine People's Alliance proposed the ballot initiative.[3]
Background
State paid sick leave policies
As of 2018, 11 states and Washington, D.C., had laws requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. Connecticut was the first state to enact a paid sick leave requirement, with Gov. Dan Malloy (D) signing a bill into law in 2011. Voters in Massachusetts (2014), Arizona (2016), and Washington (2016) passed ballot initiatives to require paid sick leave. The Michigan State Legislature passed an indirect ballot initiative in 2018, but later amended the initiative to change what type of employers could be required to provide paid sick leave. The following map illustrates which states require private employers to provide paid sick leave:[4]
Path to the ballot
Process in Maine
In Maine, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirect initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Petitions can be circulated for up to 18 months, but signatures must be no more than one year old to be valid. Signatures must be filed with the secretary by the 50th day of the first regular legislative session or the 25th day of the second regular session. Maine's initiative process is indirect, which means sufficient initiative petitions first go to the legislature and only go to the ballot if the legislature rejects or does not act on the initiative.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 63,067 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was February 3, 2020.
Each petition signature is certified by the local registrar of voters. The signatures are then submitted to the secretary of state. If enough signatures are verified, the initiatives are sent to the legislature. If the legislature approves the initiative, it becomes law. If the legislature does not act on the initiative or rejects it, the initiative goes on the ballot. The legislature may submit "any amended form, substitute, or recommendation" to the people alongside the initiative; this alternative is treated as a competing measure.
Stages of this initiative
On October 29, 2018, the initiative petition was approved for signature gathering.[5] Jennie Pirkl, organizing director of the Maine People's Alliance, said, "We’re still evaluating how best to achieve that goal, whether through a citizen initiative in 2019 or 2020, or through a legislative campaign. Submitting referendum language now preserves all of our options."[3]
In 2019, the Maine State Legislature passed a bill to enact paid sick leave, which Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed on May 28, 2019.[6]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maine Secretary of State, "An Act To Require Employers To Provide Earned Paid Sick Leave to Eligible Employees," accessed November 5, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Portland Press Herald, "Backers of failed Question 1 now turn toward paid sick leave," November 7, 2018
- ↑ NCSL, "Paid Sick Leave," May 29, 2018
- ↑ Maine Secretary of State, "Citizen Initiative Petitions Currently Approved for Circulation," accessed May 16, 2016
- ↑ WMTW, "Gov. Mills signs paid sick leave bill into law," May 28, 2019
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State of Maine Augusta (capital) |
|---|---|
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