Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
                  FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document                                                                         No. 734
H.P. 539                                                      House of Representatives, March 5, 2021
           An Act To Set a Minimum Wage for School Support Staff
   Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
                                                                                 ROBERT B. HUNT
                                                                                            Clerk
Presented by Representative COLLINGS of Portland.
Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook.
                                      Printed on recycled paper
 1   Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
 2       Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §4014 is enacted to read:
 3   §4014. Minimum wage for school support staff
 4       1. Minimum wage. For the school year starting after June 30, 2022, and for each
 5   subsequent school year, the minimum hourly wage for school support staff is $16 per hour.
 6   For the purposes of this section, "school support staff" means a public school employee
 7   who is not an administrator, as defined in section 13001-A, subsection 1, or a certified
 8   teacher subject to the minimum salary requirement pursuant to section 13407.
 9       Sec. 2. State contribution. For the school year starting after June 30, 2022 only,
10   notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 606-B, the State shall
11   provide 100% of the additional funding necessary to achieve the minimum hourly wage for
12   school support staff established under Title 20-A, section 4014. The Department of
13   Education shall determine the additional funding necessary to achieve the minimum hourly
14   wage for school support staff for each school administrative unit through the collection of
15   data from school administrative units. A school administrative unit shall provide to the
16   Department of Education on or before October 1, 2021 the current wage per hour paid to
17   school support staff eligible for the minimum wage established in Title 20-A, section 4014.
18                                         SUMMARY
19       This bill establishes a minimum hourly wage of $16 per hour for school support staff
20   for school years beginning after June 30, 2022. The bill requires the State on a one-time
21   basis, for the school year beginning after June 30, 2022, to provide funds to school
22   administrative units to make up the difference between what a school administrative unit
23   currently pays school support staff and what the unit is required to pay under the minimum
24   wage requirement.
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