APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 16, 2021 243
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
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IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
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S.P. 462 - L.D. 1412
An Act To Update and Improve the MaineEARNS Database and Reconvene
the State Education and Employment Outcomes Task Force
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §12902 is enacted to read:
§12902. Educational outcome database
No later than January 1, 2022, and biennially thereafter, the Department of Labor, in
consultation with the Department of Education and the task force, shall update the database.
Sec. 2. State Education and Employment Outcomes Task Force
appointments. All appointments to the State Education and Employment Outcomes Task
Force pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 12901 must be made no
later than 30 days following the effective date of this Act. The appointing authorities shall
notify the Executive Director of the Legislative Council once all appointments have been
completed. After appointment of all members, the chairs shall call and convene the first
meeting of the task force. If 30 days or more after the effective date of this Act a majority
of but not all appointments have been made, the chairs may request authority and the
Legislative Council may grant authority for the task force to meet and conduct its business.
Sec. 3. State Education and Employment Outcomes Task Force to study
improvements to the Department of Labor's educational outcome database.
The State Education and Employment Outcomes Task Force shall study the updating of,
and improvements to, the educational outcome database under the Maine Revised Statutes,
Title 20-A, section 12901. The study must include, but is not limited to, methods of
ensuring the database contains the most current data available, ways to add to and improve
the database with additional data regarding vocational schools, student loan information,
financial aid awards and student loan default rates, incorporation of data available in other
publicly available state or national databases, best practices from other states and any other
information that would inform a prospective student. The task force shall report to the joint
standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural
affairs and labor and housing matters no later than November 1, 2022. The joint standing
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committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs may
report out a bill related to the report to the First Regular Session of the 131st Legislature.
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