Educational & Legislative Information
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We try to provide you with a brief list of new bills every other week that impact our members. Be sure to skim the Bills and information and if there is a bill that you have interest in, please let us know and we'll make sure to track those issues a bit more closely.
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Business After Hours Event
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February 7th
Join the Skowhegan Area Chamber each month at our Business After Hours Events! These events are a great opportunity to mix and mingle with other business professionals and leaders in our communities. Hors d'oeuvres, and other beverages are available, as well as a 50/50 raffle and fabulous door prizes. Don't miss out on these great networking opportunities. No registration required, admission is free. Make sure to bring your business cards! Find more
here
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Maine Legislature Calendar
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The Legislative Week Ahead - From the Maine State Chamber
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A new
episode of our Legislative Week Ahead
is now posted online. This video snapshot of our most critical legislative issues provides our members with a weekly video forecast of the wide variety of issues facing lawmakers in Augusta during the upcoming week. Our Advocacy team breaks down the issues and what they mean to your business.
New episodes are posted weekly during the legislative session. View the Legislative Week Ahead by clicking the link above, or see past videos by visiting the Legislative Week Ahead Archive online
here
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Public hearings and Work Sessions we are keeping an eye on:
LD 1723, HP1203
An Act To Expand Job Opportunities for People Working in Maine
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to expand job opportunities for people working in this State.
LD 1744, SP0643
An Act To Create the Hire American Tax Credit for Businesses That Hire Residents of the United States
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. This bill proposes to encourage the employment of Maine residents who are in the logging industry by providing a tax credit to businesses located in the United States that employ Maine residents who are engaged in logging and trucking in Maine.
LD 1338, HP0932
An Act To Create and Sustain Jobs through Development of Cooperatives and Employee-owned Businesses
This bill supports employee-owned businesses and cooperatives in the following ways.1. It excludes from Maine income tax the amount of gain recognized by a business owner in transferring the business to an employee stock ownership plan, eligible worker-owned cooperative, consumer cooperative or affordable housing cooperative. 2. It excludes from Maine income tax interest from loans that finance transfers of ownership from a business to an employee stock ownership plan, eligible worker-owned cooperative, consumer cooperative or affordable housing cooperative.
LD 1719, HP1199
An Act To Implement a Regulatory Structure for Adult Use Marijuana
This bill, which is an emergency bill, facilitates the development and administration of a regulated marketplace in the State for adult use marijuana and the regulation of the personal use of marijuana and the home cultivation of marijuana for personal adult use pursuant to the Marijuana Legalization Act, as approved by the voters at referendum in November 2016.
This bill enacts the Maine Fair Chance Employment Act and adds restrictions to the use of criminal history information in the context of employment decisions by private employers and the State and its political subdivisions and of licensing decisions by licensing agencies.
LD 1757, HP1210
An Act To Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Will Increase and Establishing a Training and Youth Wage
This bill affects the minimum wage by:1. Reducing the minimum wage from $10 per hour to $9.50 per hour beginning June 1, 2018; 2. Reducing the amount by which the minimum hourly wage rates are scheduled to increase annually on January 1st from 2019 to 2021 from $1 per year to 50 cents per year, and decreasing from $12 to $11 the minimum hourly wage rate required to be paid in 2021; 3. Eliminating the cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage; and 4. Establishing a training minimum wage for employees 18 years of age or older and under 20 years of age for the first 90 days of employment and a youth minimum wage for employees under 18 years of age.
LD 700, HP0491
An Act To Give Flexibility to Employees and Employers for Temporary Layoffs
This bill creates an exemption from the eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits dealing with work search for an individual otherwise eligible for unemployment benefits when that individual has been temporarily laid off with a definite recall date of not more than 12 weeks from the date of the individual's temporary layoff.
LD 1768, SP0655
An Act To Reduce Impairment on the Job and Improve Workplace Safety by Amending the Laws Governing Employment Practices Concerning Substance Use Testing
This bill makes changes to the laws governing employment practices concerning substance abuse testing
LD 1769, SP0656
An Act To Conform the Laws Regarding a Salaried Employee Who Is Exempt from Overtime and Minimum Wage Requirements to Federal Law
This bill amends the description of a salaried employee for the laws governing limits on mandatory overtime and the definition of "employee" in the laws governing minimum wages to conform with the federal guidelines established by the United States Department of Labor under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. It sets the minimum salary at the threshold established by the United States Department of Labor under that Act. It eliminates the requirement that the salary threshold be tied to the state minimum wage.
LD 1790, SP0669
An Act To Increase Safety on a Youth Hunting Day for Hunting Bear by Allowing an Accompanying Adult To Possess a Firearm
This bill allows the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish a youth hunting day for hunting bear. An adult supervisor, parent or guardian accompanying the youth is allowed to possess a firearm while the youth is hunting bear.
LD 1762, HP1216
An Act To Ensure Sustainable Health Care Access in the Jackman Region
This bill appropriates $495,000 to the Jackman Community Health Center to ensure sustainable health care access in the Jackman region.
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The Skowhegan Area Chamber advocacy program is working hard for you and we would like your feedback, please let us know if there are particularity bills that you would like us to focus on for your businesses and if you would like additional information on any of the bills we will do our best to get you the information. Please let us know
here.
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The MaineDOT Work Plan Calendar Years 2018-2019-2020
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The
MaineDOT
Work Plan outlines the work that the Department plans to perform over the next three years. The Work Plan is calendar year-based and includes all MaineDOT work activities. Projects and activities listed for calendar year 2018 have the most definite schedules and estimates, while those for calendar years 2019 and 2020 may be more subject to change. For information about transportation projects and expenditures in your municipality, search the Department’s
Interactive Work Plan.
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Maine Unemployment Rate 3.0 Percent in December
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Seasonally Adjusted Statewide Data
Household Survey Estimates – The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.0 percent for December was down from 3.3 percent for November and 3.8 percent one year ago. The number of unemployed was down 5,400 over the year to 20,700. The unemployment rate has been at or below 4.0 percent for 27 consecutive months. The U.S. preliminary unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for December was unchanged from November and down from 4.7 percent one year ago. The New England unemployment rate averaged 3.7 percent.
December unemployment estimates for other states in the region were 2.6 percent in New Hampshire, 2.8 percent in Vermont, 3.5 percent in Massachusetts, 4.4 percent in Rhode Island, and 4.6 percent in Connecticut. The employment to population ratio estimate of 61.7 percent remained above the 60.1 percent U.S. average.
Payroll Survey Estimates – The 622,600 preliminary nonfarm payroll jobs estimate for December was up 5,000 from one year ago. The private sector gained 5,200 jobs, with the largest gains in the healthcare and social assistance, and professional and business services sectors. Jobs in government were down 200.
Not Seasonally Adjusted Substate Data
The not seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate estimate of 2.5 percent for December was down from 3.5 percent one year ago. Unemployment rates decreased over the year in all counties. The lowest rate was 1.8 percent in Cumberland County, and the highest was 4.2 percent in Aroostook County.
The unemployment rate was below the statewide average in the Portland-South Portland (1.8 percent) and Lewiston-Auburn (2.1 percent) metro areas and at the average in the Bangor (2.5 percent) metro area.
Due to annual data revisions, release of January estimates will be delayed until Monday, March 12. The data release schedule can be found
here
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Unclaimed Property….DO YOU HAVE ANY?
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Unclaimed property consists of money and other personal assets that are considered lost or abandoned when an owner cannot be located after a specified period of time. It includes checking accounts, certificates of deposit, overpayments, gift certificates, paid-up life insurance policies, unpaid wages, commissions, uncashed checks, death benefits, dividends, insurance payments, money orders, refunds, savings accounts, stocks, and contents of safe deposit boxes. Unclaimed Property does not include real estate, animals, or vehicles.
Millions of dollars are turned over annually to the State of Maine by entities who cannot locate the owners. There is no fee charged to process your property claim.
To search for unclaimed property, please visit
Unclaimed Property Search and Claim
. If you find your name on the list, you can make a claim right there by filing online or you may print a
claim form
and mail it to Office of the Maine State Treasurer, Attn: Unclaimed Property, 39 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0039. Some claims may take up to 90 days to process. Claims involving stocks or mutual funds may take considerably longer.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Maine State Treasurer at (207) 624-7470 or send an e-mail to
up.generalinquire@maine.gov
.
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Don’t miss this year’s
Governor's Conference on Tourism
as we make Portland our campus, with Tuesday afternoon workshops on Successful Social Media at Allagash Brewing Company; Video Storytelling at O’Maine Studios; Digital Marketing "101" at Fork Food Lab; Cyber Security at the Holiday Inn by The Bay; How to Build an "Experience" - Case Studies at the Maine Historical Society and Portland Museum of Art, and an evening Opening Reception. (Space is limited at some venues, so be sure to
register
early to reserve your place.)
The full conference day on Wednesday, April 4th, will take place at our conference home at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, with an update from the Office of Tourism, breakout sessions focused on how to expand your customer base, a Workforce Development general session, the annual Tourism Awards luncheon, and an inspiring keynote from Kelly McDonald, one of the nation’s top experts in multicultural marketing and consumer trends.
If you work in Maine's tourism industry – you need to be there!
Maine's Governor’s Conference on Tourism is presented by the Maine Office of Tourism.
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The Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Educate Maine, and the Maine Development Foundation are partnering on a business survey to identify the investments and policies that are needed to support the strengthening of our workforce as well as long-term economic growth in the state. This survey is a follow-up to the Making Maine Work survey that was conducted in 2010 with more than 1,000 business leaders. We look forward to seeing how far we’ve come in meeting the needs expressed 8 years ago. The
survey
takes about 10 minutes to complete
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Maine Senate and House Office Links
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To connect with the Senate
Republican Office
on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
To connect with the Senate
Democrats Office
on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
To connect with the
any Senator
on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
To connect with the House
Republican Office
on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
To connect with the
House Democrats
Office on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
To connect with the
any Representative
on the Web, you can visit them
here
.
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US Senate and House Office Links
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To connect with
Senator Susan Collins
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
To connect with
Senator Angus King
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
To connect with any of the
US Senators
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
To connect with
Congressman Bruce Poliquin
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
To connect with
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
To connect with any of the
US House of
Representatives
on the Web, you can visit
here
.
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Does your business have news to share? Let us know, and we’ll promote it, just click below and email us the information
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Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce | (207) 474.3621 |
admin@skowheganareachamber.com |
www.skowheganchamber.com
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