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Rep. Katrina Smith of Palermo is serving her second term in the Maine House of Representatives and is the Assistant House Republican Leader. Rep. Gary Drinkwater of Milford is serving his fourth term in the Maine House and is the lead Republican on the Labor Committee.
Rep. Amy Roeder recently wrote a column to celebrate Maine’s paid family and medical leave (PFML) law. She painted a rosy picture of a program she claims is on the right track. The problem is, her version doesn’t match the reality we see. And while she’s entitled to her opinion, she’s not entitled to her own set of facts.
The 2023 law wasn’t the result of consensus or collaboration. It was written by Sen. Matthea Daughtry, signed by Gov. Janet Mills, and rushed through at the end of session after one public hearing and one work session. It passed on strict party-line votes and was tucked into a 380-page budget bill.
Think about that: a $350 million-a-year program built on the backs of workers and small businesses passed with little daylight.
Calling this a “compromise” with the business community? That’s not a story we recognize. Employers across Maine tell a different tale: They said they were left out of the process and their concerns dismissed.
Then came this year’s budget shortfall. Instead of tightening the belt, Rep. Roeder and her colleagues made sure state employees didn’t have to pay the employee share of the new tax. They shifted the costs onto you and other taxpayers.
Now the consequences are hitting home.
The towns charged with making this law work are discovering just how unworkable it is. The Maine Municipal Association — the voice of local governments — came out in support of repealing the entire program. Why? Because after digging into budgets and planning for long-term absences, the truth is clear: This one-size-fits-all law is going to strain the systems communities rely on.
It will make running buses and schools harder, stretch public safety thin, and strain essential services. Imagine waiting longer for help or not getting needed service because the system can’t keep up, or a rural school losing multiple teachers for 12 weeks with little notice. That’s what this law allows.
Rep. Roeder dismissed efforts to fix the program’s worst flaws as “false attacks.” But that’s not true. Members of her own party offered common-sense reforms, but majority-party Democrats rejected them.
One proposal required 120 days of employment before qualifying for three months of paid leave. Another called for refunds to workers and small businesses who were forced to bankroll a program they will never use. A third said workers should not be able to wait 90 days after taking leave to report it.
Instead of real debate on what makes sense, we got political theater. A few of these reforms failed by just one vote. That’s hardly the “sound defeat” Rep. Roeder claims.
State lawmakers had every chance to build in reasonable guardrails, and they chose not to. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the ways this law can be used that would leave most folks shaking their heads.
To be clear, we support helping Mainers care for family or recover from illness. That’s not the issue. The issue is balance. We need to offer support without grinding down the small businesses and services we all depend on.
Roeder also says the Legislature made updates to “ensure smooth implementation.” But pull back the curtain, and what they did was give the state more power to penalize. A small business that’s a dollar short can be fined based on its entire payroll. Meanwhile, if a worker knowingly commits fraud, the state can decide not to recover a single dollar.
She claims this law will help employers hire and retain workers. But in other states with similar programs, we’ve seen what actually happens: higher costs, more red tape, and small businesses left reeling. How is your local diner, garage, or town office supposed to absorb that?
No matter how well it’s packaged, a law that ignores small businesses, threatens essential services, and shifts costs onto working families isn’t progress. It’s politics dressed up as compassion — and Mainers can see right through it.
