LD 1932, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau’s bill, Maine Essential Care and Support Workforce Enhancement Act, has been carried over to the short session where we hope for an environment with a little more certainty and less fatigue.
So what’s next for the partnership? – Fighting to restore the modest but critical progress we’ve made in appropriately valuing this workforce and the care and support they provide.
Members of the Partnership have been and are continuing to meet with legislative leadership to urge them to prioritize the restoration of COLAs, and reject language that destroys the progress we’ve made on our MaineCare Rate Setting System, and ensure that LD 977 is fully funded.
Here are the three pillars of this fight:
- FULLY FUND ANNUAL COST-OF-LIVING-ADJUSTMENTS (COLAs) as required by 22 M.R.S.A §3173-J and §7402.
- REJECT LD 210’s PART UU LANGUAGE and replace it with an alternative path forward that better honors and preserves the original intent of Public Law 2021, c. 398, Pt. AAAA, §1 (22 M.R.S.A §3173-J and §7402.) while addressing the goals of the Administration and giving employers, workers, and care recipients more predictability and stability.
- IMPROVE DATA COLLECTION TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS. LD 977, Resolve, Requiring the Maine Health Data Organization to Develop a Plan for Measuring Gaps in Home and Community-based Services, provides a path to regular, consistent, and accessible data is critical for assessing which interventions are most successful in growing the direct care work force and improving health and wellbeing of Maine’s people.
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