pls testify on LD 1037 this Thu at 1 pm to address workforce crisis (157% of min wage)

[Maine Disability Alerts]

Dear Friends of Mainers with Disabilities,

This Thu, April 20 at 1 pm the HHS Committee will have public hearing on LD 1037 "An Act to Fund Competitive Wages for Direct Support Professionals for Persons with Disabilities"

This bill would increase direct care worker pay in Home and Community Based Services (Sections 18/19/20/21/29) and in other support (Section 12, 17, 26, 65, 96) from 125% of minimum wage to 157% of minimum wage. (At Maine's current minimum wage of $13.80/hour, that would mean a raise from $17.25/hour to $21.67/hour)

The purpose of this bill is to address the ongoing workforce crisis, as 125% of minimum wage was a pre-pandemic recommendation that remains uncompetitive in today's labor market.

Please consider testifying and sharing any stories you have about lack of access to services even for people not on the wait list.

To testify:

1. go to https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony
2. Click on the "Public Hearing" radio button
3. On the "Choose a Committee" pull-down, choose "Health and Human Services"
4. On the "Choose date" pull-down, choose Apr 20 2023 1:00PM
5. Under "Choose a bill", select LD 1037 - An Act to Fund Competitive Wages for Direct Support Professionals for Persons with Disabilities
6. Check "I would like to testify electronically over zoom" to get a link to testify
7. Upload written testimony or type it in the box
8. Fill out first name, last name, phone #, town, email address, and check "I'm not a robot"
9. Press Submit/Register

thank you!