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An Act Regarding Payroll Deductions
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §637  is enacted to read:
§ 637. Public employee payroll deductions for certain insurance, employee benefits or contributions to political action committees
 
1.  Definitions.     As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
 
A.  "Political action committee" has the same meaning as in Title 21-A, section 1052, subsection 5.
 
B.  "Public employee" means an employee of a public employer.
 
C.  "Public employer" means a state, county or municipal government entity that is a public employer as that term is defined in section 962, subsection 7 and section 979-A, subsection 5.
 
2.  Employee authorization.     A public employee may authorize in writing a payroll deduction for:
 
A.  The cost or partial cost of insurance or an employee benefit offered by the employee's bargaining agent; or
 
B.  A contribution to a political action committee.
 
3.  Payroll deduction.     A public employer shall deduct funds from a public employee's pay as authorized by the employee in accordance with subsection 2 and transmit those funds to the recipient specified by the employee.
 
4.  No charge.     A public employer may not charge a fee for a deduction made pursuant to this section.
 
5.  Withdraw authorization.     An employee may withdraw the employee's authorization under subsection 2 by providing 60 days written notice of the withdrawal to the public employer.
 
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes public employees to authorize payroll deductions for the cost of insurance or an employee benefit offered by the employee's bargaining agent or for a contribution to a political action committee. The bill requires public employers to deduct funds from a public employee's pay as authorized by the employee and transmit those funds to the specified recipient.