AUGUSTA – The House on Monday failed to override two vetoes by Gov. Angus King on bills dealing with hospital union activity and Workers’ Compensation.
LD 1175 automatically would have provided rehabilitation benefits to an injured worker under a rehabilitative program.
The bill was filed in reaction to a decision of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that denied benefits to an injured worker who was attending a master’s degree program as part of a rehabilitation program. In his veto message, King expressed concern that the bill could cause a “potentially unnecessary increase in rehabilitative costs and may discourage the use of the rehabilitative process by increasing disputes and litigation. The rehabilitation process only works if there is cooperation,” King said.
Rep. William J. Smith, D-Van Buren, on Monday asked House members to override the veto and to “add a measure of common sense to the Workers’ Compensation program. There can be no meaningful rehabilitation or retraining without this bill. [The veto] is shortsighted and will not save any money.”
Requiring a two-thirds vote of those present, LD 1175 went down to defeat when it passed by only 78-62.
The House originally passed the bill 84-56 and the Senate had passed the bill 17-16, making a veto override highly unlikely.
The other measure, LD 1394, would have prohibited hospitals from using state money to influence union organizing. It was vetoed by King as a “impermissible interference” with federal law.
If the bill had passed, a health care provider could be forced to repay money received from the federal government for an expenditure not allowed under Maine law. “In these circumstances, state law would be interfering with federal law, contrary to clear principles of federal supremacy regarding the Medicare program.”
In an effort to save the bill, Rep. Deborah J. Hutton, D-Bowdoinham, argued that state law already prohibits hospitals from using state funds to discourage union organizing and that LD 1394 would only clarify that restriction. “State funds should not be used for anti-union activity, only patient health care,” she said.
LD 1374 received an 80-60 vote, less than the two-thirds required for an override.
The bill was passed in the House 76-55 and in the Senate 18-16 before it was vetoed by the governor.
Since the veto was not overridden in the House, the bills will not be returned to the Senate for additional votes.
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