From the Chamber: Here’s a look at the new laws affecting Maine businesses

Published: July 30, 2026

Updated: July 30, 2026

Category: Maine News

Author/Source: Cory King - From the Chamber

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There is a big day every summer when many new laws go into effect, and it is 90 days after the Maine legislative session ends. For 2026, that date was this week on Wednesday, July 29. Thanks to newsletters from our good friends at the Retail Association of Maine and Maine Tourism Association, plus state governmental agency press releases from the Maine Department of Labor, and the governor’s office, we have been getting a handle on what our businesses need to know.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all new laws, but here are the ones that jumped out to us in our research that we feel broadly affect the most number of businesses and their employees:

Maine’s Supplemental Budget:

The impact of this one goes without saying, as the new budget includes dozens of key pieces, including $300 relief checks for 500,000 Mainers, enhanced property tax relief, free community college, support for banning cell phones in K-12 classrooms, funding to support tracking sexual assault kits, simplifying the homestead exemption for veterans, and much more. Let’s look at specifically the first three in this list (and google the ‘Maine state budget’ for more details):

$300 relief checks: If you filed a 2025 tax return (or will by Oct. 25, 2026), cannot be claimed as a dependent on anyone else’s 2025 tax return, and made under $50,000 (single filers), $75,000 (head of household) or $100,000 (married, filing jointly), you will be getting a $300 relief check according to the governor’s office.

Enhanced property tax relief: The State’s Property Tax Fairness Tax Credit is increasing from $1,000 to $1,500 for eligible Maine residents under the age of 65.

Free community college: In 2022, Gov. Mills signed a legislative bill to make the first two years of community college free for recent high school graduates, a program that 23,000 students have taken advantage of; this investment funds the initiative permanently.

Pay ranges on job postings

LD 54 requires pay ranges on all job postings if you are an employer with 10 or more employees, even if using a third-party job posting platform. Positions that are solely commission-based are exempt. Additionally, employees can now request pay ranges for the position they hold from their employer- this goes for employers of any size. Lastly, employers of any size must also maintain records of each employee’s pay history for the positions they hold, for the duration of employment, and for three years after separation.

Employer surveillance

LD 61 requires annual and written notification to employees of surveillance. This law also prevents installation of monitoring equipment in an employee’s residence, personal vehicle, personal property, or on their personal devices without the employee’s authorization. There are some exemptions for personal care settings, on-site safety and surveillance cameras, and businesses are allowed GPS or other safety devices on a vehicle owned by the employer but used by the employee. Employers must also make all prospective employees aware of the employee surveillance they use during the hiring process interviews.

Substance use changes

LD 2110 has changed the standard for testing employees to “reasonable suspicion” which is defined in the statute as “specific and articulable facts that, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably support the belief that an employee may be under the influence of a substance.” The law used to use the term “probable cause.” The results need to be verified by a medical review officer. The employee will have an opportunity to provide a legitimate reason for the results prior to employer notification. This bill also reduces the rehabilitation period following a first positive test down from 6 months to 12 weeks. According to the Maine Department of Labor, labor organizations/unions that have substance use testing policies now must have state approval.

BLS expanded enforcement

The Bureau of Labor Standards, within the Maine DOL, is tasked with investigating wage and labor law penalties, and LD 1587 expands what the director of the BLS can impose on employers. Typically, when a case arises, employers are willing to work on payment plans and other corrective actions should they be found in violation of wage or labor laws. However, in instances where the employer is uncooperative, this new law gives the BLS director the authority to issue subpoenas to compel that documents and reports that are needed are handed over, and in some cases, the BLS will have the authority to levy employer bank accounts.

Pass thru entity tax

With the passing of the supplemental budget, it also creates an optional pass through entity tax (PTE tax) for Maine LLCs, S-corporations and partnerships. To be clear, I am not a financial adviser, tax adviser, or CPA at all, but from what I have read, apparently you would pay Maine tax at the entity level, rather than passing it through to owners or individuals, which, once paired with federal taxes, may lower the overall tax burden more than the options that currently exist. I am sure this is very dependent on your specific situation, so don’t talk to me about it, talk to your “money people” but this model is available in other states, and it is anticipated to help Maine small businesses.

Again, that’s not nearly all of the laws, and Maine.gov is the place to go for everything. If you have questions on anything above, the best thing to do is drop it into a search bar on Google and that should get you direct links to the actual legislation. I hope this helps!

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.