Nurses and unions press legislature to include more mental‑health workers in the 1998 special retirement plan

Multiple current and former psychiatric hospital staff and union representatives urged lawmakers to expand the 1998 special retirement plan to include additional classifications at Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center and Riverview Psychiatric Center (LD 579 language now part of the supplemental discussion).

Beth White of the Maine Service Employees Association said the union strongly supports funding the retirement change included in the supplemental and emphasized the danger and trauma faced by workers at state psychiatric facilities. "This proposal will help address the issue of children being placed in hotels and emergency rooms" and will support retention, White said in testimony that also referenced PRTF funding on page A‑66.

Several nurses recounted violent incidents on inpatient units as a core reason for the retirement change. Alicia Clovette (testimony read by Jonathan Brown) described being punched and assaulted on the job and said she has missed shifts and used personal sick time after assaults. Scott Lockhart (read by Alice Meiners) and other witnesses described decades of frontline work and argued that inclusion of RN 1 through 4 and nurse supervisors is not a "perk" but recognition of sustained occupational hazards.

Speakers tied the retirement request to workforce sustainability: supporters said enabling retirement at 55 with 25 years of service would help recruit and retain staff in high‑risk roles and prevent older workers from continuing in physically dangerous assignments. Testimony included personal accounts of broken bones, concussions and long recovery periods, and asked lawmakers to use the budget surplus to address the inequity.

Committee members thanked witnesses and recorded no immediate vote; the retirement language remains under consideration as part of supplemental negotiations.