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MSEA urges lawmakers to restore DOT jobs and close state pay gap during LD 2213 hearing
Summary
At the LD 2213 hearing, Mark Bruntton of MSEA Local 1989 urged restoration of 60 DOT jobs cut in the last biennium and said the supplemental package does not close the state employee pay gap, citing increased consultant spending and recruitment challenges.
Mark Bruntton, president of the Maine Service Employees Association Local 1989, testified during the LD 2213 public hearing that while his union supports many of the department reorganizations in the supplemental highway-fund bill, LD 2213 fails to address what he described as a persistent state employee pay gap and does not restore 60 transportation-worker positions eliminated in the last biennial highway budget.
"This raid on the salary plan in 2025 wasn't a one-time occurrence," Bruntton told the committee, asserting that raising the state employee attrition rate diverted $12.3 million from the personal services budget and exacerbated recruitment and retention problems at Maine DOT. He said the state is relying increasingly on consultants who often earn substantially more than former state employees performing similar work, and that this model is neither financially sustainable nor efficient.
Bruntton asked the committee to use available surplus to restore positions and to restore personal-services funding so the state can better recruit and retain DOT staff. Committee members noted the lack of additional highway-fund revenue in the supplemental timeframe and said they would continue these questions in the work session.
What happens next: Bruntton provided written testimony and committed to answer committee questions; lawmakers scheduled work sessions on LD 2213 to examine personnel, funding, and language details further.
