AUGUSTA - Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, introduced legislation on Wednesday before the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Taxation to provide financial relief to volunteer service members.
LD 1573 would allow for the education awards received by members of AmeriCorps, the Maine Service Fellows and the Maine Climate Corps, which can be used to repay eligible student loans, to be tax exempt.
"I have heard from several volunteer service members in Maine who needed to access our supplemental food assistance program and struggled to make ends meet because of the high cost of living and small stipend they were paid for their work," said Rielly. "Every person who wants to serve should be able to do so and be compensated appropriately for it. This bill seeks to provide some financial relief for our volunteer service members by not taxing the award they were promised upon completion of their service."
Additionally, the bill adds a checkbox on state hiring forms to further highlight volunteer service for hiring teams looking to fill the hundreds of vacancies in state government.
"Doing something as simple as adding a checkbox to state government hiring forms lets hiring teams know the dedication an applicant has shown to helping their fellow community members and our state," said Rielly. "This will also hopefully incentivize former volunteer service members to apply for positions and lead to Maine retaining them in the state long-term."
The Legislature's Taxation Committee will hold a work session on the bill in the coming days.
Rielly is serving his second term in the Maine House of Representatives and is a member of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. He represents House District 127, which includes a portion of Westbrook.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Rielly], 305-965-2744