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An Act To Increase the Wages of Direct Support Professional Staff Based on Increases in the State Minimum Wage
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §50  is enacted to read:
§ 50.  Direct support professional staff
The department shall increase reimbursement to department-funded providers who employ direct support professional staff by 3.8% of the wages attributed to those employees effective October 1, 2007. The department shall also increase the direct support professional staff wage component by the same percentage as any percentage increase provided in Title 26, section 664.
Sec. 2. Rules. The Department of Health and Human Services shall adopt rules to define direct support professional staff and to implement the direct support professional staff wage increase in accordance with this Act. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to increase the rate of reimbursement for direct support professional staff costs by 3.8% effective October 1, 2007. It also requires the department to increase the wage component for direct support professional staff whenever the State's minimum wage is increased.