Sen. Tipping applauds inclusion of retirement funding for community crisis workers in supplemental budget passed by Legislature, signed by Governor

AUGUSTA — Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, applauds the inclusion of funding for adding community crisis workers to Maine’s Public Employees Retirement System Special Plan in the supplemental budget passed by the Maine Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills last week.

“For years, we have tried to allow state mental health workers who do difficult — and sometimes dangerous — work to retire with dignity at a reasonable age,” said Sen. Tipping. “Last year, what we passed and got funded covered some institutional workers, but not those who do the important and dangerous work of community response. This funding covers these workers who shared heartbreaking testimony.”

The supplemental budget allows Maine’s Public Employees Retirement System Special Plan to include workers who provide crisis outreach and crisis services to adults with developmental disabilities or intellectual disabilities in a community-based or residential setting, recognizing the high-risk, emotionally demanding nature of their work. This change helps workers retire with dignity while strengthening recruitment and retention in a critical behavioral health workforce that supports Maine people.

As the Senate chair of the Legislature’s Labor Committee, Sen. Tipping sponsored the original bill, LD 2067, “An Act to Include Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan for Retirement.” Last year’s budget included provisions from another bill Sen. Tipping sponsored, LD 579, “An Act to Include Certain Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan for Retirement,” which extended retirement benefits to some workers at Dorothea Dix and Riverview — but not the community response workers. LD 2067 sought to include these remaining workers, and the funding in the budget accomplishes this goal.

The 2026 supplemental budget delivers for working families, prioritizing stability and responsibility through a targeted tax increase on those earning more than $1M per year, allowing the state to respond to real pressures facing Maine people — from rising housing and energy costs, to child care access and health care, while maintaining discipline around ongoing spending and preparing for continued economic uncertainty. It will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.

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