For Immediate Release: Senator Jackson Sponsors Bill to Encourage Hiring of American Loggers

Bill would repeal tax exemption for foreign wood harvesters

Senator Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) sponsored a bill to limit the tax exemption or refund for depreciable equipment used in commercial wood harvesting to residents of the United States or business entities with headquarters in the United States.

“This legislation is one part of an overall initiative I am taking on to promote the hiring of American loggers who for too long have been underemployed as a result of contractors unethically, and at times illegally, hiring Canadian workers instead,” said Senator Jackson, who also serves as the Assistant Majority Leader, at today’s public hearing in the Legislature’s Taxation Committee.

At the public hearing, Senator Jackson also expressed a willingness to expand the scope of the bill to include farming and fishing.

Senator Jackson also has sponsored legislation to direct state contracts for timber harvesting to contractors that employ Americans rather than foreign workers. That bill, L.D. 491, is awaiting action by the Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development Committee.

“In a time when the Legislature is correctly focused on getting Mainers back to work and is examining measures to make sure our workforce can meet the needs of this economy, we have an entire sector of Maine workers who are here and are ready to go,” said Senator Jackson. “Our laws should encourage hiring them.”

This bill, L.D. 734, will eventually be subject to a work session in the Taxation Committee.

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