Portland, Maine’s recently implemented Green New Deal (GND) concerns some state contractors who are worried about being disqualified from public work in the city if they can’t comply with the voter-approved ordinance’s stringent apprenticeship requirements that are effective on Jan. 1.
“If you don’t have an [apprenticeship] program or have one but don’t meet the 10% threshold, you have to make a decision whether to modify your company to bid for work in Portland or find work somewhere else,” says Matt Marks, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of Maine.