Maine Senate Bill LD134

Maine 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/8/25
• Refer: 1/8/25
• Failed: 3/27/25

Caption

An Act to Require Certain Individuals Who Instruct Children Under 18 Years of Age in Dance or Creative Movement to Undergo a Criminal Background Check

Summary

LD 134 would require certain adults who teach dance or creative movement to children under 18 to undergo a criminal background check. The bill defines a “child dance class instructor” as someone employed to provide structured dance or creative movement classes to minors, while excluding school-affiliated dance program staff and credentialed school employees who are already governed by existing school background-check laws. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt rules to implement, administer, and enforce the background-check requirement. It also requires DHHS to report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by December 3, 2025 on the status of rulemaking and to include any recommended statutory changes needed to carry out the program, including possible licensing recommendations for child dance class instructors.

Impact

If enacted, the bill would add a new background-check requirement for a narrow category of child-serving instructors outside the school setting and would place implementation responsibility with DHHS. It would create a new statutory framework in Title 22 for these instructors, while expressly leaving school-based dance programs under existing Title 20-A provisions. The bill could affect private dance studios, creative movement programs, instructors, and potentially volunteer or employee screening practices, depending on how DHHS structures the rules.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed as a child-safety proposal with no recorded committee debate or vote history in the materials provided. The absence of transcripts or votes suggests there is no documented public controversy in the available record, and the bill is presented in a straightforward regulatory manner focused on background screening and rulemaking.

Contention

The main policy issue is the scope of the requirement: it applies to instructors of children’s dance or creative movement classes, but excludes school-affiliated programs already covered by school background-check laws. Another possible point of contention is implementation, since the bill leaves key details to DHHS rulemaking and asks the department to consider whether licensing should be recommended. That could raise questions about administrative burden, costs for studios and instructors, and whether the state should regulate this activity through screening alone or through a broader licensing system.