Mainers For Working Families advocates for good health care, fair taxes, and policies that will grow opportunities to help families thrive. Because when working families do well, Maine does well.
FIGHTING FOR MAINE FAMILIES
Mainers are working longer days and more hours because wages and incomes are not keeping up with the cost of living, health care, or education. Meanwhile, greedy corporations are making huge profits and paying lower taxes.
Over 100,000 Mainers are uninsured.
100,000
78% of workers in Maine live paycheck to paycheck.
514,000
20% of Mainers say they can’t afford their prescribed medication
222,000
!["[My husband] had no choice but to stay home. We almost lost everything."](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/58496d_67b7a67561ad4c83ad2dd2014d143841~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_2016,h_1134,enc_auto/file.jpeg)
Paid Family & Medical Leave
Victory! Last June, Maine became the 13th state to establish paid family and medical leave when Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 1964 into a law—a victory for working Mainers and their families. Starting in 2026, employees can take up to 12 weeks for paid leave to tend to a sick or dying loved one, care for a new child, or recover from their own health challenges, without missing out on a paycheck.
We’re proud to work with the Maine Paid Family & Medical Leave Coalition to help pass this bill.
To learn more about paid family leave, click here.
Health Care For All Mainers
Access to affordable, quality healthcare is dwindling. There are multiple initiatives that Maine can explore to solve the problem:
– Establishing a public option healthcare plan available to all Mainers that could ensure lower insurance rates and more comprehensive coverage.
– Taking on Big Pharma’s greed by capping prices on life-saving drugs, preventing price-gouging of medication, and increasing drug companies’ oversight and transparency.
To learn more about health care solutions, click here.
Protecting Democracy
Maine is taking strong steps to safeguard democracy and protect ballot access for state voters.
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–Lawmakers passed LD 1690, a measure that offers all registered voters the flexibility to automatically receive an absentee ballot in the mail each election.
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​To learn more about this win, click here.
Child Care
Affordable, quality child care is disappearing across the state. The Maine legislature put working families first when it passed LD 1726, but more work needs to be done to address the crisis.
–Adding funds to the budget to ensure that both families and childcare providers have the support they need
–Expanding childcare subsidies so more families are eligible, raising the monthly stipend for childcare workers
–Directing the DHHS to implement the Maine Child Care Scholarship Program to help achieve affordable childcare by 2030.
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To learn more about how Maine can keep prioritizing child care, click here.
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There are smart policy solutions that will ensure that all Mainers have what they need to thrive. Mainer’s For Working Families are working with everyday Mainers in our rural communities – whose perspectives are often underrepresented – to give them more voice in Augusta.
Our goal as an organization is to educate the public about the work the legislature is doing on the key issues that affect our working families and to reach the Mainers who have often been left behind in the political process. We want to give them the tools to advocate for the things they need most – a strong, affordable healthcare system, a fair and equitable tax code, and policies like paid family & medical leave.
Our community organizing and engagement team is putting in the work to connect with our veterans, small business owners, and people of faith to discuss the challenges they're facing and empower them to take action. Click here to meet our team.