Back to School: Maine Invests in its Students

Maine’s lawmakers made two incredible strides forward for families during the 2021 legislative session:

For the first time since citizens established a threshold for state spending on education in a 2004 referendum, the state budget makes good on its promise to fund 55 percent of K-12 education costs. By increasing the state’s share of education funding, this spending reduces the strain on municipal budgets and helps to lower property taxes all over Maine.

The new budget also addresses food insecurity among Maine’s children. According to Feeding America, one in six Maine children experienced hunger in 2020 (some sources estimate up to one in four Maine children are food insecure). Families with children make up one-third of households receiving SNAP assistance.

Maine is now one of the first states in the country to provide every K-12 student with free school meals (breakfast and lunch), and the benefits of this policy cannot be understated. This overwhelmingly bipartisan program is expected to serve over 56 million free meals annually. In addition to relieving some of the strain faced by families relying on SNAP, it will cover families ineligible for SNAP that have fallen through the cracks. It is also expected to ease the stigma working families faced when using limited free school meal programs.

Quality food and education are basic needs that every child deserves. Mainers for Working Families applauds our lawmakers in Augusta for ensuring that our students have the tools they need to succeed as they grow.

A Look Back at the 2021 Legislative Session

One of the most unique sessions in the Maine Legislature’s history has come to a close, and there is a lot to be proud of. Our lawmakers made it their mission to strengthen our public health in the wake of COVID-19, to create a more fair tax code, and to protect our democracy.

Here are some of the highlights of Maine’s 130th legislative session:

Our lawmakers tackled rising healthcare costs that are hurting our families and neighbors by creating the Healthcare Affordability Board. This board will collect data and diagnose problems in our healthcare system to help us properly fund solutions. This will curb surprise medical bills and make treatment more accessible for lower-income Mainers.

Maine legislators took on big corporations by banning corporate contributions to campaigns for state office to stop them from influencing our elections. They also blocked efforts to create restrictive voter ID laws that would make it harder for Mainers to vote.

In their passage of the supplemental budget, our leaders repealed a federal tax break that allowed big businesses to have a lower tax rate on foreign sales than small businesses and individuals. Closing this loophole ensured that Maine’s tax code doesn’t reward American corporations who move portions of their business overseas.

These are critical measures that make our state stronger, but there are still a number of bills the Legislature must address to combat the problems facing Maine’s working families and small businesses:

The Family Glitch

The “family glitch” is a dangerous loophole in the Affordable Care Act that affects nearly 30,000 Mainers. As a result of the “family glitch,” when a worker is offered an affordable health insurance plan from their employer, their entire family stops being eligible for lower-cost healthcare plans from the marketplace, even if the employer’s plan doesn’t offer affordable coverage for family members.

There is a bill waiting for the Legislature when they return that could fix the “family glitch”: LD 1463. We urge the Maine Legislature to pass this immediately upon their return.

Paid Family Leave

Nobody should have to choose between caring for their loved ones and earning a paycheck. The Legislature passed a bill that would create a commission to develop a Paid Family Leave program – when they return to session, they must go one step further, and create a Paid Family Leave program based on the commission’s recommendations.

Corporate Tax Loopholes

Right now, big corporations who do business in Maine don’t pay their fair share for the use of our roads, our hard workers and our resources. Some of these corporations utilize a loophole that allows them to hide profits in off-shore tax havens, so they don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes.

By closing these loopholes, Maine can generate millions of dollars of revenue, and make sure that our tax code works for us, not big corporations. There is a bill waiting for the Legislature that would close these loopholes. It’s critical that they pass it when they return to Augusta next session.

To our leaders in Augusta: We need health care we can afford, and afford to use. We need to be able to take time off when we’re sick, without risking our jobs. And we need to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. When our lawmakers return to the State House, we need them to get to work for Maine’s working families.

Healthcare Affordability Board Becomes Law

LD 120, An Act To Lower Health Care Costs through the Establishment of the Office of Affordable Health Care, is now law!

Introduced by Senate President Troy Jackson, the nonpartisan Office of Affordable Health Care will analyze Maine health data and make annual, evidence-based policy recommendations to the governor and lawmakers. These recommendations are meant to ensure that Mainers have access to quality health care at prices they can afford.

“With the Office of Affordable Health Care, Maine people will have someone spending every day looking at what’s driving health care costs in Maine and making recommendations for how can deliver meaningful relief,” Senator Jackson said.

“It is clear more needs to be done, sooner than later, to better understand cost drivers and address rapidly rising health care costs in Maine,” Consumers for Affordable Health Care Executive Director Ann Woloson testified at the law’s public hearing in April. “The independent Office of Affordable Health Care would be a valuable resource to this committee and the legislature as it continues to grapple with health care costs concerns.”

Mainers for Working Families applauds our lawmakers for taking steps to combat the rising costs of health care in Maine. Every Mainer deserves access to quality, affordable health care, and that starts with understanding the problem’s roots.