HealthCare

Comprehensive, affordable and accessible Healthcare is critical, including reproductive care, abortion care, dental care, behavioral health care, mental health care, gender-affirming care, substance use/recovery care and care for aging Mainers.  I was proud to support legislation that provided rate increases for behavioral health care providers, legislation that increased access to critical home and community-based support services, stable housing for SUD treatment, and community-based services for young Mainers involved in the juvenile justice system.  I was proud to help preserve our state sovereignty by protecting Maine health care providers from extreme laws passed in other states that seek to criminalize care that is legal in Maine - including reproductive and gender-affirming care.   I was honored to sponsor LD 1836 a law that will eliminate out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic and supplemental breast imaging (such as an MRI, ultrasound, diagnostic mammogram) when medically necessary.  These exams can be extremely expensive and have an immediate impact for thousands of Mainers who can not afford the testing and might have had to forego the testing. 

Climate/Natural Resources

Our heritage industries rely on the health of our natural resources and I am deeply committed to protecting both so we preserve Maine's cultural identity and economic security.  We passed legislation that will modernize Maine's bottle redemption program, expand protections for waterfowl, invest in lake restoration/protection, invest in water quality, and balance Maine's renewable energy development goals with efforts to conserve the state's valuable farmland, soils and fish and wildlife habitats.  Over the last four years we have passed legislation to reduce and mitigate contamination from PFAS.  We dedicated significant funding for testing, mitigation and assistance to farmers who discovered their crops and livestock are contaminated.  I was proud to help Kittery identify and access these funds for some of their initial PFAS testing costs, and to sponsor LD 1542 that expanded the Kittery Water District Charter so all have a voice in how the water district protects public health, safety and provides high quality water to the community.

 Housing

Housing is a human right; as leaders we need to maximize livability, health and well-being of Mainers from every walk of life.  We passed legislation that created the state’s first Housing First Program, and increased funding for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and emergency rental relief. To address Maine's shortage of affordable and available housing, we passed legislation to allow Mainers to build more housing by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to production.  I was proud to support a local nonprofit social services hub, Mainspring, access funding through the York County ARPA funds, and the federal Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. 

Education

We made historic progress for all Maine students from high school graduating classes of 2020-2023; any student who enrolls full-time in Maine community collages will receive two years of free education.  I was proud to support funding measures to prevent tuition hikes across the University of Maine System, in addition to promoting the health and overall well-being of Maine students by providing universal free school meals and rebuilding our school based oral health program.  No student should go to school on an empty stomach or endure a toothache while trying to learn.  These measures will support our youngest students' health and academic successes.​