We Can Get There From Here

• Support for Lincoln County businesses. Gov. Mills’ Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan  has sent thousands of dollars to Lincoln County to boost small businesses, encourage job creation, and improve infrastructure. Find a full list on this map.
• Low unemployment. Maine has recovered nearly 99% of all jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and has an unemployment rate of 3.1%, below the averages for the nation and New England.
• Support for towns and municipalities. For the first time in 13 years, Maine’s municipalities received a full 5% share of state revenues collected from sales, personal and corporate income taxes.

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• Feeding all Maine school children. Maine is one of the first states in the U.S. to provide universal school meals to all Maine public school students. Educators say the program is already having a positive impact.
• Energy and heating cost relief. Programs to help Mainers weatherize their homes and offer heating assistance are two of many initiatives that address rising heating costs.
• Property tax relief. Democrats lowered property taxes by restoring state funding to towns and municipalities and improving and expanding property tax credit programs.

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• Expanded health care access. Maine reported the greatest decline in the percentage of uninsured people in the country in 2021 and expanded postpartum care and preventive dental care.
• Addressing health care worker shortages. The state reduced health care worker shortages by expanding training programs, raising wages and recruiting new workers through the Live and Work in Maine initiative.
• Lower health care premiums. Maine businesses with fewer than 50 employees will see a significant drop in health care premiums for their employees in 2023, the first reduction of its kind since 2001.

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• Support for Maine students and teachers. Gov. Mills and Democrats in the Legislature fully funded state’s share of K-12 education for the first time in history and raised teachers’ base salaries.
• Free community college. Some 8,000 Maine high school graduates are eligible for two years free community college, an initiative from Gov. Mills that will help address worker shortages across the state.
• Expanding child care. The Child Care Plan for Maine is tackling the state’s child care crisis by supporting child care businesses, boosting wages, expanding worker trainings, and providing subsidies to reduce child care costs for struggling Maine families.

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• Banning toxic forever chemicals. Maine passed the nation’s first ban on toxic forever chemical PFAS and set up a $60 million fund to support affected farms.
• Adapting for climate change. The Climate Change Adaptation Fund helps local governments protect key infrastructure from sea level rise and storm surges caused by climate change, such as a $4.15 million grant to  Boothbay Harbor to protect the town’s wastewater treatment plant.
• Divesting from fossil fuels. Maine was the first state to require the divestment of its state pension and treasury systems from the fossil fuel industry by 2026, protecting retirees from financially risky investments.

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• LGBTQ+ rights. Democrats passed a number of bills to protect LGBTQ+ rights, among them a measure making it illegal to deny health coverage based on gender identity and banning the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy.
• Reproductive rights. Gov. Mills has been a staunch supporter of reproductive rights and has taken steps to protect and expand abortion care for pregnant people.
• Addressing racial disparities. Democrats created Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations, which will develop recommendations to address racial disparities across all systems.

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