What is one new policy that the state should embrace to make housing easier to build and afford?
Housing has become hard to find for too many Mainers. And when it does become available, it’s often too expensive for the average family.
For years, housing development in our state hasn’t kept pace with demand. To make up this gap, the state should play an active role in funding the development of new housing units, specifically for low and middle-income Mainers.
We also need to collect better data to identify and understand where local zoning ordinances are still contributing to development gaps, with details about what type of housing is needed, but currently not allowed.
This information will help both the state and municipalities determine where to focus development efforts in the future, so we can thoughtfully build more housing that is desperately needed right now.
Transmission lines, solar incentives and offshore wind development have been controversial over the past several years. What steps should Maine take to meet growing demand for electricity?
Building a clean energy future must continue to be a top priority for the Legislature. We must also ensure that we are taking the necessary steps to protect ratepayers and lower costs while we work to achieve this.
As our state’s demand for electricity grows, we need to modernize Maine’s electric grid and make it more resilient in the face of future extreme weather events, like the storms we experienced last winter that caused significant damage to many communities.
We also need to incentivize better performance from our electric utilities through performance-based ratemaking. Over the last few years, we’ve already passed measures to increase penalties for poor performance and require integrated grid planning, and we should pursue additional measures like this.
Should the state make changes to its tax laws? If so, outline your priorities.
Our tax policies are a statement of our values as a state. In the Legislature, we should always be working towards a tax code that creates an economy that gives every Mainer an opportunity to thrive.
The best way to do this is by continuing to make investments in Maine families. From enacting policies like a new $300 state child tax credit to increasing the annual income tax pension deduction to align with the maximum available Social Security benefit, we’ve made progress over the last two years to put money directly back into the pockets of Maine families, both older and younger.
In total, the Legislature has given back more than $280 million dollars in tax relief to Mainers in the last few years. We should continue making investments that provide relief to those who need it most.
We are closing in on the one-year anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting. Are further legislative responses required around guns, mental health, supporting victims and families or other policy areas?
Lewiston is my hometown, and as we approach the anniversary of that horrific night, it remains difficult to fathom that something like this happened in the community I love.
Following the tragedy, the Legislature took important steps to invest in our mental health infrastructure, provide long-term support for victims and their families and improve gun safety in our state. There’s is more we need to do.
We should strengthen Maine’s yellow flag law into a true red flag law, which would give family members the ability to intervene when they notice the warning signs that a loved one is a risk to themselves or others. It’s the most effective legislative tool we have that could prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again, and one that has gained bipartisan support in other states.
Describe a unique attribute or area of focus that you will bring to the Legislature.
Building Maine’s care infrastructure has been a main focus for me throughout my time in the Legislature. My family members and I were caretakers for my mom, and this experience has shaped a lot of my policymaking, which includes being the lead House sponsor of the legislation that created Maine’s paid family and medical leave program last year.
As a state, we need to be doing more to support caregivers, especially those in the “sandwich generation” – workers who are balancing caring for young children and aging parents at the same time. In the upcoming term, I’m looking forward to continuing to work to enact policies that will support all of Maine’s caregivers, who are so often unsung heroes whose contributions can get easily overlooked, and who provide real economic value to the state.