Health Care:
- LD 199 - An Act to Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Removing Exclusions to the MaineCare Program (Sponsor: Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross) Staff contact: acarter@mejp.org
Maine is a stronger, healthier, and more resilient state when everyone has health care, including our family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are immigrants. This bill will ensure that all Maine residents with low income have access to MaineCare coverage and would bring Maine one major step closer to a health care system that is equitable and works for all of us.
Changing Systems that Cause Racial Inequity:
- LR 650 - An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Racial Impact Statements (Sponsor: Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross) Staff contact: dmalual@mejp.org
Racial impact statements (RIS) give policymakers information about racial disparities to allow them to consider the impact of future laws on racial, indigenous, and tribal populations. An RIS pilot program in the 130th Legislative Session provided valuable information about the ways these statements can support equitable policymaking and the process for using RIS to support our legislative process. LR 650 builds off the pilot program to ensure legislators have the information they need to craft equitable policies. - LR 1184 - An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act (Sponsor: Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross) Staff contact: kathy@mejp.org
Restoring self-government to Maine’s tribes is necessary for racial equity. LR 1184 would implement consensus recommendations from a bipartisan task force convened by the Maine Legislature to address long-standing issues with the land claims act passed in 1980 that governs the relationship between the state and the tribes in Maine.
Housing:
- LR 833 - An Act to Enact the Housing Opportunity for Maine Act (The HOME Act) (Sponsor: Rep. Cheryl Golek) Staff contact: asteward@mejp.org
Maine is experiencing a severe housing crisis, resulting in a growing number of unhoused people across our state and challenges for our workforce. LR 833 would help more people keep up with rising rents by creating a rental assistance program and protect tenants from discrimination. It would also improve the General Assistance program and use taxes on the profitable real estate industry to support rental assistance and provides consumer protections to tenants whose rent is unaffordable.
Income Solutions:
- LR 1320 - An Act to Reduce the Number of Children Living in Deep Poverty in Maine (Sponsor: Rep. Michele Meyer) Staff contact: mgeer@mejp.org
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides a safety net for low-income families in Maine. But at current benefit levels, most families receiving TANF can't afford rising rents and rising costs for essentials. LR 1320 would increase benefits to provide more financial security to Maine families and help parents access transportation to work, training, and education opportunities so they can move their families to economic stability. - LR 1316 - An Act to Allow Maine Families to Increase Their Savings (Sponsor: Rep. Michele Meyer) Staff contact: mgeer@mejp.org
Families need to be able to save for larger or unexpected expenses to build long-term economic security. Unfortunately, for low-income families in the TANF program, saving is discouraged due to an asset limit, a rule which is also burdensome for DHHS to administer. By removing the asset limit for this program, low-income families can truly begin to plan for and realize a brighter economic future. - LR 1661 - An Act to Improve Economic Security for Maine Children by Establishing the Maine Child Tax Credit (Sponsor: Rep. Maureen “Mo” Terry) Staff contact: adanforth@mejp.org
The federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) has a proven track record of strengthening the economic security of Maine families and reducing poverty for children. It’s an investment with significant rewards for our state’s families and economy. LR 1661 builds on the success of the federal CTC to create a fully “refundable” state CTC – so it’s available to people with low income who need it most, and helps more people claim it.
Civil Legal Aid Funding:
- LR 1002 - An Act to Improve Access to Civil Legal Services (Sponsor: Sen. Anne Carney) Staff contact: rmerrill@mejp.org
Civil legal aid provides access to legal help for people to protect their livelihoods, their health, and their families when they cannot afford it on their own. LR 1002 increases funding for civil legal aid services to support equitable access to justice that would be distributed through the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund (MCLSF).
Maine Equal Justice focuses its work on many of the issues that affect people’s daily lives – access to adequate health care, housing, transportation and childcare; food and income security; and higher education and training. Maine Equal Justice is a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization. Our EIN is 04-3346273. 