My Work
The priorities of our community are at the heart of my work. Housing and homelessness, healthcare, civil rights and access to justice in Maine courts, and environmental protection are urgent issues in Senate District 29 and throughout our state. As your senator, I sponsor legislation and serve in a leadership role in addressing these issues for the benefit of you and all Mainers.
This is how we started the 130th Legislature: my co-chair and I in front of the committee room not used during height of the pandemic.
As your State Senator, I serve as Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee. I am also a member of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. I participate in the Children’s Caucus, the Housing and Homelessness Caucus, and the Gun Safety Caucus, on which I am Senate Chair. Senate Democrats support each other and work together, and I’m proud and grateful to be part of this team of hardworking and impactful legislators.
Judiciary
As Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, I work with House Chair Rep. Harnett to conduct hearings and work sessions on the 300+ bills that come before the committee. The Judiciary Committee receives a wide range of bills on many controversial and divisive policy issues -- from abortion to human rights to sentencing. I’ve had a leadership role in passing laws that:
• Improve our judicial system,
• Advance recognition of the inherent sovereignty of the federally recognized Wabanaki tribes in Maine,
• Provide for remote meetings of municipal and other boards while ensuring public access,
• Increase funding for civil legal services,
• Make significant strides to restructure our system for providing criminal defense for those unable to afford legal representation,
• Strengthen Maine’s human rights laws, especially those protecting against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation
• Provide more information and resources to tenants in order to prevent evictions
Health Care
Access to affordable health care is a top priority for nearly everyone I speak with in our community. My work in this area revealed gaps and opportunities to improve CHIP and MaineCare coverage for women and children using mostly federal funds. I sponsored legislation that will bring pediatric, pregnancy and postpartum care to more than 10,000 Maine families:
• CHIP coverage available 1/1/23 for families up to 300% Federal Poverty Level, without premiums and waiting periods, and includes young people 19 and 20 years of age
• MaineCare postpartum coverage extended from just 8 weeks to a full year, effective 8/1/22
• Private insurance must provide comprehensive postpartum care, not just a single 6 week postpartum visit as of 1/1/23
• Health insurance policies issued in Maine will cover fertility treatment beginning 1/1/23
Environment
“If we destroy our environment, nothing else matters.”
These stark words guide my work in the Legislature. I’m committed to the hard work ahead to address climate change and reduce pollution of our air, water and soil. Through bills I sponsored and my work as a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, I’ve helped Maine make significant steps forward:
• Ensuring that communities near oil terminal facilities have clean air to breathe, Maine has a new law imposing tighter restrictions and testing on emissions from oil tank farms,
• Responding to PFAS contamination, we have prohibited the spread of wastewater sludge and compost made from sludge on farmland and are phasing out sale of products containing PFAS in Maine by 2030,
• Addressing drinking water contamination and misuse of prescription medication, Maine is implementing a pharmacy based drug take-back program so Mainers can safely get rid of unwanted drugs, and
• Preventing Maine from becoming a dumping ground, toxic out-of-state demolition debris is banned from our state-owned landfill, Juniper Ridge, as of 2/1/23.
