Affordable and accessible healthcare for all Mainers will not only help us live longer and happier lives and tackle the opioid crisis, it will improve our economy by adding good-paying jobs, protecting our rural hospitals, and supporting our small business entrepreneurs. The COVID-19 public health crisis has further highlighted this need.

We must support economic recovery and our small businesses by investing in transportation and high-speed internet infrastructure. Workforce training and affordable higher education are necessary to help Mainers adjust to the changing job market, as we build a more resilient and robust economy.

We must invest in education for students of all ages. We can start by: supporting early childhood development by funding Pre-K programs, increasing state aid for K-12 education, improving career and technical education programs for high schoolers, and bolstering adult education and workforce training programs.

A healthy environment sustains its people – physically, emotionally, and economically. We can save money while protecting our natural resources, through waste reduction and local renewable energy generation. Protecting our environment is especially important in Downeast Maine, where we rely heavily on tourism and marine resources for our livelihoods.

Whether your own or rent, your housing costs are a significant expense. We can continue to lower property tax and rental cost burdens by increasing municipal revenue sharing for fire, police, and roads; better funding our schools; and further improving the homestead exemption and property tax fairness credit.

We can generate clean, renewable energy here in Maine, providing good jobs and attracting young workers. Independence from the foreign corporations that control our electrical grid would save us billions of dollars, improve reliability and customer service, create jobs, and help us make the necessary clean energy transition.