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•The most direct way to create jobs is by directly creating jobs.

•The Maine Job Creation Fund would invest a billion dollars into the Maine economy by directly funding jobs creation in key areas of the Maine economy like:

•All Mainers should have access to public pre-k education in Maine for free, just like K-12.

•The University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System should also be universally accessible.

•The state should—at a minimum—appropriate another $106 million to fully fund local public schools.

•All of this should be done with an eye towards job creation and creating more equitable education outcomes for all Mainers—especially Mainers of color and new immigrants that need English Language Learning Classes.

Problem

 A state bank is a public institution with a mission of partnering with private financial institutions to help increase lending to small businesses and small farmers. North Dakota created its state bank in 1919 in response to a credit crisis that threatened its agricultural economy. North Dakota now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country and healthy revenue. 

The Problem

The federal immigration system is broken.  Because of this, policy makers in Maine should not use immigration status as criteria to deny people basic rights.  Instead, policy makers should actively and explicitly work to guarantee equitable outcomes for all Maine communities by eliminating disparities based on race and immigration status.

Why

•Human rights are human rights.  Everyone deserves equal protection under the law, health care, education, a good job, and the ability to elect their government.  Everyone means everyone.

 U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment to the Constitution “expressly to exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons…prohibit corporate spending in all elections, and affirm the authority of Congress and the States to regulate corporations and to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures.”

The Problem

Both Democratic and Republican administrations have eroded protections for those hardest hit by the recession, instead of making the rich contribute their fair share to balance our budget.  As a result of cuts and eligibility changes to programs like Maine Care, Unemployment Insurance, Workers Compensation, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Supplement, SSI, and General Assistance, tens of thousands of Mainers are have a harder time making ends meet in an already difficult economy.

The Problem

Maine’s government should subsidize home energy audits for Maine homeowners, renters and landlords.

The Problem

Increasing the minimum wage to ten dollars per hour would enable low-wage employees to be fairly compensated for their hard work. It would also help boost the economy by getting income into the hands of those most likely to spend it, thereby creating additional demand that businesses sorely need during this shaky economic recovery.

Inflation indexing guarantees low-wage workers a wage that keeps pace with the rising costs of goods and services and provides a sustainable solution to the problem of declining real wages for the lowest-paid workers.

Democracy should be accessible to everyone, without unwarranted barriers to participation.

The Problem

Photo ID laws are expensive, unnecessary, and disenfranchise voters

Why NOT to Pass it

In the 125th legislative session, laws that protect our water, air and land faced  unprecedented attack.  Below we list some of this issues the legislature faced in 2012.  Some of them were greatly improved through tremendous bi-partisan effort by committee members; others were not.  At the same time, the legislature also considered important proactive measures to investment in Maine’s natural resource-based economy and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

The Problem