Building care infrastructure and economic equity
Beyond issues like paid leave and pay disparities for care workers, do you have additional priorities related to the care infrastructure and economic justice?
“I support the programs we have to attract more doctors and more nurses, but a lot of those individuals end up south of Augusta and are concentrated in the in that area. We have a significant need, throughout the 2nd District, for those services in the Bangor, Lewiston and Augusta areas. So, I would really want to work on rural healthcare, and improve and expand opportunities for doctors and nurses and support staff to come to this region, because we need their help as much as possible. That would be a huge boon if we could bring more of those professionals here. We have a shortage of 2,800 nurses in this state, so it makes it very difficult for us to be able to provide quality care to people.”
"I would really want to work on rural healthcare, and improve and expand opportunities for doctors and nurses and support staff to come to this region, because we need their help as much as possible.”
Ensuring reproductive and gender-specific healthcare
What do you see as key policy interventions to protect access to reproductive healthcare in the state? Any other priorities beyond that specifically?
“Well, I would want to expand rural healthcare and rural access. I have a record of voting in the legislature for expanded family planning services at several levels because of the Title X cuts. And supporting wherever we can at the state level to backfill those cuts because of how important they are. That would be part and parcel of an effort to increase rural healthcare access, and having more medical providers broadly.”
I generally support, expansion of healthcare coverage. I voted in the legislature to expand it to pregnant women, I voted to expand it to immigrants - even though that didn't pass - because I believe healthcare is a human right. I'd want to move towards a system that insures more people and expands that coverage, whether we do it through Medicare or Medicaid.”
‘I have a record of voting in the legislature for expanded family planning services at several levels because of the Title X cuts.”
Ending gender-based and carceral violence
What do you see as the key policy interventions to support sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, and to protect access to these services?
“We need to better integrate the domestic violence efforts with our court system. I know that we have victim witness advocates, but I think we need to do a better job of integrating the voices of domestic violence victims in the court process. I'm not sure that we're doing enough on that, but I supported funding for domestic violence prevention programs. I would continue to do that. I consider it a high priority in terms of helping protect women. I voted a few days ago to retain the red flag law. And I also voted a few days ago to try to prevent an expansion of gun rights to some felons. I think we need to do a lot more at the federal and state level to take guns out of the hands of felons. [We need] to make sure that if you don't have the right to have a gun, that you don't have a gun.”
“I think we need to do a better job of integrating the voices of domestic violence victims in the court process.”
Developing equitable & accessible government systems
While the Federal Equal Rights Amendment has technically been ratified, disputes over a congressional deadline have prevented it from being recognized as the 28th Amendment. How do you see your role in Congress with regard to the ERA?
“I voted repeatedly at the state level to add the ERA to our state constitution. I don't mean to be flippant, but this is pretty much a no-brainer. Well, it should be a no-brainer for most people. I can't imagine a world where we don't recognize that. So I would support a federal ERA, I would support the enforcement of gender equity standards in all federal programs. I think that in terms of economic justice, I think expansion of healthcare will be extremely important, as well as raising wages. We haven't raised the minimum wage in this country for decades. The minimum wage needs to be raised significantly, nationwide. To help women and men, but as you said, many of these lower-paying jobs are held by women, and the people that will benefit from these kind of increases will be mostly women.”
“I don't mean to be flippant, but [the ERA] is pretty much a no-brainer. Well, it should be a no-brainer for most people. I can't imagine a world where we don't recognize that.”
Other notable quotes
“Particularly being from Maine and being from this part of Maine, one of the things I've been really sensitive to is the shortage of access for rural healthcare. We need to provide better services in each of our counties, and we need to provide better support and medical services in general. I have worked with the University of Maine and Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital about a medical school. I strongly feel that a medical school at the University of Maine, in conjunction with the hospitals, could be a teaching hospital, and could provide outreach to a lot of these rural communities.”