Building care infrastructure and economic equity
Maine's new paid family and medical leave law and program is a critical element of ensuring workers don't have to choose between a paycheck and caring for loved ones, or themselves. How would you oversee the implementation of this new law in the state of Maine?
“I have great concerns about the way that bill was created. I support it. I support the implementation. I want to make sure that it's sustainable. You know, once you create a program like this, you can never take benefits back, and I was a little concerned about the implementation side. Because I think it's best to ramp into it, making sure that it's affordable, and it works, and the numbers add up. So, as governor, I'm going to make sure that that system works and is sustainable going forward, so that it is successful. Absolutely critical.”
"As governor, I'm going to make sure that that system works and is sustainable going forward, so that it is successful.”
Ensuring reproductive and gender-specific healthcare
What do you see as key policy interventions to protect access to to reproductive healthcare in the state?
“We need to continue state support, where the feds are cutting. We don't know, from one year to the next, where those cuts will come, but right now, with the regime in Washington, it's a hostile environment for women seeking reproductive care… We need to make sure that clinicians are protected. I support the law that allows them to be protected in Maine. And we need to provide the funding for our service providers who are losing funding, and a lot of it is federal, but we're going to have to fill in the gaps with state funding.”
“We need to make sure that clinicians are protected. I support the law that allows them to be protected in Maine.”
Ending gender-based and carceral violence
What do you see as the key policy interventions to support sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, and protect access to these services?
“There's no reason that we shouldn't be putting some of these services in the baseline budget. I have been tremendously frustrated by the sexual assault services who have to live budget to budget in order to pay the advocates that they hire, that they're managing to hold on to despite the uncertainties and the volatility. Because the state isn't actually stepping forward and saying, this is an ongoing commitment. And we need to do that. As governor, I'm going to put it in the baseline budget to increase those, that funding.”
“I have been tremendously frustrated by the sexual assault services who have to live budget to budget in order to pay the advocates that they hire.”
Developing equitable & accessible government systems
Laws that address discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression protect all women from discrimination based on appearance. But, as you know, there are efforts in Maine and nationally to change these protections. How would you address these proposals as governor?
“I believe that people should have the right to express themselves in whatever gender they feel that they are. And that right is under assault by certain elements in Maine and across the country, and I will fight that… We need to actually be more inclusive. And I see that politics has turned a corner here in Maine even. It's deeply saddening to me, and it has led me, actually, to run for governor as an independent, because I believe that we need to get past the finger-pointing, and we need to get to real solutions… and create a politics that's based on kindness and civility and love.”
“We need to guarantee a right to vote for all eligible citizens as written.”
Other notable quotes
“The first question I ask is, what state is doing this well? let's find states that are solving this problem well that we can adapt from Maine. I don't care whether a blue state, a red state, or whatever, we need ideas that work. And we need to take action, which government in recent years hasn't been very good at. For me, fixing our healthcare system and getting to universal care is likely going to mean working with our neighboring states to create a new system that is not as reliant on the Feds, because there's a lot of volatility coming from there.”