Through the Maine state budget, we can support solutions that respond to the needs of the moment and invest in building a more vibrant, equitable future for our children. an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen and stabilize families who continue to face significant health and economic challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic. They also provide an opportunity to invest in the long-term recovery of our state, by investing in the programs and services that support the needs of working families, who are raising the next generation of Mainers, and who are the
backbone of our workforce and communities.

Budget - "the change package"

We support and are grateful for the following items in the Governor’s proposed “change package” that represent essential investments in advancing the health, education, and well-being of Maine children and families:
o $187 million to meet the State’s obligation to pay 55 percent of local education costs for the
first time in Maine’s history
o $151 million to further reform MaineCare to advance the health of Maine people and support
the economic recovery of the health sector, including expanding access to preventive and
routine dental care
o Expanding MaineCare and CHIP eligibility to children under the age of 21 regardless of
immigrant status
o Increasing the state Earned Income Tax Credit benefit, and expanding the Child and Dependent
Care Tax Credit, to conform with federal tax code changes in the American Rescue Plan Act
o $1 million to support the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine
Tribal Populations’ work - a good step toward fully funding the critical work of the Commission.

Early Care and Education

Child care (LD 1712). Quality, affordable child care is critical to ensuring parents can work and children get the supportive early learning experiences they need to grow and thrive. Maine can increase the number of children in high-quality early care and education by growing community-based partnership models that support the needs of parents, providers, and young children.

Health, Safety, and Well-being

Post-partum MaineCare coverage (LD 265). The postpartum period is a medically vulnerable period for many women. High-quality care for mothers up to one year after birth helps to identify potential issues and ensure women connect to follow-up care with their physician. Assuring that women who are eligible for MaineCare during pregnancy and birth have continuous coverage postpartum supports positive outcomes for both mothers and their infants.

CHIP expansion (LD 372). The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has a long history of bipartisan support and a track record of success that provides quality, affordable health care coverage to children from low-income households. CHIP ensures these Maine kids can access the routine care they need. Given the high cost of private health insurance, and the impact of the pandemic on employment and thus employer-sponsored health insurance, expanding
eligibility will put health insurance coverage within reach for many more families in our state.

School-based health centers and school-based oral health care (LDs 979 and 1501). School-based health services provide easy access to age-appropriate health care for children at a time and place where they already are - in school - creating a space where education and health intersect. They also eliminate barriers to care that parents face in missing work and handling transportation to get their child to health care appointments.

Support for young people with foster care experience (LD 1091). The transition from adolescence into adulthood is difficult for most young people. For youth who have experienced foster care and may not have permanent family relationships, it is especially difficult. By providing the kind of support to older youth with foster care experience that most young adults need and can access through parents or other permanent adult relationships, we can ensure these Mainers have the best chance of transitioning into adulthood successfully.

Family Economic and Food Security

Free school meals (LD 1679). Children can’t focus on learning when they’re hungry. Yet the current policy for school meals creates stigma and shame for students who rely on those meals for their nutritional needs, and a barrier for students who are not eligible but still experience food insecurity. By providing universal free school meals, we can eliminate barriers to participation, stigma associated with receiving assistance, school meals debt incurred by districts, and ensure kids get the food they need to be able to learn and thrive in school. Take the lead in recognizing the critical role food security plays in the health, well-being, and academic success of our students, by making school meals free for all.

Now is the time to support the conditions that allow all Maine children and families to thrive.
Investment in Maine children and families is not only the right thing to do, so that every child has the
opportunity for healthy development, but it is also the smart thing to do for our state’s long-term
economic success. Working together, we can return not to Maine as it was, but to a Maine that is more equitable, more
resilient, and more united in achieving the vision that all children and families across our state have the
opportunity to meet their full potential.