Last month, the Maine Legislature approved a bill, LD 1733, to authorize spending more than $1 billion of federal American Rescue Plan Funds that passed through Congress earlier this year. Through this legislation, we were able to invest in child care, education, and workforce training. We provided support to Maine small businesses, workers and families. We’ve lifted up our heritage industries and allocated resources to expand health care access and to rebuild our communities.
The many families that make up our town will benefit from the expanded access to child care and public preschool included in this bill. $10 million in grant funding will be available to support child care providers as they renovate, expand or build new facilities. The measure additionally creates a $10 million grant program to expand the number of public pre-Kindergarten programs throughout the state.
LD 1733 makes significant investments in career exploration programs, career and technical education, apprenticeships, workforce training programs and higher education to help young Mainers identify pathways to good-paying jobs and a successful future here in Maine. Maine’s University and Community College Systems, notably, will receive $45 million to train workers to improve education experiences for students. The University of Southern Maine Gorham campus will see some of this money.
Many of the programs offering support to workers and small businesses will be available to those operating in Gorham. The bill creates $20 million in additional economic recovery grants for businesses and organizations that did not qualify for initial economic recovery grants. The measure also establishes a new program within the Maine Bureau of Insurance to help small business owners afford small group health insurance. This will help fill in the gaps for smaller businesses that are still unable to offer their employees health insurance.
Other efforts in this bill to improve access to health care include creating a stackable credential program for health care workers to professionalize the field. This will make a big difference for our older Gorham residents and for those who work in this field by reducing staff shortages for long-term and direct care work. The bill additionally invests $2.5 million in attracting workers to needed positions within Maine’s health care system.
We made another important investment in our health care workforce by establishing the Maine Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program. This program provides an opportunity for allied health care workers who agree to live and work in Maine for at least three years and who meet certain criteria to receive student loan relief from the Finance Authority of Maine. For a state with an aging population and growing health care needs, this is a smart investment in long-term workforce development.
We were also able to target Maine’s affordable housing crisis. In total, the bill allocated $82 million specifically for affordable housing. This is a substantial amount of money that will benefit those in need of housing and that will act as an economic stimulus for our construction workers.
In an effort to encourage more collaborative worker-employer relationships, a small portion of the total $82 million will have a requirement that companies and workers enter into project labor agreements (PLA’s). A PLA helps ensure quality labor standards, consistent worker availability and other specific hiring goals. Companies here in Gorham have a long history of establishing safe and fair working conditions, and for that we are all grateful. For other companies around the state where that is not the case, this language helps foster more mutually beneficial relationships between workers and their employees.
Further supporting community and economic development, one of the measures I introduced this session, LD 542, received funding. This bill supports the transition of military families to civilian life in Maine. After hearing from Boots2Roots about the need for personalized and proactive support for active-duty military members who are transitioning to civilian life in Maine, I began to advocate for this funding. I am so pleased that this bill allocated $200,000 to support those transitioning veterans and their families.
Lastly, this bill also provides $20 million for immediate investments in Maine’s farms and food processors. This funding will help bolster and reinforce our state’s food system by increasing capacity in a manner that allows for more Maine-grown products to be processed and sold locally, decreasing our reliance on food imported from other states, while also expanding Maine’s export economy.
As a state, we haven’t been able to make an investment in our future like this in years. We need to fund health care. We need to invest in affordable housing. Education and workforce development must be priorities for our state. People are not willing to work for low wages, subpar benefits and in unsafe conditions any longer. Our accomplishments this session will make a real difference for Mainers today and for generations to come.
Rep. Maureen “Mo” Terry, D-Gorham, is serving her third term in the Maine House of Representatives. She serves as House Chair of the Taxation Committee. She is a chef and small business owner with more than 25 years of experience in the food service industry. Contact her at maureen.terry@legislature.maine.gov.