One of the most important jobs of the Legislature is crafting and passing a two-year budget. The state’s budget is more than just a series of dollar amounts and line items. As our former vice president, Joe Biden, often said, “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”
The Maine I know values family and community. We don’t believe in handouts, but we also know that it shouldn’t be so hard for working families to get by and to help their kids build good lives here in Maine. We know that working parents shouldn’t have to worry that their paychecks won’t cover the cost of childcare while they’re at work.
The governor has shown us his budget and I am having a difficult time finding those Maine values I know and see every day in our community. His budget continues to pay for handouts for Maine’s affluent citizens with devastating cuts that keep working families struggling and our economy limping behind.
The governor’s proposed budget cuts more than $65 million dollars from funds that provide health care, food and shelter to Maine people working hard to make ends meet.
While we all know our welfare system needs real reform, short-sighted cuts like the sweeping ones in this budget will keep more people, especially kids, living in poverty, not less.
The number of Maine children living in deep poverty, defined by an annual household income of less than $10,000, has ballooned over the last five years, at a rate eight times greater than the rest of the country. The last five years have also seen a sharp decline in Maine’s overall health and child wellbeing. On top of that, more Maine kids are suffering from hunger as Maine is facing the third highest rate of hunger in the country. The fact that Maine’s hunger rate continues to rise while the rest of the country is seeing relief only adds to that disgrace.
We all understand that when times are tough, hard choices have to be made. But what makes these cuts so baffling to me is that Maine is not facing a budget shortfall. It’s like a family deciding to cut their grocery, or diaper budget, to buy a yacht. This isn’t the first time a politician has tried to take from kids to give massive tax breaks to higher income earners, but it should be the last.
Our budget should help struggling families lift themselves out of poverty, while at the same time creating opportunities for people to find good jobs, take care of their families, and be productive members of their communities.
This session I will stand with my colleagues to support bills that will help working people and their families. Whether it’s stopping worker exploitation and wage theft or closing loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, I will fight for a budget and other policies that reflect real Maine values.