ON THE ISSUES
CONTRACT WITH WORKING MAINERS
Too many Mainers are frustrated with state government and overwhelmed by the chaos and dysfunction in D.C. It seems like the government only works for those at the top – career politicians cater to people with money, power and influence, ignoring the voices of everyday working people. The divide between the wealthy elite and ordinary Americans is only widening, and the American dream moves further out of reach. But Troy knows there’s a better way.
It’s time for a government that works for every day, working Mainers. It’s time for elected officials to renew their commitment to the people they represent. It’s time for a new contract: a new deal between working Mainers and their government.
- Lower energy costs. Energy costs have skyrocketed in recent years making it harder for Mainers to afford to keep the lights on and stay warm. As Governor, Troy will stop these electricity rate hikes, cut outrageous utility profits and reinvest in our grid, and make Maine energy independent.
- Cut taxes for working families. Rising costs are putting a strain on working-class families, making it harder than ever for folks to get ahead. At the same time, politicians in Washington continue to prioritize handouts to their wealthy friends. That is not who Troy is. As Governor, Troy has a plan to deliver tax breaks to those who need it most – working-class families.
- Lower prescription drug costs. The cost of health care in this country is out of control. Too many people are forced to choose between putting food on the table and affording their medication. All while Big Pharma and health insurance companies rake in record profits. Troy’s stood up to Big Pharma before and he’ll do it again. As Governor, he will pass laws to rein in the cost of prescription drugs, improve access to medication and put patients before profits.
- Fix Maine’s housing crisis. Working families are being priced out of Maine while Wall Street investors and out-of-state millionaires buy up our communities. Troy remembers what it was like for his family to struggle with housing. As Governor, Troy will create the Department of Housing Affordability and give it the resources to tackle the housing crisis with the speed, scale, and focus working families deserve.
- Lower child care costs. Childcare is the backbone of our economy, but it’s breaking the backs of working families. Parents struggle to find care for their kids and when they do, they often can’t afford it. And providers struggle to keep their doors open. As Governor, Troy has a plan to ensure that no working class family pays more than 7 percent of their income on childcare.
Troy has a bold plan to lower costs and make it easier for working Mainers to put a roof over their head, heat their homes, make ends meet, afford to go to the doctor and find quality, affordable child care. And if you know Troy, he won’t stop fighting until he delivers.
The Details
STOP ELECTRICITY RATE HIKES
Mainers deserve electricity that’s reliable, affordable, and clean. But in recent years our utilities have moved far more money to Wall Street investors than they have into regular upkeep of our grid and the workers who maintain it – all while raising costs for ratepayers. And now CMP is back at it again, asking our PUC to saddle ratepayers with a $1.5 billion rate hike. Enough is enough. As Governor, Troy will stop these electricity rate hikes, cut egregious utility profits and reinvest in the grid so it’s more reliable and less prone to outages, and make Maine energy independent by tapping into our abundant clean energy resources.
GIVING WORKING FAMILIES A BREAK
- Double the Earned Income Tax Credit. Troy will double Maine’s Earned Income Tax Credit which means $3,468 for families with three or more kids, $649 for individuals. Workers from more than 100,000 Maine households work full-time and still can’t pay the bills while corporate profits hit all-time highs. Here’s the choice: we can hand working families the money they’ve earned, or we keep padding corporate bank accounts. Troy knows which side he’s on.
Children or relatives claimed | Filing as single, head of household, married filing separately or widowed | Filing jointly |
Zero | $19,104 | $26,214 |
One | $50,434 | $57,554 |
Two | $57,310 | $64,430 |
Three | $61,555 | $68,675 |
Maximum credit amounts: 1 qualifying child: $2,164; 2 qualifying children: $3,576; 3 or more qualifying children: $4,023.
- Strengthen the Child & Dependent Tax Credit. Troy will expand the Child & Dependent Tax Credit to put money back where it belongs: in the pockets of working families, not corporate CEOs. Everyday Mainers are doing everything right, paying their bills, working hard, but are still falling behind while the wealthy keep getting richer. Expanding the tax credit puts real money back in working Mainers’ pockets. No more watching from the sidelines while everyone else gets ahead. Troy’s fighting to make sure when you work hard and raise a family, you actually get to keep more of what you earn.
- Tax Exemptions for Diapers, Menstrual, Medical Products. We need to bring Maine’s tax code into the 21st Century. Mainers aren’t supported to pay sales tax on basic essentials, but somehow menstrual products and diapers don’t fit the bill. It’s wrong and needs to change.
PATIENTS OVER PROFITS
First and foremost, Maine needs a public option. While Troy believes in Medicare for All, he believes that it would be a challenge for Maine to implement on its own. That’s why he supports the pursuit of a public option.
As we work to get a public option up in running Maine, we must also rein in the price of prescription drugs, protect access to reproductive care and invest in rural health care. These policies include:
- Lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Maine patients shouldn’t be at the mercy of greedy pharmaceutical companies when it comes to the medication they need to live. Part of the solution must include prohibiting excessive, often overnight, price increases for generic and off-patent prescription drugs sold in Maine. We also need to clamp down on pharmacy benefit managers, the insidious middlemen, that drive up prescription drug prices. And when Big Pharma threatens to sue, Troy will say bring it on.
- Improving access to reproductive health care. For too long, funding for family planning services has remained stagnant. With widespread attacks on reproductive freedom, access to quality, affordable reproductive care across Maine is more important than ever. It’s time to fund family planning services sustainably so access to care isn’t in jeopardy every two years.
- Put patients over profits. Private equity companies have one goal – make their corporate shareholders even richer. So when they buy up rural hospitals, nursing homes and the primary medical care practice on Main Street, they aren’t focused on patient care, health outcomes or the community. They just want to make a whole bunch of money as quickly as possible. And it is patients and communities who pay the price. Maine patients are already struggling to access and afford the care they need and deserve. We cannot let what private equity firms are doing in other states, happen in Maine. As Governor, Troy would enact a moratorium preventing private equity firms from buying up health care practices in Maine.
- Nursing homes and long-term care. In 1995, our state had 132 nursing homes. Now, that number is closer to 80, with no nursing homes in the entirety of Hancock County. This shows what a systemic problem we have on our hands. As Governor, Troy will prioritize investments and improve reimbursement rates to ensure that quality long term care is available for our loved ones when they need it most.
As Governor, Troy will do everything in his power to keep healthcare providers afloat and give doctors and nurses the staffing resources to safely serve all Maine communities – stepping in and temporarily taking over hospitals and critical healthcare services if necessary. Maine should not let reckless decisions by politicians in Washington DC or the corporate healthcare giants leave Maine high and dry without the healthcare services we need and deserve!
ESTABLISH THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Working families are being priced out of Maine while Wall Street investors and out-of-state millionaires buy up our communities. From Kittery to Fort Kent, too many of the people who actually make this state run can’t afford to live here anymore. Troy will elevate Maine Housing into the Department of Housing Affordability and give it new powers and resources to tackle the housing crisis with the speed, scale, and focus working families deserve.
- We’ll stop Wall Street from buying up Maine. Private equity firms are snatching up homes and pricing out working families. They’re treating our communities like an investment opportunity while teachers and nurses can’t afford rent. It’s time for policies that give families a pathway to home-ownership over corporations and investment firms.
- We’ll reward Mainers who stay and build their lives here. Tax credits for renters, incentives for full-time residents, and down payment assistance programs for people committed to living and working in Maine. If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here.
- We’ll expand and make permanent the programs that actually work. Expanding the low-income housing tax credit, strengthening the rural rental tax credit, and removing the sunset on the state affordable housing tax credit. No more temporary fixes and political games. These tools work, so let’s stop pretending they’re experiments.
- We’ll cut the red tape with a statewide housing appeals board so good projects don’t die in endless bureaucracy.
- We’ll deliver on meaningful property tax relief. With rising valuations and the increase of luxury vacation homes, year-round Maine residents are being priced out of their communities. As Governor, Troy will explore surcharges on luxury homes valued at over a million dollars to help stabilize local property taxes and support municipal services. He will convene a property tax relief task force to develop and implement long-term solutions so Mainers don’t get priced out of their communities, and communities can meet the needs of Maine people.
CHILDCARE FOR ALL
Childcare is the backbone of our economy, but it’s breaking the backs of working families. Parents struggle to find spots for their kids and when they do, they often can’t afford it. Right now, 18,000 working-age Mainers are out of the labor force because of a lack of childcare. Meanwhile, early childhood educators are paid low wages and centers are struggling to keep the lights on.
This failing childcare system costs Maine more than $400 million in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue every year. Troy fought hard in Augusta to raise childcare workers’ pay and help families afford the cost of care, but there’s so much more to do. Here’s what Troy will fight for as your governor:
- First year free: no family should worry about how to afford care when they’re welcoming a child into this world.
- Affordable for all: childcare shouldn’t cost as much as a mortgage. Troy will make sure no working family pays more than 7 percent of their income on childcare.
- A living wage: childcare workers are still among the lowest-paid workers in our economy. Troy will put them on a path to earning the wages and benefits they deserve, just like all educators in our state.
- On time, every time: we don’t let workers get paid late, so why should child care providers be any different? The state has a responsibility to pay providers on time when it comes to wage stipends, subsidies for children in foster care and families who qualify for child care scholarships. Troy will make sure the people who keep our child care system afloat can count on the state to reimburse them on schedule.
PROTECTING GOOD-PAYING JOBS & THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS
- Passing the Buy American, Build Maine Act. If there is work that needs to be done in this state and in this country, and taxpayers are footing the bill, then the people living, working and paying taxes in this state and country should have the opportunity to do the job. And if there are materials or parts needed to do the job, those materials should be American-made whenever possible.
- Promote good-faith negotiations in public sector employment contracts. Right now, agreements reached through the arbitration process are meaningless for public employees and employers because they aren’t binding. As a result, neither management nor employees have any incentive to keep their end of the bargain. Our public employees – our teachers, our firefighters, and snowplow drivers – deserve better.
- Eliminating bogus noncompete agreements. Bogus noncompete agreements stand in the way of healthy economic competition and innovation by unfairly trapping workers in jobs under the guise of protecting trade secrets. There is a time and place for noncompete agreements but they should be used appropriately.
- Protecting heritage industries. Protecting and promoting Maine fishing and seafood processing to create good-paying jobs and support our working waterfront. Enforcing laws so that hardworking Maine truckers aren’t watching the jobs in their own backyard go to Canadians. Supporting Maine farmers and food producers who feed our communities, our seniors and our families.
