Transcript for New Laws Will Lower Costs, Strengthen Education, and Create Opportunity

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

You know, even at a time when Washington, D.C. seems unable to get much of anything done, here in Maine, we're proving once again that people of goodwill can get together and solve problems. Working with people of all parties and with members of the public, we enacted laws this year that will lower costs, make it easier to rent or buy a home, control childcare costs, strengthen education, and above all, create more opportunity for Maine people.

Dozens of laws took effect this week, including the Supplemental Budget. Education, of course, as we know, opens doors of opportunity, so we focused on education. And that's why in 2022, with the support of the Legislature, we made community college free for recent high school grads. That free community college program has made a life-changing difference for thousands of young people in Maine, and that's why I proposed, and the Legislature approved, making it permanent in this Supplemental Budget.

We also raised teacher pay. We banned cell phones bell-to-bell in the public schools. In addition to all those measures, the budget gives $300 checks back to more than 500,000 people in Maine to help offset, in some small way, the cost of gas, goods, and groceries that are increasing every day because of circumstances we can't control-things like the war in Iran and national tariffs.

The budget builds on my Administration's historic investments in housing, creating more than 400 new affordable homes for families all across Maine. Other laws extend our affordable housing tax credit and limit rent increases on mobile homes and update permitting to make housing development easier. These laws also took effect this week. We can never do enough to create more housing, but we're doing everything we can.

The Supplemental Budget maintains the state's obligation to pay 55 percent of basic local education costs to help hold down property taxes, and it expands property tax relief for Maine people. The budget maintains access to health care and reproductive health care, and it provides funds for the Maine Veterans Homes.

The budget includes ongoing funding to track forensic sexual assault examination kits, as well as permanent funding for domestic violence and sexual assault services, especially in the face of federal cuts. Other new laws will make it easier to report suspected neglect and abuse of older adults in Maine, and they will extend our childcare affordability programs, expand our nation-leading free school meals program, and help people purchase locally grown food to support our farmers.

My guiding belief as governor has always been that our strongest asset is you, the people of Maine. And that's why these new laws, especially the Supplemental Budget, do invest in you and support you and your families.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.