Bill Bites
Bill Bites is a livestreamed lunchtime event that takes place every Thursday from 12:15-12:45 during the Legislative Session. We will be interviewing a different legislator or local policy expert and taking a closer look at some of the bills that we are working on this session! Tune in on Facebook Live, watch our previous sessions below, or join us on Zoom by signing up for our Bill Bites email list.
Bill Bites Recordings
2021 Maine Tax Bills
May 20th 2021: Today Ryan Tipping of Mainers for Tax Fairness joined the Lobby to chat about their work and provide an overview of the tax-related bills this session. Find more of Mainers for Tax Fairness here: https://mainersfortaxfairness.org/
The Whistleblower Act with Senate President Troy Jackson
May 13th 2021: The Maine Women's Lobby chatted with Senate President Troy Jackson about next week's bill (to be printed soon) about workplace protections (aka the Whistleblower Act). Senator Jackson noted the importance of properly funding and equipping the Department of Labor in order for them to have the capacity to protect worker's rights in Maine. Look out for more information on this bill by following us on Facebook, bookmarking our bill tracker, and considering sharing your own testimony once a hearing is announced.
Anti-Choice Legislation in Maine
April 29th 2021: Today we welcomed Nicole Clegg from Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund. We chatted about a collection of anti-choice bills coming up this legislative session. She encourages everyone to share their story if they are ready to and bring a voice to protect reproductive rights. Many of these bills aim to reduce access to reproductive care and barriers to abortion care services.
Supporting Retiring Mainers with AARP
April 22nd 2021: Today we welcomed Lori Parham from Maine AARP to Bill Bites. The language for the bill is not out yet but we chatted about LR 921 which is all about supporting retirement for all Mainers. Lori stated "pensions are just not around like they used to be", women are already challenged before Covid happened due to wage inequity and being direct care workers; just to name a few. Policies like this one can help women live into their retirement, not in poverty or food insecurity.
Earned Income Tax Credits and Low Income Tax Credits
April 8th 2021: Today we were joined by Representative Terry, Senator Vitelli, and Janet Smith from CA$H Maine to chat about Earned Income Tax Credits and Low-Income Tax Credits. We discussed LR 1495: An Act To Support Working Families through Outreach and Education about Tax Credits for Persons of Low Income. We will be adding LR 1495 to our bill tracking document as soon as an LD number is generated.
Expanding Recovery Access in Maine
April 1st 2021: Today we welcomed Augusta City Counselor and Policy Director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Prjoect (ME-RAP), Courtney Allen. We chatted about LD 488: Resolve, To Expand Recovery Community Organizations throughout Maine. This bill will have a hearing on April 12th at 1 pm in front of the Health and Human Services Committee. Expanding recovery organizations throughout Maine will help reverse the increase in the female incarceration population in Maine and help folks get back to their community with the supports that they need.
Transphobic Legislation in Maine
March 18th 2021: This week we welcomed Quinn Gormley from Maine Transnet and Gia Drew from Equality Maine to our 9th Bill Bites Session. There are anti-trans bills across the country right now but in Maine, we are focused on four, one, in particular, is LD 926 Title: An Act To Ban Biological Males from Participating in Women's Sports.
State of the 2021 Budget
March 11th 2021: We sat down with Betsy Sweet from Moose Ridge Associates to chat about the State of the Budget in the 130th Maine Legislative Session. We also looked into the difference between the supplemental budget and the biennial budget.
Drug Decriminalization
March 4th 2021: We joined Representative Anne Perry and Meagan Sway from the Maine ACLU to chat about drug decriminalization in the 130th Maine Legislative Session. The bill is still an LR with Title: An Act To Amend the Drug Laws by Decriminalizing the Individual Use or Possession of Schedule W, X, Y, and Z Drugs. This bill will help get people to treatment instead of jail and connected instead of isolated, said Representative Perry.
Childcare: Quality, Access, & Workforce
February 25, 2021: This week, we invited Rita Furlow from the Maine Children's Alliance and Tara Williams from the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children. We talked about childcare quality, access, and workforce in the 130th legislative session.
LR 514 An Act To Build a Child Care System by Recruiting and Retaining Maine's Early Childhood Workforce
LR 1625 An Act To Create an Early Care and Education Program to Support Children's Healthy Development and School Success
Pregnancy & Postpartum Care
February 18th, 2021: This week, we were joined by Senator Anne Carney, who discussed the work she's doing to improve access to postpartum care in Maine. We must do more to support young parents in Maine by providing the comprehensive postpartum care needed to raise happy and healthy families.
The Maine Housing Crisis
February 11th, 2021: This week, we were joined by Rep. Victoria Morales, executive director of the Quality Housing Coalition. She gave us the Maine housing crisis landscape and discussed what is being done to address it in the legislature this session.
LR 947 An Act To Comprehensively Address Homelessness and Affordable Housing in Maine
Online Voter Registration
February 4th, 2021: This week, we were joined by Representative Pierce of Falmouth and Anna Keller of Democracy Maine to talk about online voter registration and other reform efforts. A vibrant democracy requires access to your right to vote, and online voter registration is the next step in ensuring all Mainers make their voices heard.
LR 13 An Act To Update the Voting Process Regarding Registration and Absentee Ballots
Racial Impact Statements
January 28th 2021: This week on Bill Bites we spoke with Joby Thoyalil from Maine Equal Justice this week on the topic of LD2. LD 2 would add racial impact statements into the legislative process for bills that could have a potential impact on historically disadvantaged racial groups. The Legislative Council would conduct a study to decide the best method to move forward with racial impact statements for the 2022 legislative session.
Paid Family Leave
January 21st, 2021: We spoke with Senator Mattie Daughtry to have a chat about Paid Family and Medical Leave! This was the very first of our weekly series "Bill Bites," where we sit down with a local legislator or policy expert and discuss a bill or topic we're focusing on this Legislative Session.
LR 547: This bill would create a commission to develop a proposal for how to implement a statewide system of Paid Family and Medical Leave in Maine. The commission would report out their final recommendations to the Legislature in 2022, then the Legislature would have the opportunity to vote on the proposal. This is the top priority of MWL and the Maine Paid Leave Coalition.