Message from Rep. Gary Friedmann
Dear Neighbor,
Last week, the Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander ran my OpEd responding to Gov. Mills’ State of the State Address, which she delivered on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Read on below:
Last week, the governor gave a rousing and inspired State of the State address to the Maine Legislature. Immediately after her speech, I sat down and discussed it with a number of fellow legislators. There was much to like: continuing support for family planning, free community college, housing and even a call for universal health care, stating that health care is a human right.
She took a bold stand against the outrageous attacks on our constitutional rights by ICE. She told the Trump administration that if it was going to break our laws with arbitrary immigration round-ups, they would have to come through her first.
The governor made some bold proposals that take aim at the affordability crisis confronting most Mainers. Too many Mainers are struggling to keep up with the cost of living. But we can do better than taking more than $200 million from the rainy day fund to send every taxpayer a one-time check of $300. This moment demands permanent change: adjusting Maine’s tax structure to reduce costs for working and middle-income earners, and to make the wealthiest among us pay their fair share.
The current tax structure requires teachers, nurses, construction workers and small business owners to pay the same tax rate as millionaires. In what world does that make sense for working Mainers?
But here’s the good news. The Legislature has already developed bills to reallocate income taxation away from people who are struggling to make ends meet and onto those who have just received massive cuts from the Trump administration. These progressive tax bills put more of the responsibility where it belongs, off the backs of working people and onto millionaires. Rather than mailing out one-time checks, the governor should leave more money in people’s wallets every week by adopting the legislature’s tax reform bills.
We agree with the governor that the current crisis can be met by judicious use of a portion of the rainy day fund. But such an allocation should be targeted to the emergency needs created by congressional Republicans’ cruel cuts to the safety net to fund handouts for billionaires and big corporations. There is an immediate need to assist tens of thousands of Mainers facing the loss of food assistance, and support for health care, housing and heating costs. Any disbursement of emergency funds should tackle these needs first.
We also need to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable among us who have been hurt the most by Republicans in Washington:
● Legal aid to defend those who have been brutally and unjustly swept up in immigration raids.
● Emergency shelters for unhoused people in our state. Currently, this burden falls on municipalities. We cannot stand idly by as people die on the streets from hypothermia.
● Services for Maine seniors. Currently hundreds are on the waitlist for Meals on Wheels.
● Health care premium subsidies for expired Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Thousands of Mainers are at risk of losing vital health care coverage. At least 10 states have established separate, state-funded subsidies to defray the costs of health plans sold on the ACA marketplaces. These include tax credits towards cost-sharing obligations for health plan enrollees. Maine should join them.
In the face of the federal government’s cuts to health care, heating and food assistance and the unlawful attacks on our immigrant neighbors, it’s time for Maine to step up. We can and must meet this moment with a budget that enacts fairer taxes and prioritizes the urgent needs of working-class Mainers.
Sincerely,
Rep. Gary Friedmann