Leadership in Action: The State Legislature releases new COVID-19 bill

Maine has been hit hard by COVID-19. This pandemic has pushed many Mainers to the brink, both economically and in maintaining the health of their loved ones and communities. With the recent surge in cases, Mainers are looking to Augusta for help.

The Maine State Legislature listened. Today, they released the first bill of the new session. LD-1’s aim is to stop the continued spread of COVID-19 and ensure that Mainers don’t go broke when they need care.

LD-1 would require insurance companies to expand access to and to fully cover COVID-19 testing; allow Mainers increased options for telehealth appointments; and permit pharmacists to fill prescriptions for extended periods and to administer COVID-19 vaccines once available.

“Maine working families are juggling jobs, hybrid and remote school, unemployment, and a whole host of unknown factors right now,” said our executive director Evan LeBrun.

“Senate President Troy Jackson and Governor Mills get it. Maine has fared a lot better than many other states managing this public health crisis because of their leadership. LD-1 proves that the Legislature is keeping their eye on protecting Mainers.”

As we continue to deal with this dual economic and public health crisis, it’s more important than ever that every Mainer is able to get the care they need, without putting their health or income at risk.

Small Business Heroes: Lynn Irish discusses running a small business amidst COVID-19

Maine’s small businesses are an important part of our community and our economy. Many have been hit hard by this COVID-19 crisis, and have faced many challenges in keeping their doors open throughout the year.

Mainers for Working Families contacted local small business owners across Maine to talk about what they’ve done to keep their businesses running and their communities safe, and discuss what is still needed to help them through 2020 and beyond.

Lynn Irish has owned and run Whippersnappers Quilt Studio in Hallowell since May of 2003. Originally participating in craft shows, Lynn decided to expand into quilting with encouragement from friends and fabric distributors.

While Lynn has had staff before, she now manages the store by herself. “I really have two businesses, I have a retail store and I do long arm quilting. So balancing those two things... has always been a struggle.”

When the COVID-19 crisis first began, Lynn was forced to close Whippersnappers.

“When Governor Mills announced that the stores had to close, I basically sat at home and cried for a few days,” said Lynn Irish.

Instead of staying closed, Lynn decided to help her community by moving into making PPE.

“I petitioned the state and was officially deemed an essential business,” said Lynn. “I was working 10-11 hours a day every day for six days a week, and sometimes coming down on Sundays because everything just took so much longer.”

Along with making PPE, Lynn still made time to fulfill retail orders, and received a lot of support from her customers.

“I did have a lot of customers, some who hadn’t been in in a while, call... I kind of scrambled to get more stuff on my website,” said Lynn. “And I got a lot of support from my regular customers.”

Lynn has since reopened her doors. Because her customers are older, she was adamant about following protocol and keeping everyone safe.

“I started enforcing mask wearing before it was a state mandate,” Lynn said.

Her store is now open for walk-ins, but she makes sure that it is kept well below capacity. Only six people are allowed in the store at one time. All customers must be mask-compliant. Lynn keeps hand sanitizer available, and makes sure to wipe everything down.

Lynn faced minor pushback on her mask policies earlier on in the pandemic.

“I feel like Hallowell is being pretty good about it, but there’s always a couple people who don’t want to wear a mask. They just don’t come in,” said Lynn. “

“I think we can only do the responsible thing, and if that means saying wear a mask or don’t come in, then so be it, because we know that’s what works.”

Lynn had plans before the pandemic to downsize her storefront business. Now, with the virus beginning to surge again, she believes it was good timing.

“Given COVID-19, I’m actually glad that I am downsizing, because I think it’s going to get worse again. I’m very worried about what’s going to happen in the next few months.”

As she continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Lynn found the state guidelines she received when Whippersnappers was deemed an essential business to be both helpful and clear. She also relied on the news to guide her decision making.

While she believes businesses should be provided more aid and protection, Lynn is against the push for blanket immunity for businesses who aren’t protecting their communities.

“If a company isn’t willing to take precautions, then they shouldn’t get any protection from liability. I don’t think [immunity] can be a blanket thing,” said Lynn. “If they’re not doing the safety precautions that we know work, then they shouldn’t get immunity.”

With the new year around the corner and many small businesses looking ahead, Lynn believes that we shouldn’t let our guard down.

“I feel like I’ve been vigilant about being safe and keeping my customers safe,” said Lynn. “We should keep taking precautions and stay vigilant.”

New poll shows Mainers support common sense policies, preventing cuts to essential services

A poll released today by Mainers for Working Families shows that a majority of Mainers support the State Legislature implementing common sense policies to help the state recover from COVID-19, even increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, so as to avoid cuts to essential services. The poll also shows overall support of policies like closing corporate tax loopholes and expanding access to healthcare. A majority also believes that the federal government should provide emergency funding to the state.

The poll’s release comes ahead of the State Legislature convening for a new session.

“This poll confirms what a lot of us hear everyday -- Mainers are looking to Augusta for common-sense solutions to help working families stay afloat,” said Evan LeBrun, executive director of Mainers for Working Families. “That comes down to three things: We need to strengthen crucial services like education and healthcare, lower property taxes, and make sure corporations and wealthy people pay their fair share.”

The poll surveyed over 600 Mainers across the political spectrum, with 43 percent identifying as moderate, 27 percent as liberal, and 28 percent as conservative. 58 percent of Maine voters think the federal government needs to provide emergency funding to Maine.

An overwhelming majority of Mainers also support policies like closing corporate tax loopholes (70 percent), providing healthcare subsidies to low-income Mainers (69 percent), prohibiting pharmacies from pricing the most common drugs above their price in Canada (68 percent), and guaranteeing every Mainer has health insurance (66 percent).

When it comes to raising state revenue, 55 percent support Governor Janet Mills placing a wealth tax on Maine’s highest net worth individuals and families. 51 percent also support ending the LePage income tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Four in five Mainers do not support budget cuts to essential services like health care or education, or hiking up property taxes as a way to supplement revenue.

“[C]ommon sense legislative policies are popular in Maine,” reported Lincoln Park Strategies. Legislators will garner strong support from their constituents, including harder-to-convince cohorts which are not typically viewed as being supportive of these policies. These polling results show strong support for the state legislature to pass these common sense legislative items.”