Golden & Pingree Voted to Make Historic Investments in Working Families

In the two Maine Congressional races, Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree are the two candidates who have proven records of supporting working people and our unions. Below are some of the most important federal legislation that passed during this past Congressional term.

Incentivizing Union Jobs with the Inflation Reduction Act

We applaud both Reps. Golden and Pingree for voting to support the Inflation Reduction Act, which makes historic investments in renewable energy with strong labor standards that could create millions of union climate jobs, slash climate pollution and lower energy costs for working people. This bill will also lower prescription drug costs for Mainers.

$245 million to Fix Roads & Upgrade Maine’s Transportation Infrastructure

Reps. Golden and Pingree voted for the bipartisan infrastructure plan that includes $245 million that will put union members to work maintaining and reconstructing roads, highways, and bridges across the state. In addition, the measure will expand access to clean drinking water and high-speed internet and strengthen supply chains by making long overdue improvements in ports, airports and rail.

Saving Union Members’ Pensions, Investing in Child Care & Putting More Money Into Workers’ Pockets

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree deserves special recognition for supporting the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) which guaranteed that a million union retirees, including thousands of Mainers, received their full-earned pensions instead of pennies on the dollar. In total, more than 10 million workers and retirees in multi-employer plans directly benefit from this legislation. Workers who have had their pension benefits cut have had those cuts paid back.  Retired papermakers in Maine as well as 500 active USW members in the state are directly benefitting from this important provision in the ARPA.

The Mills administration has used some of that money to provide $100 million in funding for child care to help Maine child care providers stay open and increase pay for staff. This includes permanent $200 monthly salary supplements for child care workers and a $15 million to support the construction and expansion of child care programs.

In addition, the measure provided $240 million to Maine cities and towns and $261 million to counties. The funding has helped workers like teachers, fire fighters, police and other municipal employees negotiate better contracts. Across the state, municipal and county leaders have been discussing spending millions of dollars of ARPA funds on such initiatives as affordable housing, mental health services, child care, higher wages for workers, broadband expansion, and infrastructure.