WHEREAS, on October 18, 2022, the nation marks the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act which aimed to prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution in the nation's water to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; and

WHEREAS, this landmark environmental legislation has been central to the important progress we have made in Maine in improving the quality and health of our rivers, streams, marine waters, lakes, wetlands, and watersheds; and

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

Maine remains within the crushing grip of an unrelenting opioid epidemic. This is an epidemic which began decades ago, and which has now worsened from the effects of the pandemic and specifically the increased presence of dangerous, highly lethal drugs like fentanyl. It’s an epidemic that is killing a record number of Maine people – people who are our family, friends, and neighbors.

When I took office, I launched a coordinated response — something new to our state — a response to the opioid epidemic that broke down the silos of state government and targeted every available state and federal resource to stop drugs from reaching Maine; to prevent addiction at an early age; to treat addiction when we couldn’t prevent it; to set people on a life-long path to recovery – and above all else, to save lives.

To prevent addiction from an early age, we have trained school staff and childcare providers to teach children the skills they need to manage their emotions, to resolve conflicts, and to make safe choices in life. 

To prevent fatal opioid overdoses, we have distributed several hundred thousand doses of Naloxone statewide. And keep in mind, the number of people saved by Naloxone and intervention is far, far greater than the number of people who unfortunately died from an overdose.

To expand treatment options, we have expanded MaineCare. So far, MaineCare expansion has covered substance use disorder treatment for more than 22,000 Maine people suffering from addiction.

To set people on a path to lifelong recovery, we have supported 17 different recovery community centers and 16 recovery residences, and we have trained more than 1,000 recovery coaches across the state. 

These are just the few of the actions we have taken, but recently I announced another step we are taking to expand treatment options for substance use disorders, especially in rural Maine.

I’ve now dedicated $1.9 million to behavioral health providers for start-up costs, like staff training and development, allowing them to increase the number of patients they serve in rural areas of the state. This new initiative complements our State funding for renovation and capital costs that I announced in July to increase the number of available beds for residential treatment and medically supervised withdrawal in Maine.

This funding is also in addition to an historic $230 million investment in behavioral health through our biennial budget — a bipartisan budget — to support the workforce, capacity, and resilience of substance use and mental health providers as well as sustainable MaineCare rates into the future. It is also in addition to the $20 million in my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan that is increasing Maine’s health care workforce.

For all the Maine people impacted by substance use disorders, whose lives are disrupted, or destroyed by drugs, for all those who have lost a loved one to this epidemic since it began – know that we will not give up.

We won’t quit until every person in our state is able to become their best selves – the best that they can be, whatever their past, whatever their troubles, whatever their needs.

We have a long way to go towards healing our state from the opioid epidemic, but to me, there is always hope and there is the hard work of Maine people. The hard work and the hope that have seen us through hard times before.  

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, thousands of adults in Maine are in need of assistance in order to qualify for better-paying or more fulfilling jobs, to achieve a post-secondary education, or to improve their English language skills; and

WHEREAS, success in these endeavors leads to these adults becoming more effective family members, citizens, and workers; and

WHEREAS, Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are the primary providers of community-based long-term support services for thousands of individuals with disabilities in Maine; and

WHEREAS, DSPs are valued for their work in building respectful and trusted relationships with individuals to assist them with their most intimate needs; and

WHEREAS, in the State of Maine, nearly 13,000 children are residing in grandparent-headed households; and

WHEREAS, about 2,500 children are being raised by kinship caregivers without involvement of Maine's Child Protective Services, and another 988 children are in foster care with a grandparent or another relative caregiver when the parents are unable or unwilling to provide safe nurturing care to their children; and

WHEREAS, Maine is committed to a clean energy future and enjoys abundant forms of renewable energy that powers homes and businesses across the State; and

WHEREAS, the generation of power from renewable sources, including forms such as hydro, wood, wind, and solar, plays an important role in meeting the needs of our homes and businesses; and

WHEREAS, Maine has a Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and has a goal of 100 percent by 2050; and

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

You know since my very first day in office when I signed the Executive Order expanding MaineCare as the people of Maine had voted to do by more than 60 percent, my Administration has also been working to make health insurance more affordable for Maine people.

We have restored programs that cut the costs of prescription drugs for seniors, we’ve protected health insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, we’ve expanded coverage for dental and reproductive health care services, we’ve invested in our current and future health care workforce, and we’ve targeted direct relief to Maine’s small businesses who are grappling with the high cost of health care and health insurance. 

In March of 2020, I signed into law, with the bipartisan support of the Legislature, my Made for Maine Health Coverage Act. This Act improves health insurance coverage and holds down health insurance premiums for small businesses. Thanks to that new law, we reversed the trend of steadily increasing health insurance costs for many small businesses next year for the first time since at least 2001.

In 2023, premiums for the small group market – which serves employers with 50 or fewer employees – will decrease by an average of 0.8 percent, instead of increasing by 12 percent which would have been the case without the plan.

That decrease in costs in Maine comes as average small group premiums in many other northeast states are increasing. Rhode Island is scheduled to see an average of 11.5 percent increase, Vermont an average of 11.7 to 18.3 percent, Connecticut by an average of 14.8 percent, and New York an average increase of 7.9 percent.

This average reduction in Maine health insurance costs is a victory for many small businesses and their hardworking employees who rely on the small group market for health insurance, and it couldn’t come at a better time. As Maine small businesses grapple with high costs from inflation, this is one thing they will have a little less to worry about.

I am proud of this progress under our watch, progress that builds on other investments we are making in my Jobs & Recovery Plan to lower health insurance costs for Maine’s small businesses. These investments include $39 million to launch the Small Business Health Insurance Premium Relief Program which lowers the cost of monthly health insurance premiums for small businesses and their employees.

I will continue to do all I can to support Maine’s small businesses and the entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a business here in Maine, especially when it comes to lowering the cost of high-quality health care.

Now if you are looking for health insurance, you can learn more about your coverage options at Maine’s state-based marketplace, CoverME.gov. That’s CoverMe.Gov.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a debilitating disease that may rob people of their physical abilities, but it does not rob them of their heart, their love, or their spirit.

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

Last weekend, I joined the Bangor Walk to Defeat ALS in solidarity with families and in honor of all those living with ALS and in memory of those we have lost to this disease.

Like many people across Maine, I have lost friends to ALS, friends like George Smith. George Smith was an avid sportsman, a prolific writer, and a good-natured friend to all. He was the very embodiment of the character of Maine: strong but kind, independent, compassionate, wise but humble.

George’s decades-long advocacy contributed to the preservation and protection of hundreds of acres of forests, lands, lakes, and streams across our state that now will be enjoyed by untold generations to come.

George Smith’s love and respect for our great state is only surpassed by the love its people, including this Governor and other governors, had for him. His lived his life to the fullest, even as he fought ALS with his characteristic grit, fortitude, and courage to the very end. 

I also lost another individual to ALS. Joe Mayo was the clerk of the Maine House of Representatives, very well-known individual, and a former state representative, very popular, well-liked, and someone who successfully fought for legislation to ease the suffering of people with ALS at the end of their lives.

Well this past legislative session, I was pleased to sign a new bill in honor of George Smith and Joe Mayo and others, and at the request of Karin Tilberg, who also lost her husband, Chris Smith, to ALS recently. This bill, LD 2007 creates a mandatory statewide registry for ALS so we can all better understand the prevalence of the disease in Maine and maybe reach a cure or some way of preventing the disease from taking hold in the first place. 

Now we can learn more about the potential causes of the disease. Now we can better support patients living with the disease and their families. And, with the rate of Maine veterans with ALS being at least twice the national average, greater awareness can also help us ensure that veterans get the benefits that they might be owed.

I want to thank Senator Ned Claxton of Auburn and Representative Laurie Osher of Orono for sponsoring this legislation and for securing unanimous support for the bill in the Legislature. I was proud and pleased to sign it into law.

It is my fervent hope that this law will improve our understanding of this terrible disease until we can defeat ALS, once and for all, in the memory of baseball great Lou Gehrig and many hometown heroes as well.  

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) emerged on the rocky, acidic soils of the Barrens of Maine following the retreat of the glaciers more than 10,000 years ago; and

WHEREAS, wild blueberries, which are not planted but grow naturally, were first managed and harvested by the Wabanaki and are now grown by 485 Maine farms on 40,000 acres, primarily within Washington, Hancock, Knox, and Waldo counties; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting our state; and

WHEREAS, a sufficient blood supply is a public health issue both locally and nationally, and our hospitals and medical centers need a readily available supply for residents and visitors; and

WHEREAS, one blood donation can help save more than one life, and although most of the United States population is eligible to donate blood, only about 3 percent actually do; and