Maine’s economy continues to make a strong recovery from the effects of the pandemic. We are now in the top fourteen states for jobs recovered, we brought back almost 100 percent of the jobs lost during the pandemic; our GDP growth over the past three years is 11th best in the entire nation; and our unemployment rate is down to 3.6 percent – below the New England average. Our Rainy Day Fund is at a record high; and we recorded a $1.2 billion surplus.

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

Well just because our economy is making a strong comeback of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone is feeling it – because for many people, especially hardworking middle class and lower-income families, their budgets have been stretched to the brink by inflation and the rising cost of everyday goods from food to gas to heating fuel and electricity.

Well, I am happy to say that help is on the way.

Just one day after it was enacted with overwhelmingly bipartisan support in the Legislature, I was pleased to sign the supplemental budget into law this week.

This budget sends more than half of our surplus back to the people of Maine. These $850 relief checks, which will amount to $1,700 for an average family, represent one of the strongest – if not the strongest – relief proposal in the country.

I have directed the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to get these payments out as soon as they can – and we are hoping to have the first checks out the door by the beginning of June.

Look, we may not be able to control inflation or global markets or worldwide supply chain disruptions, but we can make sure that Maine people have something to help them grapple with these rising costs – and that is exactly what we are doing.

In addition to these give backs, this bipartisan supplemental budget cuts costs for Maine people in other ways:

It delivers even more property tax relief, it cuts taxes for Maine retirees and it expands other tax relief, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, for working Maine families.

The budget makes two years of community college free for students who were most impacted by the pandemic, that’s recent high school grads, and we deliver significant student loan relief so that graduates can get good-paying jobs here in Maine unburdened by school debt.

We raise wages for child care workers, and we fully fund school meals in public schools so that no child falls behind in their classwork because they just can’t learn on an empty stomach.

And we deliver much needed support to hospitals and nursing homes who have gone through so much during this pandemic.

These are just some of the important initiatives in this very strong, bipartisan, and fiscally responsible budget.

There are many more important things in this budget.

It’s also important to note what’s not in this budget as well.

There are no gimmicks.

There are no smoke and mirrors.

There is no borrowing, there is no bonding.

But what this budget shows, once again, like last year, is that through hard work and good faith negotiations, Democrats, Republicans and Independents can sit at the same table, come together, and do what is right for Maine people — and that we can do that without the rancor or bitter partisanship that has often divided Augusta in the past.

The bottom-line is this, for me: Maine people are our greatest asset – and this budget delivers for them.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Our hospitals, nursing homes, and other members of the health care sector are one of Maine’s largest employers. They put thousands of Maine people to work in good-paying jobs and they protect the lives and health of Maine people.

But for a long time now, health care facilities across the state have had to grapple with a shortage of workers. This shortage has been over a number of years, but the stress and the length of the pandemic only made that problem worse.

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

This week, I announced a new program through my Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan. It’s called Healthcare Training for ME. It provides free and low-cost career training to make it easier and more affordable for people, especially young people, to pursue careers in health care and to move up the career ladder into higher-paying jobs.

We’ve created a website — www.maine.gov/healthcaretrainingforme — that website connects individuals and employers with training curricula from adult ed programs, and community colleges, and the university system. People can then apply for tuition assistance to enroll in training programs, or employers can offer training to their employees, at little or no cost.

This program will help healthcare workers advance their careers, and support workforce training needs of healthcare employers, and it will attract new workers to these fast-growing fields. It is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act, with support from the Harold Alfond Foundation.

My Administration is committed to supporting our hospitals and nursing homes and other health care employers and to strengthening our health care workforce in the long-run. That’s why we’re also investing in scholarships and student loan relief for people in health care professions; also new recruitment efforts to encourage young people to enter careers in health care; and creating health care career navigators to direct people who are interested in health care fields to the right career path for them.

If you are a health care worker and you want additional training, or if you employ health care workers and want training for your staff, please visit maine.gov/healthcaretrainingforme to see a list of upcoming, free trainings.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

And, for those who celebrate, Happy Easter.

With the work of Senate President Troy Jackson and the unanimous support of the Legislature and now, a vote from the Maine Veteran’s Homes Board of Trustees, we are keeping the Veterans’ Homes in Caribou and Machias open.

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

I’ve talked about my father from time to time. I’ve mentioned he served bravely during World War II in the Pacific Theater. My uncles did as well. My father survived the biggest naval battle of World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. My brother served several tours of duty in Vietnam.

So I deeply appreciate the service and the sacrifice of all Maine veterans and their loved ones. Our state has always contributed more than our share to the armed services during periods of combat in every war — from the 20th Maine in the Civil War, the Revolutionary War before that, and World War I, World War II, and every significant period of combat and conflict since that time. My Administration has been working hard to improve the services for veterans all across this state.

We can never repay our veterans.

So I was very deeply concerned when the Board of Trustees of the Maine Veterans’ Homes told me that it had voted to close the homes in Caribou and Machias because of a projected decrease in the number of veterans in the coming years and, like much of the state and nation, because of a shortage of qualified health care staff.

Well, I recognize the challenges these homes may be confronting, as are many other nursing homes across the country, but the drastic move to close these veterans’ homes would have displaced more than 70 veterans and veterans’ spouses, many widows, and it would have resulted in the loss of jobs for the people who care for them.

These closures would also have significantly reduced the footprint of veterans’ homes across the state, and would have left no facilities Downeast, none north of Bangor, and they would have diminished the long-term care options for veterans in rural Maine generally.

Well, I’m from rural Maine and this gets close to my heart.

The impact the closures of these two homes would have had on our veterans, and their families, and the employees, and the regions that they serve cannot be overstated.

So as soon as I learned of that vote, I wrote immediately to the Board of Trustees of the Maine Veterans’ Homes and I urged them to reconsider their decision. Come talk to us, talk to my department heads, let’s find a solution, let’s solve the problem, I said.

Then I met personally with the Board President and the Director, and I urged them again to postpone any closure for two years so that we can work together and chart another path forward to better serve these veterans in rural areas.

Today I am proud to say that we did just that.

I dedicated $3.5 million in my budget to support a bill sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson to provide a critical financial boost to keep these Homes open.

The Legislature unanimously enacted that legislation and I signed it into law. The Maine Veteran’s Homes Board of Trustees then reconsidered their vote to close the Homes, based in part on this additional support.

This is a much-deserved victory for our veterans, their families, and the staff at the Homes in Caribou and Machias. Together – my Administration, the Legislature, and the Board of Maine Veterans’ Homes —  have ensured that our veterans continue to get the care they’ve earned and the care they deserve in the communities they love, near the families that they are close to, in their own hometowns.

Our promise to veterans is that we will stand by them, just as they stood by us in their service to our state and to our nation – and these two homes, keeping them open, is a small step towards fulfilling that promise.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Maine seafood dealers and processors are key to our state’s coastal economy, providing thousands of good-paying jobs in one of our most iconic industries, generating billions of dollars in economic activity for our state.

My Administration is working hard to help them not only recover from the pandemic but also to make needed investments that will position them for success in the future.

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

This week I announced that I am opening up a new, nearly $16 million grant program through my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to Maine’s seafood dealers and processors. Starting April 1, those businesses can apply for funds to recover from the pandemic and to invest in processing infrastructure here in Maine that will make them more resilient to potential future disruptions to worldwide markets.

This grant program is being administered by the Maine Technology Institute. To apply, starting on April 1st, you may visit their website at mainetechnology.org.

Grant programs like these can help small businesses pay for expenses like utilities, as well as equipment, payroll, inventory and other necessities to help them recover from the pandemic.

This new program is just the latest in my Administration’s efforts to sustain Maine’s small businesses in the short term and to strengthen them in the long term.

We’ve dedicated $273 million to Maine businesses and non-profits to mitigate impacts of the pandemic. We’ve created programs to help small businesses offer affordable health insurance to their employees and we’ve replenished the state’s unemployment trust fund to help prevent tax increases on employers. We’ve also dedicated federal relief funds to our farming and forestry industries.

These investments in Maine’s small businesses are only just the beginning because we know that small businesses are at the heart of Maine’s economy and they are at the foundation of our future.

Stayed tuned for more announcements on investments my Administration is making in Maine’s economy by visiting maine.gov/jobsplan.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Inflation, along with increased oil and gas prices resulting from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, are hitting Maine people hard. Last week, I proposed some changes to our budget to put money directly back into the pockets of Maine people to help them deal with these rising costs.

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

Last month, consistent with the calls of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, I proposed giving back half of the budget surplus to Maine taxpayers in the form of $500 checks to help them deal with pandemic-driven inflation. 

Since that time, Maine’s nonpartisan Revenue Forecasting Committee has upgraded our revenue forecast by nearly $412 million, while cautioning that our long-term revenue projections are “volatile and susceptible to significant downside risk” in the years to come. Well basically, that means that we shouldn’t count on State revenues staying this high in the future, so we got to be careful to invest these funds to address immediate needs, while not spending one-time revenue in some ongoing, long-term way. 

Now, you know that Maine’s constitution requires us to have a balanced budget. So, with the new revenues, I am proposing revisions to the budget to make sure that it is balanced.

Last week, I proposed using those revenues to provide more direct relief to Maine people. I’m proposing increasing those give back checks to $850, or $1,700 for the average Maine household.

These checks — a one time initiative paid for with one time surplus funds, just like I just mentioned — will responsibly provide relief to Maine people as soon as the Legislature passes the budget. 

In addition to increasing these direct relief checks, my budget proposal dedicates funding to:

• bolster Maine’s behavioral health system;
• save the Maine Veterans Homes in Caribou and Machias;
• capitalize a Trust Fund to Address PFAS Contamination to help farmers who are discovering these dangerous forever chemicals on their property;
• create an Emergency Housing Relief Fund at MaineHousing as well to address homelessness; among many other initiatives.

Overall, my budget proposes increasing the Budget Stabilization Fund — the Rainy Day Fund — to more than $500 million for the first time in state history; also we’re providing $100 million to the Maine Department of Transportation to fix those crumbling roads and bridges; we’re proposing delivering crucial tax relief to working Maine families; and increasing pay for child care workers; and expanding tax credits to help Maine residents pay off student loans; and providing two years of free community college to recent high school graduates to strengthen Maine’s workforce.

My proposed budget and the changes will help Maine people through this difficult time, it will tackle pressing problems, and it will lay the foundation for strong economic growth.

I am sure the Legislature shares my commitment to addressing these issues, and I look forward to working with them to pass this proposal as quickly as possible in a strongly bipartisan manner.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.