AUGUSTA - The Maine House of Representatives approved LD 1010, a bipartisan bill to establish the Maine Service Fellows Program, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, on Wednesday.
LD 1010 creates a Maine-based service program designed to recruit and retain young people and recent college graduates to stay in the state. Fellows will be placed in rural and underserved communities across the state and will assist with critical COVID-19 economic relief projects, in addition to addressing ongoing, pre-pandemic issues relating to public health, housing and workforce development.
"I am incredibly proud of how our Democratic, Republican and Independent House members have coalesced around LD 1010," said Rielly. "Our young Mainers need more incentives to stick around in the long term, and this measure provides them with a new opportunity and addresses a real gap in service infrastructure in our rural communities. There is a generation of young Mainers ready to serve and meet this moment. With LD 1010 passing the House, we are now one step closer to giving them this chance."
The measure now faces votes in Senate.
Rielly is serving his first term in the Maine House of Representatives as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. He represents a portion of Westbrook.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Rielly], c. 812-1111