MAINE
ASSOCIATION OF
INTERDEPENDENT
NEIGHBORHOODS
PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER FOR PEACE, BREAD AND JUSTICE
MAIN Update Summer 1999
Legislative Wrap Up: New legislation meets many important needs -but MORE must be done!When M.A.I.N. members met in the fall of 1998 to choose their legislative agenda for this year they knew it was ambitious. Six months later the session has ended and much of that agenda is now law! Very hard work by many MAIN members and their friends has paid off with new laws and funds that will help people meet their most basic needs. In spite of everyone's very busy schedules, MAIN members and friends turned out for critical hearings, called and wrote their legislators and helped legislators truly understand how important these issues are to families. But despite this good work, and many victories, there is much more to be done - particularly to help people gain access to health care. Several important bills were "held over" until next year's session and our work is cut out for us once again next year.
Here's a quick summary of what happened in this session. We encourage you to read the full scoop in the more detailed articles in this issue of MAIN Update (click here to go to the MAIN Update Summer 1999 Issue Contents)
TANF benefits increased.We have good news for families receiving TANF. By the time this newsletter goes to print, the vast majority of families will have received a 5% increase in their monthly check. The bad news is that these checks are still very difficult to live on. Maine benefits remain, by far, the lowest in New England. So we have so much more work to do around this issue! This year MAIN also worked on legislation to create a system to raise grants on a regular basis. We did not achieve all that we would have liked, but we did make a start on this goal.
MAIN was also successful this year in standardizing the way TANF grants are calculated for working families statewide. This change will result in a further benefit increase for working TANF families in 8 Maine counties.
Parents as Scholars work requirements made more do-able. For students in the Parents as Scholars program, MAIN tried to eliminate the 20-hour work requirement (on top of being a full-time student) for students who have been in school for more than 2 years. The compromise agreed to by the legislature reduces, but does not eliminate, the work requirement. Hopefully this will make life more manageable for many students and their families. It also gives students more choice in how they meet this work requirement.
Low-Income Electric Program (HEAP) will continue, but funding will stay the same. The idea of replacing the current source of funding for the low-income electric program with a permanent trust fund was lost as the legislative budget process took shape. With the present low income programs remaining in place, law makers saw too many other important priorities - such as our schools - to place up to $70 million in a trust fund for low income electrical needs. LD 1500, which would have created the trust fund, was carried over until next session, but the money that would have funded the trust fund has been spent on other needs. The failure of this bill will not affect the current low-income electric programs. These benefits will continue pending a Public Utilities Commission process to develop a statewide program.
Unemployment Compensation. Serious problems in Maine's unemployment compensation system were avoided this session - the system was going broke. To avoid this disaster, a combination of tax increases and cuts in benefits were enacted. Although painful, the outcome of this legislative debate could have been much worse.
Health Care: Several important steps taken; much more work to be done. MAIN's biggest and toughest effort this session was in expanding access to health care. This effort must continue in the next legislative session as well. With Maine poised to receive over $50 million per year of settlement dollars from tobacco companies, MAIN wanted to be sure that money was spent to increase access to health care. Our agenda included increasing access to prescription drugs for elderly and disabled people; Medicaid for low wage parents; funding to create dental clinics for uninsured adults and people on Medicaid; and health care for those adults who don't fit into any Medicaid category because they are not elderly or disabled, and have no minor children. Here's the good news: The legislature voted to spend all of Maine's tobacco settlement money for "health related purposes," including access to health care.
The Low Cost Drug Program income eligibility limits will increase in August, 1999;
People with disabilities will now be eligible for the Low Cost Drug Program regardless of their age beginning August 1999;
$1 million dollars will be available for dental clinics for Medicaid families and other uninsured adults beginning July 2000;
Income eligibility levels will increase for Cub Care beginning October 1999.
While we fought a hard battle to gain Medicaid benefits for parents who cannot afford health insurance for themselves, and for other uninsured adults, we are disappointed that we did not win that fight this year. Further, while important strides were made in providing drugs for elderly and disabled people, we haven't yet achieved our goal of providing the full Medicaid drug benefit for these individuals. For these critical goals we still have a fighting chance, and will have to work long and hard to achieve them next year.
Three Cheers...
for all M.A.I.N. members and friends who worked so hard during this legislative session to try to make life better for the people of Maine.Special thanks to all of you who came forward to tell how legislation would affect your lives. Thanks for testifying, writing and contacting your legislators. Personal stories educate us all--they make a real difference. Our voices will be heard!
MAIN can be proud of its efforts this session; but we have some of our toughest and most
important work ahead.This summer and fall we ask MAIN members, their friends and allies to rally around the cause of health care for everyone.
Most critical will be the effort to persuade legislators to make health care available to parents and other uninsured adults.
We will have to roll up our sleeves and work extra hard to ensure that they are given the health care they so desperately need!
Do you know how your legislators stand on these issues? If not, ask them!
Do your legislators know how important health care is to your family -- how hard it is to get and keep affordable health insurance? If not, let them know!
Have you shared this information with neighbors, friends, and co-workers? If not, do so!
This is a publication of the Maine Equal Justice Partners
P.O. Box 5347, Augusta, ME 04332 (207) 626-7058
www.mejp.org
It is important that information is shared, so we encourage reproduction and distribution of our work so long as appropriate acknowledgement is made. Please check with us at info@mejp.org for updates on information before distributing any dated material.
