Hello, friend!

"Today, this  right to human autonomy remains under direct threat by the forces of white nationalist and patriarchal reaction. As was true for the Black female survivors of enslavement in 1936, and for their spiritual heirs and descendants among the Black feminist activists in the late 1970s, the simple human autonomy of Black women, girls, and femmes remains under concerted siege." - Bridging the Juneteenth Gender Gap, Nicole Young (2022)

Yesterday we were closed in honor of Juneteenth. Today we continue our work for full bodily autonomy for all people in Maine at the State House. Join us today and tomorrow from 9-12 to fill the halls with allies from Mabel Wadsworth Center, Grandmother for Reproductive Rights, Maine Family Planning, and Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund, to counter the crowds of anti-abortion activists. Bring positive signs and positive vibes (or simply email your Legislator!).

We are still waiting for LD 1964, the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill. The final language that was voted on three weeks ago is not yet public. When it is, the committee will sign off (that's called 'language review'), and then it will be reported out. It will go first to the Senate. We have given up making any predictions about when... but we are still optimistic. If you need to put your nervous energy somewhere, let your legislators know you're ready for PFML for Maine.

The end of the session looms: the Legislature is only scheduled to convene Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but will almost certainly go until Friday and maybe beyond that (send help!). The anxiety is high and the halls and calendars are crowded.  

In solidarity,

Destie, Dania, Catie, and Brook

PS - Please enjoy this adorable picture of Reps Pierce, Kuhn, Noonen Murphy, Zager, and Skold at a VERY soggy Portland Pride this Saturday. We also rocked out with our friends at Pride Aroostook in Presque Isle, and we'll see you Saturday in Bangor! 

What's Left on the Table? 

The Special Appropriations Table, that is. When  bill needs funding, it generally gets it in one of two ways:

1. It can be funded in the budget, either by going into a Department budget and then the Governor's, or in the 'change package' (the updated budget). or

2. It passes both chambers, and gets placed 'on the special appropriations table.' 'The table' has a set amount of money - this year, about $12 million. All of the bills that don't get funded in the budget must get funded off the table, or they are done (that's why the table is called the place where good bills go to die). 

So what's left on the table of our priority bills? We actually don't have a clear answer for that yet, because not all of the bills that we are supporting have made it all the way through thr process! Here's what we can tell you: 

LD 199 / An Act to Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Removing Exclusions to the MaineCare Program / Sponsor: Talbot Ross - Not yet out of House. 

LD 348 / An Act to Make Menstrual Products Available in Certain Schools / Sponsor: Cloutier - likely on the table, $500K +/- / year

LD 566  /  An Act to Provide Funding for Sexual Assault Services / Sponsor: Dusan - On the table, $1.2-1.8m / year

LD 794 / An Act to Expand the Membership of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women / Sponsor: Vitelli - On the table, though also funded in Governor's change package 

LD 936 / An Act to Require Disclosure of Pay Ranges and Record Keeping of Pay History / Sponsor: Roeder - On the table, $36-50K/year 

LD 1726 / An Act to Build Maine's Economy by Supporting Child Care for Working Families / Sponsor: Jackson - On the table, but would need to be funded in large part in the budget at $15m/year

LD 1964 / An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program / Sponsor: Daughtry - Not yet through Senate and House, Will likely be put on the table but need to be funded in the budget, at $12m/year 

The weekly House Calendar is here. The weekly Senate Calendar is here.  

"But, if I am to be honest, I struggle to celebrate our freedom from chattel slavery 158 years ago because the 13th Amendment, which took nearly three years to finalize, didn’t completely abolish slavery. It states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States, or any place to their jurisdiction.” 

Does having a federal holiday mean we're free?  

Erika Washington, Make it Work Nevada

This excellent piece outlines how Maine's current Reproductive Privacy Act law fails Mainers as we work toward LD 1619. 

Join us to Celebrate the Session!
Join us for an evening on the farm to 'cultivate' our collective purpose and power!
We come together to celebrate the end of the session, and to lift up and honor gender justice changemakers in our community with our first annual legislative awards.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale, and volunteers attend at no cost. We hope to see you there!

Get Your Tickets Here