2026 Legislative Priorities
MECEP’s legislative priorities in 2026 aim to advance economic justice and opportunity, including racial equity. We want to bring fairness and accountability to the tax code, ensure Mainers can find and afford health care and child care, and build a budget that helps families who need it most.
Some of these measures were priorities in 2025 that have been carried over to the 2026 legislative session. They reflect our continued commitment to ensure that all Mainers have a fair shot at a good life.
A Fair Supplemental Budget — LD 2212
MECEP will continue to play a leadership role in understanding the major elements, informing lawmakers and the public, and providing analysis on need for investments in crucial areas. MECEP’s priorities include:
- Filling the holes left by Congress in our ability to provide health care and food assistance to families in need
- Reversing the cost-of-living cuts to health care providers
- Increasing funding for child care workers and Head Start
- Stopping reductions in public sector staffing levels
- Maintaining investments in our safety net and public health infrastructure
- Supporting the Governor’s push to maintain funding for the state’s share of education costs, and making the Free Community College program permanent
- Fighting for the inclusion of progressive revenue policies (outlined below) that will allow the reversal of the proposed cuts as well as additional investments in our communities proposed by the legislature
- Rejecting alignment with hundreds of millions of dollars in new federal tax breaks
Governor Mills’ proposed “affordability” agenda does some real good, but true affordability and economic security come from longer term investments and commitment to Maine people. While efforts to put money in people’s wallets are helpful, investing revenue in supports and services like child care and health care — and not just one-time cash giveaways — would provide lasting stability for people struggling to afford essentials.
Learn more:
MECEP blog: What’s in Governor Mills’ supplemental budget proposal
MECEP blog: Legislative Rundown: First regular session of the 132nd
MECEP blog: Final part 2 budget rejects many cuts and makes investments — but lawmakers still have to address long term revenue needs
MECEP blog: Governor Mills’ budget proposal: key takeaways and recommendations
MECEP op-ed: Rather than simply cutting costs, Maine must look at raising revenue
MECEP blog: Calm before the storm: New revenue forecast shows little change, for now
MECEP blog: New “continuing services budget” provides stable foundation for future planning
Revenue-Raising Tax Fairness Proposals
Maine can avoid harmful reductions that result in lower wages for already underpaid and undervalued workers by asking the wealthiest residents to pay their fair share in taxes. Specific options include:
- Creating a “millionaire’s tax” to raise over $200 million next biennium (LD 1089)
- Update: passed in the Senate in 2025 but failed to pass in the House; carried over to 2026
- Increasing the top corporate income tax rate to raise $35 million per year (LD 1879)
- Update: passed in the House in and Senate in 2025; carried over to 2026
- Reforming income tax brackets by asking more of those most able to pay to generate $90 million per year (LD 229)
- Update: passed in the House and Senate in 2025; referred back to committee for 2026
Learn more:
MECEP blog: Tax bracket bill would raise taxes on the wealthy, cut bottom bracket
MECEP blog: Tax flight is a myth
MECEP blog: Tax Committee passes progressive revenue bills to raise millions for important priorities
MECEP explainer: Tax Fairness
MECEP brief: Tax Policy Solutions for 2025 and Beyond
MECEP blog: Tax Committee passes progressive revenue bills to raise millions for important priorities
MECEP op-ed: Why a millionaire tax makes sense for Maine
MECEP op-ed: Maine doesn’t have to choose between bold policy and balanced budgets
Affordable and Accessible Child Care — LD 1955
High quality child care is essential for preparing children for school and for allowing young parents to stay in the labor force. Yet early childhood educators are paid low wages, and the cost of child care is out of reach for many working families. Senate President Daughtry has introduced a bill to secure and build on recent investments to expand access to the state’s child care affordability program.
Update: LD 1955 was recalled from the Governor’s desk in 2025. A new version recently passed the House and Senate.
Learn more:
MECEP stories: Bouncing Bubbles Child Care | Creative Play Childcare | Youth and Family Outreach
MECEP blog: Maine must invest in child care, not cut it
Investments in Direct Care Workers who Support Older and Disabled Mainers — LD 1932
Direct care professionals who provide skilled supports to older and disabled Mainers remain undervalued and in short supply. Despite some progress in recent years, the failure to adequately compensate these workers contributes to a widening gap between the care people across our state need and what’s available. Speaker Fecteau has introduced a bill to raise the labor reimbursement rate to 140% percent of the minimum wage so these workers can earn a more competitive wage and people can get care when they need it most.
Update: LD 1932 recently passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee.
Learn more:
MECEP report: The High Cost of Undervaluing Direct Care Work
MECEP report: Closing the Gap: Maine’s Direct Care Shortage and Solutions to Fix It
MECEP blog: Maine shouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of direct care workers
Accountability for Multinational Corporations — LDs 1107 (Expenditures) and 1894 (Groceries)
We can pass laws in Maine that help level the playing field for local grocery stores, making sure there is more competition for better prices when Mainers go shopping for food. We can also require more information from companies that receive corporate subsidies, making it easier for the public and the legislature to determine which ones are working and which ones need to go.
Update: LDs 1107 and 1894 were turned into studies in 2025 and remain on appropriations table for 2026.
Reversing Federal Cuts to Health Care and Food Assistance — LDs 2122 and 2208
The 2025 passage of HR 1, the federal reconciliation bill, threatens health care and food assistance for tens of thousands of Mainers who can’t find steady work or who are tripped up by new red tape in applications for MaineCare and the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill could also create tens of millions of dollars in new costs for the State keep these programs running. MECEP is working with lawmakers to cover these new costs and protect assistance for the most vulnerable Mainers.
Learn more:
MECEP blog: Lawmakers have tools to stop the harms of the Republican reconciliation bill
Tribal Sovereignty — LDs 395, 785, 1054
MECEP stands with the Wabanaki Nations’ call to reform the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and the Maine Implementing Act which limit their inherent rights to self-govern. When the Wabanaki Nations have the tools they need to thrive, all who live within Maine borders benefit.
- LD 395 would allow Wabanaki Nations to benefit from federal laws that apply to other federally recognized tribes, including federally funded grant programs
- LD 785 would implement the remaining recommendations of a bipartisan task force to amend the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, granting the Wabanaki Nations many of the same rights as other federally recognized tribes
- LD 1054 would allow Wabanaki Nations to hold conservation easements in Maine, enabling them to work with private landholders on co-stewardship of their historic homelands
Learn more:
MECEP report: Sovereignty Starts Here: Land, Economy, and Tribal Rights in Maine
MECEP explainer: Tribal Sovereignty
MECEP news clip: Tribal sovereignty in Maine *featuring Penobscot National Ambassador and MECEP board member Maulian Bryant
Stronger Worker Protections — LDs 54 (Pay Disclosure), 599 (Overtime), 799 (Gender Pay Gap)
We can ensure fair work is rewarded with fair pay by passing bills that push back against gender- and race-based disparities in pay and ensure workers are not deprived of overtime pay when asked to spend more time away from their families and their lives.
Update: LDs 54, 599, and 799 were carried over to 2026 and remain on appropriations table.
Conformity with Federal Tax Changes (LD 2010)
In 2025, Congress passed major federal tax changes that delivered a massive windfall to wealthy households and large corporations. Now Maine lawmakers must decide whether to adopt those changes. Fully conforming to the new federal law would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars each year and would mainly benefit large businesses and Mainers with high income.
Learn more:
MECEP blog series: Tax conformity decisions will shape Maine’s future: Part 1: Maine shouldn’t fall for policy gimmicks | Part 2: Big business don’t need help, struggling Mainers do | Part 3: The QSBS tax break is BS
MECEP op-ed: Federal tax gimmicks will only help Maine’s rich