Summary: Nearly every Mainer will at some point face extraordinary circumstances that necessitate extended leave from work. Whether it’s a joyous occasion such as the birth of a child or more challenging times such as illness or death of a parent or grandparent, Mainers need to be able to focus on their families.

Everyone deserves access to life-saving medication. Pharmaceutical companies develop new and innovative treatments, but this doesn’t give them the right to strongarm Mainers into paying sky-high prices for drugs.

No one’s health should be compromised because they can’t afford the medicine they need. The runaway increases in the costs of prescription drugs must be stopped, and LD 1162, “An Act to Further Improve Prescription Drug Transparency,” is an important step to doing that.

Imagine this scenario: You work at a large, national retail chain and on any given week, your schedule is subject to change, set at the discretion of your employer.

Efforts to weaken Maine’s minimum wage are perennial objects of consideration in the Maine Legislature. Most often, lawmakers rejects these efforts out of hand — and for good reason.

When Mainers work extra hours, they deserve extra pay. The 40-hour workweek has been a pillar of the American economy for decades. It’s still what most of us envision when we think about a “full-time job.” If the 40-hour workweek is one side of a coin, overtime protection, which provides time-and-a-half pay for hours worked beyond 40, is the critical flip side.

James Myall Everyone gets sick, and everyone deserves to be able to take time to get better without worrying whether they can still make the rent.

  Summary: Maine’s voter-approved minimum wage increase in 2017 led to the fastest wage increase in a decade for low-income Mainers and helped lift 10,000 Maine children out of poverty — a greater number than were brought above the poverty threshold in any other year in the last decade.

Maine’s teachers spent at least $4.2 million out of their own pockets on basic school supplies in 2016, the most recent year for which we have data, illustrating the inadequate public resources dedicated to educating the next generation of Mainers.

A modest unexpected expense could overturn the finances of nearly half of all Mainers, and one in five Maine residents cannot pay all their bills on time.