Legislative Priorities
What we’re fighting for in the 2026 legislative session
During the long session of the 132nd legislature in 2025, MPA’s members made significant progress advancing tax fairness, childcare and health care as well as protecting paid family and medical leave, transgender Mainers and reproductive rights.
During the short session in 2026, the legislature will consider some of the most important and complicated legislation held over from last year as well as vital new initiatives. Policy debates and votes on bills will be taking place in the heightened environment of an election year.
Building a fair budget, taxing the wealthy and stopping cuts
The 2026 supplemental budget will be a showdown between a scarcity mindset and continued cuts to health care and other vital programs and the opportunity to finally make our tax system more fair and fund what Mainers care about most.
The session will begin with a debate over federal tax conformity, will continue as Gov. Janet Mills introduces her supplemental budget proposal and will see maneuvering over three held-over pieces of legislation that would restructure Maine’s income tax code to favor the middle class, tax millionaires and make sure large profitable corporations finally pay their fair share.
Winning funding for childcare now, creating a real plan for the future
The upcoming budget must include funding to expand Maine’s childcare assistance program, to help childcare providers cover childcare for their own kids and to fully fund wage supplements for early childhood educators. We’ll also keep building power for a universal childcare future.
Families also deserve a real seat at the table and we’ll be working to make sure the administration’s ‘Plan for 2030’ includes a transparent public engagement process with real seats for parents and providers.
Protecting Mainers from ICE
The legislature passed a bill to limit local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE, but there is much more to be done, including protecting specific locations from ICE arrests, fund legal services, provide support for people who were unable to work because of ICE activity, and more. New legislation is also being considered this year to prevent the worst of ICE actions and check the ongoing abuse of federal power.
Advancing housing justice
We advanced some important policies to increase affordable housing and protect mobile home park residents last year, but there’s a lot more to do as Maine continues to face an affordable housing crisis. Unfortunately, efforts this winter to create a statewide rental registry and anti-discrimination protections for voucher holders were thwarted by landlords and the real estate industry. Our housing efforts will be focused on winning stable funding for emergency shelters and emergency rental assistance.
Holding health insurance corporations accountable
The major focus of our healthcare work will be funding to backfill the federal cuts to healthcare and stabilize our rural healthcare providers. One of our priority health care bills is also still in play: a bill to limit repeated prior authorization demands for chronic conditions. Even as health care cuts are made on the federal level and premiums increase, we’ll have a chance to confront the worst practices of the insurance corporations and make sure more Mainers can get the care they need.
We’ll also continue our work with the All Means All coalition to make sure everyone is included and no one is left behind.
How you can make a difference
Personal advocacy by real people is the most powerful tool we have in shaping the decisions of the Maine legislature. Our grassroots lobby team is gearing up for these important fights.
Some of the most effective tactics we’ll need your help with include:
- Calls, emails, and in-district meetings with key lawmakers, especially budget, tax, health and housing committee leaders
- Public events and ‘show up’ moments when the budget drops, committees hold hearings or key decisions are being made
- Testimony and storytelling: Sharing your experience with childcare costs, housing instability, insurance denials or immigration enforcement can change people’s minds and the whole course of legislation
- Local actions that build statewide power, especially in response to federal actions