Jared Golden

• Campaign Finance Reform

Jared believes that we won’t be able to make progress on the serious issues facing the country unless we first work to get big money out of politics and clean up government corruption. He has made campaign finance reform and anti-corruption efforts a key part of his agenda in Congress. During his first term, he has:

• Supported a constitutional amendment to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision.
• Walked the talk by refusing to accept donations from Corporate PACs.
• Cosponsored and voted for the most comprehensive election reform and anti-corruption legislation in decades, the For the People Act, which would limit partisan gerrymandering, bolster ethics rules, reduce the influence of private money in politics, and expand voting rights.

• Expanding Healthcare

Few issues touch working Mainers as closely as access to affordable, high quality healthcare coverage. Jared has been a staunch defender of the Affordable Care Act and expanding access so that every American can have health coverage. In his first term in Congress, he has:

• Prioritized lowering prescription drug prices. He helped pass H.R. 3, which would cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare, and allow the program to negotiate lower drug prices. He also introduced original legislation, the FLAT Prices Act, which would punish Big Pharma companies when they hurt consumers with skyrocketing drug prices.
• Opposed the Trump Administration’s misguided support of the lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
• Supported numerous bills to expand Medicare coverage, including dental, hearing, and vision care
• Backed a bill to allow states like Maine to take advantage of full federal funding to support Medicaid expansion.

• Supporting Seniors

Jared knows that Social Security and Medicare are promises that must be kept. That’s why he strongly supports protecting and strengthening these programs. Jared has:

• Promised to protect Social Security and increase benefits so that no senior retires in poverty.
• Signed onto legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Program and Government Pension Offset, poorly-designed calculations that unfairly reduce Maine retirees’ Social Security benefits.
• Fought to lower prescription drug costs for seniors by proposing a cap on out-of-pocket Medicare part D costs and introducing legislation that would punish drug companies for excessive price hikes.
• Signed onto legislation that has become law to extend the Health Coverage Tax Credit which will help retirees in places like Madawaska.

• Good Jobs

Jared is a labor Democrat who believes that our economy does well when workers at all levels are treated with dignity through fair compensation and benefits. He knows that stronger unions lead to a stronger middle-class in America. While in Congress, he has:

• Led a coalition of over 75 House members to push for the passage of the PRO Act, one of the most significant pro-labor bills in a generation.
• Gone to bat for Maine’s heritage industries, including introducing legislation to help grow the logging workforce, protect lobstermen from misguided, unfair regulations, and plan for the future of Maine’s shipbuilding workforce.
• Used his position on the House Small Business Committee to highlight the need to invest in rural infrastructure, including broadband, to help Maine businesses and communities succeed.
• Advocated for the future of Maine’s shipbuilding workforce, using his position on the Armed Services Committee to advocate for jobs at Maine shipyards and pushing the U.S. Navy to conduct a study on the challenges facing the growth of a strong workforce to support our defense industries.

• Serving Veterans

Having served in Afghanistan and Iraq, Jared knows first-hand some of the challenges members of the military face when they return home. From improving transition services for newly-returned vets to improving VA healthcare for older veterans, Jared has been deeply invested in improving the lives of Maine veterans. As a member of Congress, he has:

• Led an effort to push the VA to establish a permanent unit at Togus to provide long-term beds for mental health and substance abuse treatment.
• Passed an amendment through the House to increase funding for long-term mental health care beds as a part of the annual VA funding bill.
• Put a strong emphasis on constituent services to help veterans in need.
• Helped fight to successfully repeal the unfair “Widow’s Tax” that offset pension benefits to military widows.
• Voted for a successful effort to expand VA protections to Blue Water Navy Veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

• Our Environment

Jared knows that Maine’s natural resources are critical to our way of life and economy. He opposes efforts to weaken important environmental protections and has been a strong advocate of maintaining and restoring our national parks system. While in office, he has:

• Backed legislation to keep the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement.
• Supported the Land and Water Conservation Fund, our nation’s most successful program for protecting public lands and parks
• Supported legislation to fully fund the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Championed legislation to address the maintenance backlog at our national parks.^[10]

Jobs and Economy
With so many Mainers having to work harder and harder to make ends meet, the simple truth is that our economy is leaving workers and families behind. Since 2001, Maine has lost a net of 37,000 middle class jobs – mostly in manufacturing. They have been replaced by low-wage jobs that lack protections and basic benefits like healthcare, retirement, and paid family leave.

With the loss of these good-paying jobs, the poverty rate in Maine has risen. In our rural counties, 40 percent of working families are living at or near the poverty line, and one in five Maine children live in food insecure homes. Startlingly, Maine ranks third highest among the nation for rates of households with extreme food insecurity.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the concentration of wealth among the richest one percent has increased, while middle- and working-class wages have flatlined. Between 2002 and 2016, middle class wages have gone up just three percent. At the same time, the costs of living, healthcare, and education have grown at a much higher rate.

In 2016, two-thirds of Maine voters thought their family’s financial situation was the same or worse than it was in 2012. They are not wrong. Our district’s economy has not yet recovered from the economic crash, and Maine’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains below its pre-recession level. Meanwhile, New England’s GDP has grown by eight percent and the country’s GDP has grown by 13 percent.

In order to grow Maine’s middle class and improve working people’s lives, we must take action.

• Invest in infrastructure to help Maine’s rural economy. In addition to repairing our roads and bridges, the federal government must prioritize expanding broadband and bringing faster Internet to our communities so all Mainers can compete in the 21st century economy.
• Level the playing field for small businesses by taking a common-sense approach to regulation. That means holding big corporations who break the rules accountable, without putting small business-owners at a disadvantage. We should break up monopolies that prevent small businesses from competing in the market, and leave consumers without choice.
• End unfair trade agreements that benefit the world’s wealthiest corporations. U.S. trade deals should put American workers and American businesses first.
• Grow the renewable energy sector. With proper investment we can reduce electricity costs, lower carbon emissions, and create high-quality, good-paying jobs.
• Strengthen our state’s manufacturing base. Maine is capable of making goods and products to sell to the rest of the world. We should be investing in research, development, and commercialization in order to help manufacturers bring Maine products to market.
• Support traditional Maine jobs in the farming, fishing, agriculture, and forest products industries. With proper investment, and with a commitment from the government to help them adapt to a changing economy, these industries can be made more competitive and more secure.
• Prioritize federal policies that benefit middle- and working-class people. That means creating a fair tax plan, ensuring healthcare is affordable, protecting programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, fighting for stronger unions, increasing wages, and eliminating the pay gap between men and women.

Health and Healthcare
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet preventable diseases like heart failure and diabetes continue to plague our communities. To lower long-term costs and improve care, we must stop treating health like a private industry, and start treating health like a public good and a basic right for every American.

We can start by improving the Affordable Care Act. From there, we need to move towards a universal healthcare system, like Medicare-for-All. Too many people in America are without adequate healthcare coverage, resulting in higher premiums for those who are insured.

In 2017, voters approved Medicaid expansion by ballot initiative, and I am fighting to ensure the Governor follows through with his responsibility to expand healthcare coverage to 70,000 Mainers. Across our state, rural hospitals are the economic cornerstones of many communities. Expanding Medicaid will help people get the care they need and deserve, and will help ensure healthcare workers remain secure in their jobs.

We must also address the high cost of prescription drugs disproportionately affecting our state, especially among our elderly. The Federal Government should use its purchasing power to negotiate lower rates and allow for safe drug reimportation from countries like Canada.

The Environment
For generations, Maine’s clean air, water, forests, wildlife, and abundant natural resources have been essential to our economy and our way of life. Global climate change is real, and policy-makers need to start listening to experts in the fields of science. I believe we have a duty to all Mainers to prevent the economic and environmental devastation that climate change will bring to our state.

We must get serious about lowering carbon emissions and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. That starts with the United States rejoining the Paris Agreement, and leading the global effort to combat climate change.

At home, we must do all we can to reduce carbon emissions by investing in fuel-efficient technologies and better transportation infrastructure. By being leaders on climate change, we can create new, green energy jobs in Maine, and put our people back to work producing, installing, and maintaining clean energy parts and products. As a State Legislator, I have supported efforts to expand the use of renewable energy in Maine, and I will continue to do so in Congress.

Finally, we must fully fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure the safety of our air, water, and lands. We must keep polluters in check with strong environmental regulations, without over-regulating responsible small business owners. Environmental toxins like lead pose a major health crisis in Maine, particularly in our aging infrastructure and housing. We must use every tool available to clean up our environment, and to ensure our children and future generations are protected.

Seniors
Medicare and Social Security are promises made to our seniors in return for a life of hard work, yet too many Americans face the prospect of entering retirement age without the savings to retire securely. With high healthcare and prescription drug costs, the loss of pensions, and stagnant wage growth, Maine’s seniors are being forced to continue to work, and retire, into poverty.

We should honor all seniors, and fight against the privatization or roll back of Medicare and Social Security. We need to make these programs more efficient and accessible, and increase benefits so that more seniors have the opportunity for comfortable, secure retirements. We must also prioritize affordable senior housing, and remodel long-term care services so that seniors always have the option of living safely and comfortably at home.

Education
In exchange for my military service, I had the opportunity to attend Bates College at no cost. I believe we must provide more students with opportunities to serve our country in exchange for education opportunities. That’s why I am proposing a universal service program. In exchange for two years of service – whether it’s with AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Teach for America, the military and National Guard, or another service organization altogether – students should receive a two-year education benefit. I believe young people would gain from this experience, and our communities would benefit from their hard work.

Equally as important, I believe high-quality, early childhood education is one of the best investments Maine can make. All children should have access to universal pre-kindergarten or Head Start. Children who attend pre-kindergarten have higher graduation rates, and are less likely to repeat grades, require special education, or find themselves in trouble with the law when they are older.

It is critical to our democracy that we remain committed to our public education system. Teachers deserve better pay and benefits, and the government should let teachers teach – rather than burden classrooms with more mandates and excessive testing.

Ultimately, an investment in education means an investment in our economy, and in our democracy. We must prepare young people to be informed citizens, so we can continue to have strong communities and a vibrant exchange of ideas.

Trade
Since implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, wages have stagnated, standards of living have dropped, and thousands of good jobs have been lost in key sectors like manufacturing and agriculture. People are right to be frustrated that the government – under both parties – has elevated corporate profits over the well-being of America’s workers in most trade deals. This needs to stop.

Our trade policies must once again focus on creating economic opportunity for middle- and working-class Americans first. The United States must stop using trade agreements as investment deals for the world’s wealthiest corporations and instead prioritize higher wages, safer work, and meaningful environmental standards.

Veterans & Defense
As a Marine Corps veteran, I understand how important the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is to veterans, especially those with permanent injuries from their time in service. Having experienced firsthand the difference the VA can make in the lives of veterans, I will fight to protect services that our veterans rely on every day — especially those veterans living in rural Maine.

I will never vote to privatize the VA, and I will oppose every effort to do so. Privatization of the VA stands to jeopardize the quality of healthcare provided to veterans, and it will create incentives for corporations to put profits before veterans.

Congress must fully fund the VA, and hold the VA system to the highest of standards. Members of our military are taught to put mission first, and that excuses for failure are unacceptable. Members of Congress and the VA must hold themselves to those same standards.

I will work closely with our veteran service organizations (VSO) to ensure their voices are heard in Congress. VSOs are on the front line assisting veterans, and given the proper resources, they can help Congress and the VA get the job done.

I’ve fought on the ground in two foreign wars. Putting troops in harm’s way should always be a last resort and occur only when a compelling national interest exists. Congress must stop writing blank checks to the Executive Branch and take back the responsibility of approving where and when our country commits our troops.

Over the past decade and a half, America has spent trillions on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and on other conflicts across the globe. War should be a last resort, and only undertaken when the security interests of America are clearly present, and the risks and costs can be appropriately justified to the American people.

Women
Congress must do more to end gender-based wage discrimination. In 2017, working women in Maine were paid approximately $10,000 less than working men – amounting to nearly $3 billion in lost wages every year.

In Maine, women lead more than 53,000 family households, of which 28 percent earn incomes that fall below the poverty line. By ending wage discrimination, we would not only lift Maine families out of poverty, but working women in our state would have more money for healthcare, childcare, rent and mortgage payments, college tuition and retirement.

Additionally, the United States is the only developed nation in the world without mandatory paid family leave. As an employer, I believe paid family leave polices benefit my campaign staff. In Congress, I will fight to expand these policies for all Americans, because people deserve time off to care for newborn children or sick loved ones. These policies will not only benefit Maine’s children and families, but also our economy.

Finally, I believe every woman has the right to make her own healthcare decisions. Family planning options, including contraception, should be accessible and affordable to all women, regardless of income or insurance. I also firmly believe that Washington politicians have no business being involved in the private medical choices made between a woman and her healthcare professional.

Campaign Finance
I believe the key to true campaign finance reform lies in ending Citizens United – either by a constitutional amendment or by another Supreme Court ruling superseding the previous decision.

I served on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee in the Maine House for two years, where I oversaw election and campaign finance legislation in Maine. During that time, nearly every piece of legislation introduced to reduce the influence of money in politics failed on constitutional grounds because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.

While ending Citizens United is my primary focus, other steps can be taken to address this problem. I have run as a clean elections candidate before. Authorizing meaningful public funding options for political campaigns will give candidates the opportunity to focus more on voter engagement and less on finding donors. I believe the federal government would be wise to follow Maine’s lead and establish a robust clean elections system.

Congress should also increase transparency in fundraising and spending. In Congress, I will seek new ways to remove so-called “dark money” from politics, and shed light on how special interest groups spend. As a candidate for Congress, I have taken the No Corporate PAC Money Pledge.

Finally, I believe Congress should establish fees on all paid campaign and political advertising as a means to fund federal clean elections candidates and the Federal Elections Commission.

Opioid Epidemic
The opioid epidemic is devastating Maine’s communities, with deaths rising by 40 percent in 2016. New data for 2017 shows that the crisis is only getting worse in Maine, with 418 overdose deaths – an 11 percent increase over the previous year. Nationwide, the numbers are stark: opioids are now claiming more American lives annually than car accidents. Congress must hold big pharmaceutical companies accountable for marketing practices that mislead the American public about the risks of highly addictive prescription drugs.

There are simple solutions our state can take to help solve this problem. Expanding Medicaid in Maine will provide funding for mental health and substance abuse disorder programs so we can help people overcome drug dependence.

In Washington, I will advocate for increased funding for preventive measures and substance abuse disorder treatments by proposing the following steps:

1) Prevention

• Increase funding for education and drug prevention programs in schools and communities.
• Strengthen and expand drug take-back programs so we can get unwanted or unnecessary prescription drugs out of homes.
• Address prescribing practices to limit opioid access.
• Hold big pharmaceutical companies accountable for flooding markets with highly addictive prescription drugs.

2) Treatment and Recovery

• Increase access to life-saving medications like Naloxone.
• Support programs that increase public awareness of treatment and recovery options for addiction and substance abuse disorder.
• Increase funding and access to treatment opportunities, and provide those in need with more sustainable options for recovery.
• Establish and expand both outpatient and inpatient recovery services to assist those seeking treatment.
• Fully expand Medicaid in Maine, and increase reimbursement rates.
• Work with providers to treat the opioid epidemic’s youngest victims – newborn children who are born drug dependent.
• Support research and discovery of new and novel treatments for addiction and substance abuse disorder.

3) Law Enforcement

• Ensure law enforcement agencies prioritize the arrest and prosecution of drug dealers and traffickers over users.
• Fund pre-charge diversion programs and drug courts to ensure people get treatment opportunities rather than prison and jail sentences.
• Create and expand treatment and recovery options in correctional facilities for those serving prison and jail sentences.^[10]