2023 Legislative Session

2023 Legislative Session: Privacy, Criminal Legal Reform, Wabanaki Studies, Reproductive Freedom

The 131st Legislative Session is underway. We are back at work advancing legislation to protect and expand the rights of all Mainers. This session, we are working on bills related to privacy, criminal legal reform, and strengthening the Wabanaki Studies law.  

Note: This webpage will be updated throughout the session. 

Privacy  

Our right to privacy is under attack. Right now in Maine, corporations are free to track our every move without us ever knowing. There are zero restrictions on the ways corporations can collect, use, and even sell our personal, unchangeable biological characteristics–called biometric identifiers. Biometric identifiers can be anything from our fingerprints to the patterns in our eyes or the sound of our voices. 

Privacy isn’t about secrecy. It’s about control. You get to decide who has access to your information. 

If passed, this bill would protect Mainers’ right to privacy by creating guardrails on how companies can collect and use our biometric identifiers. 

Criminal Legal Reform  

Maine’s criminal legal systems are in crisis. Jails are overfull, court dockets are backed up by years, and people with low incomes are suffering the consequences.  

We all deserve to be safe, regardless of where we live, how we look, or who we are. Safety means investing in communities and people instead of punishment. 

We can improve public safety by focusing on prevention and strengthening communities through investments in proven solutions - including affordable housing, education, health care, and mental health and substance use disorder services. 

Wabanaki Studies 

The Wabanaki Studies law requires schools to teach Maine K-12 students about Wabanaki territories, economic systems, cultural systems, governments and political systems. Although teaching Wabanaki Studies has been required by law for more than 20 years, the Maine Department of Education and Maine's individual school districts have never properly implemented the law. It is past due for the law to be enforced fully.   

The present legislative fight for tribal sovereignty underlines the need for all of our future leaders to have a complete and accurate understanding of the Wabanaki tribes and their relationship with Maine. Proper implementation of the Wabanaki Studies law can help this become a reality. 

Reproductive Freedom 

After the fall of Roe v. Wade last year, it is more important than ever that our leaders protect abortion and all reproductive healthcare in Maine. States like Maine that protect abortion access now play an even more critical role in providing care to people from states that ban or severely restrict abortion. 

We will fight with our partners to make sure that anyone who needs an abortion can get one, no matter where they’re from or how much money they have.

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