In the News

PORTLAND, Maine — By the end of the day Friday, federal workers who went weeks without pay during the government shutdown will finally get the money they deserve.

"Every morning we'd wake up during the shutdown time frame and we're just kind of hoping that that would be the day that he would get paid and things would go back to normal, and every day it wasn't," Lindsay Scott said.

Scott, a wife of a member of the U.S. Coast Guard based in Kittery, first spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine five weeks ago when they were just starting to feel the impact of the shutdown.

Freshman Democratic Congressman Jared Golden has introduced a bipartisan bill that would withhold pay from members of Congress and the president during government shutdowns.

Golden introduced the legislation Tuesday alongside other newly-elected lawmakers: Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw and New York Democratic Rep. Max Rose. Golden says the Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019 will help prevent "the American people from being political pawns."

WASHINGTON -- Maine Congressman Jared Golden along with Reps. Dan Crenshaw, of Texas, and Max Rose, of New York, say they will introduce a bipartisan bill on Tuesday to withhold pay from members of Congress, the president, and the vice president during a government shutdown.

Golden says the bipartisan group is introducing their legislation, the Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019, "to prevent and limit the duration of future shutdowns and ensure that lawmakers feel the harm they cause federal employees when they fail to fund the government."

Following the five-week closure of much of the federal government, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden has introduced a bipartisan measure that calls for withholding the pay of members of Congress, the president and vice president during a government shutdown.

The Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019 "will help prevent the American people from being political pawns for party leaders and help return sanity to the task of funding the government," the 2nd District Maine Democrat said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Freshman U.S. Rep. Jared Golden from Maine is wasting no time in Congress working on legislation.

Golden introduced the Solidarity in Salary Act of 2019 on the House floor Tuesday to put pressure on members of the legislative and executive branch during government shutdowns.

The Solidarity in Salary Act is a bipartisan bill that proposes withholding paychecks from the president, vice president and members of Congress during any future government shutdowns, according to a spokesperson for Golden. Golden calls the bill common sense.

BATH – Maine's newest member of Congress has been appointed to a pair of subcommittees that could allow him to influence policy about shipbuilding, which is a major employer in the state.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden was appointed last week to the House Armed Services Committee. He was named on Wednesday to the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee and the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.

The seat on the seapower subcommittee means Golden will play a role in overseeing Bath Iron Works, a shipbuilder that has employed Mainers for generations.

The Bangor Daily News Jan 7. editorial, " Maine Democrats ride wave of campaign cash," points out that in the 2018 elections, outside groups supporting Democrats outspent their Republican counterparts in Maine. But it should also consider what Democrats are doing to fix the broken campaign finance system once elected.

PORTLAND (WGME) – The partial government shutdown has now dragged into day 27 with still no end in sight.

This week, thousands of active duty Coast Guard members didn't get their paychecks.

For the first time in history, Coast Guard service members aren't being paid during this lapse in government funding.

Congressman Jared Golden is co-sponsoring a bi-partisan bill to restore payment, and Senator Susan Collins is co-sponsoring companion legislation in the senate.