Golden Secures Maine Priorities in Omnibus Spending Bill

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) successfully secured the inclusion of a wide range of priorities for Maine’s Second District in the omnibus spending bill that passed Congress Friday. 

“Working across the aisle and with my colleagues in the Maine delegation, I’ve been pushing for months to ensure that this end-of-year spending bill makes responsible investments and delivers for my constituents,” said Golden. “I’m proud to have helped ensure our lobstermen can keep fishing, protect good jobs at Bath Iron Works, and help Mainers keep their families warm. Importantly, we are also bringing federal funds to bear in small towns across the state, improving local infrastructure and services, strengthening Maine’s heritage industries, and supporting economic growth in rural Maine.”

The provisions Golden worked to secure in the final bill include: 

Regulatory Pause for Maine Lobstermen: 

Working with his colleagues in the Maine delegation, the congressman helped secure a six year pause before new regulations are imposed on the lobster fishery, providing the time necessary to collect data and determine the best policy to protect both right whales and Maine lobstering communities. Without the provision, the regulations slated to go into effect would likely have decimated the state’s lobster fishery. 

Protecting National Security and Shipbuilding Jobs at Bath

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Golden worked to authorize the construction of three DDG-51 destroyers in the upcoming fiscal year and a multi-year contract to produce up to 15 of the ships over the next five years. The omnibus spending bill appropriates money for the three DDG-51 destroyers, a significant win to protect shipbuilding jobs at Bath Iron Works over the next several years and bolster American naval power. 

Investing in Small Towns and Maine’s Heritage Industries

The congressman secured funding for each of the fifteen Community Project Funding requests he sought. Those include: 

• $726,000 to improve health care and STEM career training by creating one new laboratory, upgrading six existing laboratories, and adding needed equipment for health science simulation spaces at Husson University. 
• $8 million to establish three Manufacturing Training Innovation Centers across the state through the University of Maine system.
• $3,000,000 to provide much needed support for the Maine Veterans Homes in Caribou and Machias to prevent their closure while a long-term solution to maintain the homes is secured. 
• $1,642,000 to renovate the paramedic station at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, ME. The hospital’s PACE paramedic service provides EMS coverage to 18 local communities in the Oxford Hills region, seasonal coverage of Sunday River Ski Resort, and back-up coverage for four other communities that have services of their own. 
• $1,774,075 to upgrade Ellsworth’s High Street Pump Station to mitigate potential adverse impacts of heavy rainfall events and to ensure that the sanitary sewer system can support vital economic growth for the City of Ellsworth and Downeast region.
• $1,000,000 to rehabilitate wastewater collect system components on the Loring Commerce Center to help alleviate problems with the Limestone Water and Sewer District’s ability to sufficiently treat wastewater at their wastewater treatment facility and help with treatment costs.
• $1,000,000 to contribute to immediate capital improvement needs for the Blue Hill Wastewater Treatment Facility that is located on Blue Hill Bay, a tidal arm of the Gulf of Maine.
• $514,400 to upgrade the only wastewater pumping station in the area, which is currently experiencing severe age-related deterioration issues that, unaddressed, could result in increased sewage treatment costs for residents and businesses in the area. 
• $1,600,000 to construct a new hangar at Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.
• $1,000,000 to improve affordable housing for the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township.
• $750,000 to build a paramedic garage to serve Jackman and Moose River, Maine. 
• $1,167,036 to create a wellness and fitness space for the use of RSU16 students and staff, as well as members of the Rumford community. 
• $2,041,160 to help construct a 336-foot multi-use bridge connecting the 14-mile long Whistle Stop Trail to the center of Farmington. 
• $750,000 to construct a sawmill operations training facility to be located at the Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, where at least 200 students and forest professionals would train each year in support of in-demand industry workforce needs.
• $3,031,769 to support Maine Preservation’s work to rehabilitate the Wayne Masonic Hall and the First Congregational Church of East Machias to once again serve as community hubs for economic stimulus in rural communities. 

Helping Mainers Heat Their Homes

 Following months of advocacy from Congressman Golden, the bill contains $5 billion in LIHEAP funding. The funding will help struggling families keep their houses warm amid high fuel costs and increased demand for LIHEAP funds. 

Safeguarding Access to Prescription Information and Jobs in Madawaska

Golden worked to ensure a provision was included in the bill to preserve the requirement for drug manufacturers to include printed inserts containing drug information when they ship their products to pharmacies. The provision would help ensure that rural Americans, seniors, and their pharmacists have access to important information about their prescription medications and protect jobs at the Twin Rivers Paper facility in Madawaska, Maine.

Unfortunately, the omnibus bill did not include a measure introduced by Congressman Golden and cosponsored by Congresswoman Pingree (ME-01) to grant the Wabanaki tribes in Maine the same access to federal laws and programs as nearly every other federally-recognized tribe in the country. The measure passed through the House after being included in its spending bills but fell out of the final bill during negotiations with the Senate. Congressman Golden released the following statement on the bill’s exclusion: 

“I’m disappointed that this provision, which we passed through the House on a bipartisan basis, fell out of the omnibus funding bill during negotiations with the Senate. Ensuring the Wabanaki tribes have the same access to future beneficial federal laws and programs as nearly every other federally recognized tribe in the nation would have a meaningful impact on both tribal members and the surrounding communities in our state. This issue is not settled and I look forward to continuing to partner with the tribes to make headway on this important matter.” - Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02)

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