On the Issues
indicates unique state or local benefit in the issue area. Reforming Campaign Finance & Cleaning Up Corruption
Jared believes that big money in politics and corruption in government are barriers to progress on the serious issues facing the country. He has made campaign finance reform and anti-corruption efforts a key part of his agenda in Congress. During his time in Congress, Jared:
- Was a leader in Maine’s successful referendum to ban foreign government spending in state elections. He also has introduced federal legislation to enact the prohibition nationwide.
- Supported a constitutional amendment to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision.
- Walked the talk by refusing to accept donations from Corporate PACs.
- Led a bipartisan push for legislation banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
- 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.
- Introduced legislation to ban former Members of Congress from ever working as federal lobbyists.
Expanding Healthcare Coverage
Few issues matter to working Mainers as much as access to affordable, high quality health care. Jared has been a staunch defender of the Affordable Care Act and expanding access so that every American can get the care they need. In his time in Congress, he has:
- Backed a bill to allow states including Maine to take advantage of full federal funding to support Medicaid expansion.
- Prioritized lowering prescription drug prices, including by helping to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which:
- Empowers Medicare to negotiate to lower the price of prescription drugs for seniors. This provision alone is slated to save the Medicare program over $100 billion over ten years.
- Caps Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year, with the ability for seniors to spread the cost over 12 monthly payments. This provision will help limit prescription drug prices for the more than 262,000 seniors in Maine enrolled in Medicare Part D.
- Imposes a $35 monthly cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries, which will protect more than 15,000 people in Maine from insulin prices that have more than doubled in the last decade.
- Imposes penalties on drug manufacturers that increase drug prices under Medicare faster than overall inflation.
- In his first term, he introduced original legislation, the FLAT Prices Act, which would punish Big Pharma companies when they hurt consumers with skyrocketing drug prices.
- Supported numerous bills to expand Medicare coverage, including dental, hearing, and vision care.
Supporting Maine 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:
- Supported legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Program and Government Pension Offset, poorly-designed calculations that unfairly reduce Maine retirees’ Social Security benefits.
- Signed onto legislation that has become law to extend the Health Coverage Tax Credit, which will help retirees in places like Madawaska.
- Promised to protect Social Security and increase benefits so that no senior retires in poverty.
Standing Up for Workers and Good Jobs
Few issues matter to working Mainers as much as access to affordable, high quality health care. Jared is a labor Democrat who believes that our economy does best 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:
- 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.
- Advocated for the future of Maine’s shipbuilding workforce, using his position on the Armed Services Committee to restore shipbuilding opportunities for Maine workers and pushing the U.S. Navy to study the challenges facing the growth of a strong workforce to support our defense industries.
- Led a coalition of House members to push for the passage of the PRO Act, one of the most significant pro-labor bills in a generation.
- 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.
- Worked with members of both parties to successfully pass the largest infrastructure package in U.S. history. This law will create jobs and make significant improvements in access to broadband, clean drinking water, and roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure across Maine.
Serving Our Veterans and Protecting Our National Security
Having served combat tours 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 V.A. health care for older veterans, Jared has been deeply invested in improving the lives of Maine veterans. As a member of Congress, he has:
- Successfully led the effort to establish a permanent V.A. unit at Togus to provide long-term beds for mental health and substance abuse treatment, which began construction in May 2024.
- Prioritized veterans in constituent services, helping hundreds of individual Maine veterans access the benefits they’ve earned.
- Helped fight to successfully repeal the unfair “Widow’s Tax” that offset pension benefits to military widows.
- Voted for a successful effort to expand V.A. protections to Blue Water Navy Veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
- Helped block the establishment of the V.A.’s misguided “AIR Commission,” which was tasked with closing veterans care facilities in rural areas of Maine.
- Serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where Jared is looking out for American interests at home and abroad.
Protecting 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:
- Championed successful passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, which is bringing $16 million to Maine to improve and maintain working forests and public lands near Perham Stream, around Bethel, and in Acadia National Park.
- 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.
Law Enforcement and Border Security
Jared believes a secure border is necessary for a secure country,and has worked across party lines to send more resources to the border. He is working to ensure America has an orderly, predictable process for those entering the country legally while stopping illegal crossings and going after the drug cartels that are exploiting the border crisis to smuggle deadly fentanyl and other drugs into our communities. While in Congress he has:
- Voted to improve physical infrastructure at our ports of entry, including five in Maine, through the bipartisan infrastructure law.
- Voted to significantly increase funding for local law enforcement and border patrol, voting for more than $78 billion in border security funding during his time in Congress.
- Voted to fund 22,000 border patrol agents — the largest such workforce in history.
- Introduced the DHS Rural and Remote Hiring and Retention Strategy Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill to address the Department of Homeland Security’s recruitment and retention problems.
Placed-Based Politics
America is a big, diverse place. No place is the same as any other. Jared believes in the old-fashioned idea that the job of a Congressman is to represent the place you are from and the people and communities who live there, and that doing so will empower you to work with anyone — regardless of party — to do what’s right for your district.
- Put sustained pressure on the United States Postal Service to successfully block consolidation efforts that would have delayed mail delivery in the 2nd District, and to re-open rural post offices that USPS tried to phase out.
- Fought the CDC’s effort to impose costly new dog importation regulations that jeopardized the future of sled dog racing, a cherished and economically valuable heritage in Northern Maine.
- Successfully secured more than $50 million in Community Project Funding for Maine, with a particular focus on logging apprenticeships, shipbuilder training, first responders, municipal infrastructure and economic development