Kathleen Meil

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 94
Age: 39
Occupation: Marketing manager, Evergreen Home Performance
Education: M.Ed., Elementary Education, Lesley University; B.A., Engligh & Science Education Policy, Kenyon College
Family: Married to Ari Meil; two children
Hometown: Rockport

Political experience

As a working mom and former teacher with experience in energy efficiency and sustainability, I understand the challenges Maine families face. I’m also an effective leader and chaired Rockport’s elected library committee through a sometimes-contentious future planning process. That experience, as well as the Emerge Maine program, helped me learn to navigate tough issues with grace by listening, collaborating, and shaping solutions that help our communities thrive.

Why are you running for office?

My commitment to public service started with the lessons my grandparents taught me as a little girl, and I work hard for our community in many ways. I spent a decade teaching in public and private schools; I work in the green economy, educating homeowners about the environmental and economic power of energy efficiency; and I chaired Rockport’s library committee through some very complicated conversations. I have done the work at the local level, and I know that supporting healthy, safe communities that are environmentally friendly and economically strong requires work at the state level. I’m particularly interested in the confluence between environmental challenge and economic possibilities, and believe that, together, we can match Maine’s outstanding quality of life with outstanding educational and economic opportunity.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • No

    No one likes paying taxes. We all rely on essential services that make our communities safe, healthy, and educated, though, and the central debate about tax policy is how to fund those services fairly. Linking tax burden to income earned ensures fairness. Eliminating the income tax would require us to shift that burden with regressive measures like increased property taxes and expanded sales taxes. These changes disproportionately impact low and middle-income earners and retirees on a fixed budget, but do little to increase state revenue, close corporate tax loopholes, or improve the fairness of Maine’s tax policy.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • Yes

    Though Maine has so far been spared the mass shootings that plague our nation, gun violence still claims and affects too many lives. Question 3 could change that. In states that require background checks, 46% fewer women are shot and killed by an intimate partner, 48% fewer police officers are shot and killed, and the number of suicides with guns decreases. The Maine Chiefs of Police Association calls background checks “the single most effective way to prevent felons, domestic abusers, people with severe mental illness, and other dangerous people from purchasing a firearm.” I support the proposal to require criminal background checks for every gun sale because it is reasonable, responsible, and respectful of Maine’s traditions. It includes exemptions for transfers among family members and provides for unlicensed sellers at gun shows with a system that’s already working in other states.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • Yes

    The proposed minimum wage increase is long overdue for close to 90,000 Maine workers who do not currently make enough to reliably pay for essentials like food and housing, it will also boost our economy. The 13 states that increased their minimum wage at the start of 2014 saw significantly higher job growth than those states that did not raise the minimum wage. This economic development, along with personal stories of families surviving on minimum wage and tipped workers who are finally empowered to report sexual harassment once they are assured a fair wage, proves that a higher minimum wage translates to a more secure community. I am sensitive to the concerns of small business owners, but heartened by the many who already pay their workers more than minimum wage and who publicly support this referendum.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Yes

    The national trends around recreational marijuana are clear, and I’m confident that legalization and decriminalization can create a net good for our state. I have some questions about whether this particular legislation adequately protects Maine’s small growers, maintains our successful medical marijuana system, provides for health and safety concerns, and addresses the economic complexities of a new industry. I haven’t decided how I’m going to vote, but I expect Question 1 to pass and I look forward, as a legislator, to working to implement it for the best possible results.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • The onslaught of opiate use threatens the health and safety of our whole community: older Mainers who are both more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines and to have health issues that put them at a greater risk for accidental overdose; young people, whose brains are still developing and who are more prone to addiction; and first responders, who are increasingly called on to provide mental health and substance abuse services. We must strengthen our recovery communities with treatment resources and support. One path is through Medicaid expansion, which would extend health coverage to nearly 70,000 people, including 3000 veterans, and create 3000 new jobs. Education and prevention are also essential, and we must invest in evidence-based programs in schools, health centers, correctional facilities, and community organizations.