With my first session in the Maine Legislature now in the books, it’s a good moment to step back and take stock of all the work that we did.

Traci Gere Gregory Rec/Press Herald

I’m happy to report that despite all the ways the COVID-19 pandemic made the lawmaking process more difficult, we kept at it and actually passed historic and largely bipartisan legislation that will make big differences in people’s lives. What an honor to have been a part of that effort.

The two most important and wide-ranging new laws are Maine’s two-year state budget and the legislation that puts to use $1 billion in federal funding from the federal American Rescue Plan that passed through Congress earlier this year.

In terms of stabilizing property taxes, the state budget restores the state’s revenue sharing program with cities and towns over the course of the next two years. It expands the property tax fairness credit, and it even begins the process of fully reimbursing towns for revenue lost to the Homestead Exemption.

The budget also adds dental coverage to MaineCare, which is a huge deal for so many people in this state who have struggled with the rising costs of health care. Being able to access preventive dental care at any stage in life prevents so many additional health problems later and is something we all benefit from.

There is additional education funding, and one of the most underrated pieces of that is that all of our youngest Mainers will now have guaranteed access to free school meals. Maine students are far more likely to succeed when they eat nutritious food that keeps them healthy and alert.

The budget funds efforts to boost Maine’s long-term care workforce and increase the availability of care for seniors, a crucial and growing need right now.

It restores funding for the Land for Maine’s Future program, which we have counted on to conserve some of Maine’s most important and beautiful land, preserve active farms and the working waterfront, promote tourism and expand access to recreation. The budget also launches a major effort to test for and clean up toxic, carcinogenic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.

The American Rescue Plan money will be deployed to connect more Maine people and businesses to high-speed broadband. It will weatherize homes to help people save on their heating and electricity bills. It will fund new workforce housing across the state at a time when most towns have been stuck in a major housing crunch.

The plan helps build new childcare facilities, and we know that lack of childcare is one of the single largest factors holding people back from entering the workforce. It invests in Maine’s Career and Technical Education schools in a way that we haven’t in decades, and it completely refurbishes our state park system, an essential refuge for all of us during COVID-19.

We created new small business development and COVID-19 recovery grants, expanded access to substance use disorder treatment, invested in Maine’s heritage fishing, farming and forestry industries, revived efforts to encourage doctors to practice in rural areas and put resources into climate change mitigation efforts, including helping communities address rising sea levels.

There is so much in both the budget and the rescue plan bills that I couldn’t possibly fit in this column, but I hope this makes it very clear that we seized this moment of crisis to do big things for Maine people and set ourselves up to succeed and compete in future years.

I know my colleagues and I will now be working hard to track all of the above initiatives, work to make sure they do what they are supposed to do, and look for ways to build on our success.

While there is always more to do, I feel confident in saying this was a transformational year in the Legislature. I’m grateful to be serving you and am always happy to answer your questions or help you navigate state government. You can reach me at 967-6175 and Traci.Gere@legislature.maine.gov.

Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennebunkport, a member of the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee, is serving her first term in the Maine House and represents Kennebunkport and parts of Biddeford and Kennebunk.