In the winter of 2023 and spring of 2024, severe weather devastated communities from the coast of Senate District 31 to the mountains of Western Maine. Both rising storm surges and raging floodwaters caused devastating damage to beaches, businesses, homes, infrastructure, and working waterfront. The impact left many Mainers reeling from the immediate and long-term costs, and – even today – some people I know continue to pick up the literal pieces of their properties.

Upon surveying the heartbreaking damage and devastation – the kind that turns people’s entire lives upside down – in the communities of Old Orchard Beach and Saco, I did not hesitate to support the governor and the Legislature’s proposal to allocate a historic $60 million in financial assistance and relief. It was the largest – and a very necessary – investment in storm relief in Maine’s history. Unfortunately, due to the increasingly severe effects of climate change, we know it will not be the last storm to inflict damage on our beautiful state – and all those who live, study, work, travel or retire here.

As the Senate chair of the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee, I closely followed the work of the governor’s Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission. In particular, I was pleased that the commission included input from the superintendent of the Bureau of Insurance, who I knew could speak well to the plight of private property owners – homeowners – who don’t always have the assistance they need to rebuild. After all, if they have insurance, won’t they be taken care of?

Yet, between the severe storms in Maine and the blazing fires in Los Angeles, we are learning that it’s not that simple. In response to extreme weather and natural disasters, insurance companies are cancelling policies, denying claims and raising premiums. As one example, State Farm, one of the largest insurance companies in the country, cancelled 72,000 homeowners’ insurance policies in California alone in 2024. Closer to home, due to the escalating costs of natural disasters and severe weather, insurance companies have been pulling out of coastal areas, like Senate District 31. When this happens, what is a homeowner to do?

Homeowners have a lot of bills that – in a time of high costs – add up fast. When disaster strikes, it is the responsibility of state leaders to help them breathe easier. That’s why I am proud to support the first bill of the 132nd Legislature, LD 1. With LD 1, we have an opportunity to establish the Home Resiliency Program, providing grants of up to $15,000 to homeowners to make resilience-enhancing improvements to their homes, including fixing and strengthening roofs or preventing basement flooding. These improvements will better prepare them to withstand future storms.

In addition to helping homeowners, LD 1 would provide resources for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, establish a new State Resilience Office and create the Flood-Ready Maine Program.

At the public hearing, I’m proposing that we add county government to the list of entities that can apply for grants. In our district, York County has taken a lead, coordinating role to improve beach resilience across the region to upgrade beaches and dunes to FEMA Category G. It’s a higher classification that FEMA will help rebuild to – but only if we upgrade before the storm.

Also, York County worked on allocating ARPA funding for the dredge that helps manage erosion of ports and rivers in the area. Between these two examples, we know that it’s highly cost-effective, efficient and practical to collaborate and coordinate among all levels of government, including counties, rather than leave individual smaller municipalities to fend for themselves.

If you have a personal account or story about damage to your home that you’d like to share before the Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee when they hear LD 1, please contact me at Donna.Bailey@legislature.maine.gov or my Senate office at (207) 287-1515. I’d be happy to help you prepare to share.