State Senator Beth Edmonds
Beth's Legacy in the Maine State Senate, 2000-2008
Beth Edmonds was first elected to the Maine State Senate in November 2000. She is currently completing her 4th term as the Senator from District 10, representing the towns of Brunswick, Freeport, Harpswell and Pownal.
During her first two terms in the Senate (the 120th and 121st Legislatures), Beth served as Senate Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Labor. The Labor Committee perennially deals with some of the most partisan and divisive issues in the Maine Legislature, but Beth managed the committee in a fair, even-handed manner that earned her the respect and friendship of even those who disagreed with her policy positions. During her term as chair, she sponsored or served as lead-cosponsor on many bills relating to fair wages and benefits for working men and women. Beth also served on the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources (120th) and the Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources (121st)
Beth was first elected Senate President in the 122nd Legislature, bringing openness, civility and true bipartisanship to the Senate and improved communication and cooperation with leaders of the House of Representatives. In the opening session of the 123rd Legislature, Senate Republican Leader Carol Weston cast the ceremonial single vote that unanimously elected Beth to her second term as Senate President, evidence of the respect that Beth had earned in her first term among Republican colleagues as well as her Democratic caucus.
During her 2 terms as Senate President, Beth negotiated and brought to passage 8 budget bills that made difficult choices to deal with revenue shortfalls, while preserving essential health care services and complying with voters' wishes to increase state funding of local education.
Other legislative achievements in which Beth played a key role include:
For Working Women and Men
Increased wages for Maine's working men and women, including a 40% increase in the minimum wage, an increase in the minimum salary for teachers, and increased wages for direct care workers in the consumer-directed personal assistant program
Improvement in worker benefit laws to ensure that the law reflects the realities of today's work force, including repeal of the law that denied full unemployment benefits for seniors who are on Social Security and changes to the unemployment compensation law to allow workers to continue part-time work when they need to care for family members
Requiring employers to allow workers to use paid leave to care for sick family members
On Education, Libraries and Cultural Assets
Advocacy for library funding, support for the creative economy through bonds for the New Century Community Fund, and a $40 million bond for higher education facilities
Brought together the 3 leaders of K-12 education, the Community College system and the University system to work more closely to improve cooperation and coordination in secondary and post-secondary education in the State
Caring for People – Health, Welfare, Safety
Enactment of laws to ensure that persons who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing have the tools they need to succeed, including interpreter services in legal proceedings and drivers' training programs, insurance coverage for hearing aids, training and equipment to ensure access to emergency services
Making health insurance more affordable for retired police and firefighters
Bringing more attention and funding to the issue of domestic violence; passage of a law recognizing domestic violence crimes as distinct crimes; passage of a law to provide additional protection against stalking
Passage of a law to prevent an epidemic of methamphetamine abuse in Maine
Fought to preserve the integrity of the Fund for a Healthy Maine, to prevent diversion of the Fund for unrelated purposes
Creation of a permanent Council on Poverty and Economic Security, bringing together public, private, business and nonprofit groups to battle poverty in Maine
Protecting pregnant women through enhancement of penalties for people who cause the injury or death of the woman, while rejecting calls to redefine a fetus as a person
Fought to keep the full range of family planning and health care services for women by successfully opposing cuts in family planning funds and proposing abortion be included in the list of services funded by MaineCare
Maine's Environment and Quality of Place
Sponsored the 2007 Bond Bill that provided $20 million for Land for Maine's Future (including working waterfront protection) and $7.5 million for state parks
Supported passage of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in Maine
Preserving and Improving Maine Roads, Bridges and other Infrastructure
Sponsored the bond bill that included $135 million for transportation improvements of all kinds, including roads, bridges, rail lines and airports, and $18 million for drinking and wastewater facilities.
When declining gasoline consumption and increased construction costs threatened Maine's plans to maintain its transportation infrastructure, acted to commit $40 million a year more for bridge maintenance, and to provide $50 million a year for road improvements, with a focus on those projects providing the greatest long-term benefit
Successfully led the fight to increase freight rail capacity, preserve Downeaster service, and bring passenger rail north to Brunswick.
Responding to Calls for Fiscal Restraint and Tax Relief
Enactment of LD 1, a comprehensive package imposing limits on the growth in state and local spending, expanding the property tax circuit breaker to middle income families, and doubling the homestead property tax exemption.
Repeal of the property tax on business equipment, a key accomplishment in improving the business climate in the state
Enactment of a school administrative consolidation law to make school systems more efficient and effective
Other Achievements
Added an educational element to the Maine-Quebec Winter Carnival program. Beth brought Maine tourism officials and industry representatives as well as the Maine International Trade Center together to plan educational programs for the event
Created a Task Force on legislative ethics and brought forth the Task Force's recommendations; Ethics Commission proceedings will now be more open and accessible to the general public, and additional information about legislators will be available to the public via the Internet
Sponsored legislation to enable the opening of a distillery in Freeport to create "Cold River Vodka" using Maine potatoes
Continuing Efforts
Fought for equity in retirement benefits by eliminating the retirement "cliff"
Fought for improvement in compensation and benefits for direct care workers to attract and retain good workers in this essential workforce
Fought for paid Family Medical Leave, to ensure that all workers could afford to take time off for seriously ill family members
Supported efforts to require employers to grant some amount of paid sick leave for all workers