Issue Position: Jobs and the Economy

Issue Position

Maine's economy will not be able to thrive in the years to come unless we work to create more good-paying jobs in a wide variety of sectors across the state. That's why Senator King has worked tirelessly to ensure that some of the state's traditional industries -- such as fishing, farming and forestry -- will be able to continue thriving as technology changes every sector it touches.

Senator King led the development of a public-private partnership -- an interagency Economic Development Assistance Team (EDAT) -- with the express goals of bolstering and diversifying the state's forest economy and creating new jobs. This effort is already set to funnel millions of dollars into Maine's rural economy.
It's a sad fact that women-owned small businesses have a harder time receiving federal contracting opportunities. Aware of that challenge, Senator King helped convince the Small Business Administration to take on new efforts to level out the disparity and help grow women-owned businesses across the country.
Appalled that higher education has gotten too expensive for many Mainers to pursue, Senator King led efforts to pass the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act, which protects students from soaring interest rates, better allowing them to seek the education necessary to become productive members of our workforce. Senator King's efforts are expected to save each Maine student loan borrower between $3,000 and $6,000 over the next decade -- a total of more than $250 million.
Thanks to his advocacy, Bath Iron Works has received multibillion dollar contracts to build Navy ships, continuing Maine's long, proud history of leading in this sector and ensuring thousands of jobs are protected
Senator King also introduced legislation that would lower child care costs and allow new parents to remain in the workforce.

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