We voted as a commission for the county to accept an additional $600,000 from two proposed opioid settlements—one from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, and the other with various opioid manufacturers. This is in addition to the estimated $4.6 million in an initial opioid settlement from pharmaceutical companies that will be received over an 18-year period for our county.

We are immediately putting it to good use to fuel recovery for those with substance use disorders throughout our county. All the opioid settlement funds received by the county will go towards construction and programming for our new Substance Use Treatment & Recovery Center.

The York County Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Center will be the first of its kind in Maine. It will feature 58 beds—including 50 licensed substance use disorder beds and 8 observation beds—and offer comprehensive detox, inpatient, and outpatient services, with a specific focus on care for our rural communities.
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Construction is underway with the hope that the project can be completed by the end of 2026.

​On this Labor Day, let us reimagine a better way forward and an economic structure that benefits the many, not just the few at the top.   

With wealth and income inequality growing, the looming threat of AI radically shifting who works and who gets to work, a healthcare system that bankrupts people, a retirement system that pushes seniors into poverty, a housing environment that prices people out of homes, and food pantries stretched to the max as so many Americans struggle to make ends meet, something’s got to change. The system and structures we have in place are no longer working for the average American. People feel shut out, disheartened, and overwhelmed by the weight of just trying to live our lives the best we can. The deck feels stacked against us. 

We have a moral obligation to lift up vulnerable members of our community. Poverty isn’t acceptable in the most powerful nation on Earth. Bold leadership is required to ensure every family has an equal opportunity to earn the American Dream, which feels out of reach today. No one should go hungry. Everyone should have a roof over their heads. These are basic necessities for our shared human experience. When your baseline needs are met, without the constant worry of where your next meal is coming from or how you’re going to pay rent this month, you are more likely to become productive members of society and contribute to a higher calling. People should have a baseline income floor.

No single solution will wave a magic wand, but we must throw out the old playbook and develop innovative ways to improve our collective quality of life and secure a better future. Today I’m announcing my support, not for a specific candidate, but for a policy movement in Counties for a Guaranteed Income. I’m proud to be the first Maine elected official to join this coalition of voices to help people go from surviving to thriving. It should not be a radical concept to want the best for our friends, family, and neighbors, to have the ability to live happy, healthy, and successful lives. In fact, I believe it’s what makes us inherently human.

​We must do things differently.