BANGOR — Democratic candidate for governor Troy Jackson unveiled an ambitious plan Monday to lower costs on child care, housing and energy.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, also pledged to cut taxes for working families and lower the price of prescription drugs.
“The divide between the wealthy elite and ordinary Americans is only widening and the American dream is moving further out of reach for those of us on the bottom,” Jackson said during remarks at the Bangor Public Library.
His specific policy proposals include doubling the earned income tax credit and exploring surcharges on luxury homes valued over $1 million. He proposes to make the first year of child care free for working families and cap the cost of care after that to no more than 7% of income.
When it comes to housing, he is proposing to create the Department of Housing Affordability to focus on tackling “the housing crisis with the speed, scale and focus working families deserve,” according to the plan.
Jackson, a longtime state lawmaker, said he would pay for the initiatives by considering raising taxes on the wealthy and tapping into some of the money in the state’s rainy-day fund.
There’s currently about $1 billion in the fund and Jackson said Monday while the state should have a healthy reserve, it’s not necessary to hold that money back from projects that could help Mainers.
“We watched Planned Parenthood close in Aroostook County for very small amounts of money,” he said. “That’s health care that we’ve lost across Maine. The Legislature should have funded that.”
And although he’s served in the state Legislature for about 20 years, he says he wants to push new ideas and challenge the status quo. He said he’s had more bills vetoed by former Republican Gov. Paul LePage and current Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, than any other lawmaker.
“I don’t think they get the urgency that we feel on the ground because they’ve never lived it,” he said.
Jackson is facing at least five others in the June primary for the Democratic nomination. Others include Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Angus King III, former House Speaker Hannah Pingree and Dr. Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Republicans have fielded a large number of contestants as well, with health care executive Jonathan Bush, former Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles, former Planet Fitness executive Ben Midgley, state Sen. Jim Libby and real estate developer David Jones in the mix.
As he wrapped up his remarks, Jackson made the case that he will be an agent for change if elected governor.
“I am not from the right, I am not from the left, I am from the bottom, and I know how to fix these things because I’ve lived them just like all of you,” he said.