Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Committee backs working group to study mental-health gaps in Maine’s heritage industries
Loading...
Summary
The Health and Human Services Committee voted that LD 2144 'ought to pass as amended,' advancing a resolve to create an 11-member working group to review mental-health and wellness resources for Maine's heritage industries and recommend funding and service models; the group must report by Dec. 1, 2026.
A Senate committee on Tuesday advanced LD 2144, a resolve to create a working group charged with studying mental-health and wellness resources for Maine’s heritage industries and recommending ways to close gaps in care. The committee voted that the bill "ought to pass as amended."
The committee analyst told members the working group would include 11 members with three co-chairs drawn from agriculture, marine/forestry, and the Department of Health and Human Services, and would be instructed to "review existing mental health and wellness resources," identify access barriers, examine successful models from other states, explore sustainable funding and public education to reduce stigma, and report to the Health and Human Services, Marine Resources, and ACF committees by Dec. 1, 2026.
Supporters and several committee members urged the group to examine primary-care access in rural areas because, as Representative Sam Zager said, "some aspects of mental health are delivered in primary care." Members also discussed outreach models that meet workers where they are — for example, on farms or via mobile units — rather than relying solely on clinic-based services.
The committee debated membership language, with some members urging that 'logging' be listed separately from 'forestry' so that the people performing physically demanding, on-the-ground work would be directly represented. Sen. Julie McCabe pressed for explicit attention to individuals living with serious brain disorders; the committee located language in the draft stating that consideration of such conditions would be part of the group's duties rather than a separate membership slot.
The working group will deliver its findings no later than Dec. 1, 2026, and each receiving committee may file legislation in the following session. The committee moved the bill forward without recorded roll-call tallies; chair Sen. Henry Ingwersen announced the committee would proceed to the next item on the agenda.
