Most Maine residents want the state lawmakers to resume their work in a special session this year, according to a new poll released by Mainers for Working Families.
Of the 500 Mainers surveyed, 89 percent support lawmakers returning to Augusta for a special legislative session this year.
Republican legislators have repeatedly blocked Democrats’ calls to convene a special session this summer.
“After months of calling for the Legislature to reconvene, House and Senate Republicans failed to weigh in when it mattered and did not participate in the poll,” Speaker of the House Sara Gideon wrote in a July 16 tweet.
Gov. Janet Mills could compel lawmakers to convene for a special session but has so far declined to do so.
The poll also found broad support for many of the policies that remain outstanding from the truncated regular session and could be addressed if lawmakers return to work. Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents support a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, 63 percent support allowing all Mainers to buy into Medicaid and 67 percent favor closing a tax loophole for private corporations.
Additionally, 61 percent of Maine voters support requiring companies to provide paid sick leave for employees, and 67 percent favor stronger protections for whistleblowers.
Sixty-one percent of respondents support the creation of a state insurance fund to expand paid family and medical leave.
The poll also found that Mainers widely recognize the severity of the pandemic — 77 percent said they were “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned” about the coronavirus. The majority of Maine voters approve of Mill’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and disapprove of President Donald Trump’s response.
The poll was administered by Lincoln Park Strategies between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5 using both phone and online surveys. The margin of error is 士4.4 percent at the 95% confidence level. The survey’s full results can be found here.
Photo: Terry Ross
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