Advocacy has been embedded into the Preble Street mission since our founding in 1975. In tandem with our Site-based Housing First programs, the Food Security Hub, Rapid Re-Housing and many other programs, Preble Street conducts advocacy and policy work through multiple channels to address homelessness, hunger, and poverty. Our advocacy includes community organizing, with events like the Annual Longest Day of Homelessness; policy advocacy, writing testimony on relevant legislation; and systems advocacy, encompassing all of Preble Street’s efforts to create systemic change to address systems that perpetuate inequity.
Preble Street takes seriously its responsibility as a social work agency to advocate for sound public policies and legislation that reflects our values as an organization and that is informed by listening to those we serve. In this 131 Legislative Session, the Preble Street Advocacy team worked diligently to provide comprehensive testimony to the Maine Legislature on relevant bills to secure funding for Preble Street programs and address systemic inequities.
Preble Street's History
See below for a summary of all the bills Preble Street, including Homeless Voices for Justice, a grassroots, social change organization led by advocates with lived experience of homelessness and poverty, testified on during the short session (January-March 2024). The bills that made it out of committee, noted below, are with the Appropriations Committee for potential inclusion in the Governor’s final budget.
131 Legislative Session Summary
- LD 2136: An Act to Provide Financial Support for Shelters for Unhoused Individuals
- LD 2138: Resolve to Improve Funding for Homeless Shelters
- LD 2136 and 2138 have been the primary bills that Preble Street focused on in in the 131 session. They relate to funding for low-barrier shelters. While in the Joint Committee on Housing, the language of LD 2136 was combined into LD 2138 and written into the supplemental budget.
- LD 853: Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Establish a Right to Housing
- This bill, sponsored by Representative Benjamin Collings (D) of Portland, would have amended the Constitution of the State of Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent, and inalienable right to housing. The bill was not voted out of committee.
- LD 1877: An Act to Reduce the Number of Children Living in Deep Poverty by Adjusting Assistance for Low-Income Families
- This was a bill to increase TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) for families in Maine. The bill was not voted out of committee.
- LD 1975: An Act to Implement a Statewide Public Health Response to Substance Use and Amend the Laws Governing Scheduled Drugs
- This bill intended to limit criminal penalties for personal possession of small amounts of certain scheduled drugs and to create receiving centers in every county in Maine for individuals seeking treatment for substance use. The bill was not voted out of committee.
- LD 2146: An Act to Prohibit Certain Municipalities from Adopting Moratoria on Emergency Shelter
- This bill, as originally written, would have prevented municipalities with 30,000 or more residents from implementing moratoria on emergency shelters. The bill was amended to read “20,000” instead of “30,000” and was reported out.
- LD 2093: An Act to Address Food Insecurity by Helping Maine Residents Access Locally Produced Food
- This bill provides ongoing funding to the Fund to Address Food Insecurity and Provide Nutrition Incentives for $1,200,000 per fiscal year to match contributions from private and public sources. The bill was reported as Ought to Pass as Amended.
- LD 2197: An Act to Strengthen the Health, Well-being, and Academic Success of Children and Their Families Through Increased Community Support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine
- This bill provides one-time financial support to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine to provide additional support to children and families. This bill was not reported out of committee.
- LD 2214: An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds and to Change Certain Provision of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Endingg June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2025
- Elements of this bill would limit General Assistance funding for municipalities. Preble Street testified in opposition to those changes, limiting General Assistance funding for municipalities.
- LD 2214: An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds and to Change Certain Provision of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2025
- This bill funds civil legal aid services for low-income Mainers, with limited access to legal representation and resources.
- LD 2214: An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds and to Change Certain Provision of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Endingg June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2025
- From this bill, Preble Street supports $16M for housing and shelter services, with a specific ask for ongoing funding for low-barrier shelters.
- LD 2007: An Act to Advance Self-Determination for Wabanaki Nations.
- This bill aims to advance sovereignty efforts for the Wabanaki Nations and to correct some of the ongoing harm done by the 1980 Land Claims Settlement Act.
- LD 1514: An Act to Provide Safe, Short-term Housing to Individuals Recently Released from Correctional Facilities
- This bill, sponsored by Maine Speaker of the House Rachel Talbot Ross, would provide transitional housing options to individuals exiting the correctional system.
- LD 2167: An Act to Develop Maine’s Economy and Strengthen Its Workforce by Establishing an Office of New Americans
- This bill would establish an Office of New Americans within the Governor’s Office.
Continue Reading...
Homeless Voices for Justice publishes 2024 Voting Guide
The 2024 Voting Guide from Homeless Voices for Justice (HVJ) is now available! Every year, HVJ polls candidates running at the local, state, and federal level on important questions and issues related to housing, homelessness, and poverty. The candidates’ responses to these pressing questions and critical issues are compiled in the below PDFs to help you make
The importance of vouchers to secure housing
For countless Mainers, housing vouchers have been a crucial steppingstone to stability. In the last decade, especially the past few years, as rents went up and the number of available apartments or houses to rent has dwindled, waiting lists for vouchers have grown and it’s become more difficult for voucher-holders to secure housing. This
You Don’t Need a Home to Vote
Low-income and housing-insecure individuals face more barriers to voting, and every election season Homeless Voices for Justice (HVJ) conducts the “You Don’t Need a Home to Vote” campaign to educate individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty about their voting rights. Many individuals might not know that US citizens in Maine have a right to vote regardless of any
