Maine Senate Majority Leader Balances Job Growth and Conservation

As a former owner of a small business and the founding member of a local development corporation, Senator Rochelle “Chellie” Pingree (Flemming Fellow `96) combines her business savvy with the perspective that returns on investment take more than just economic development.

“If we can keep people healthy, we can reduce our long term health care costs. It’s a good return on investment,” Pingree says.

Showing her interest in a smart mix of economic growth and conservation, Pingree, the Senate Majority Leader in Maine, introduced SB 339 to authorize $75 million worth of bonds to acquire land throughout the state for recreation — which supports Maine’s tourist industry — and farmland preservation — which supports many Maine communities.

At least three other bills Pingree proposed in the 1999 session set out to support a healthy community by increasing access to prescription medications.

Pingree’s SB 492 and SB 414 would have made prescriptions more affordable or free for low-income families and elderly people. Since Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of prescription drugs and Medicaid doesn’t cover parents of eligible children, Pingree explains, “people now have to make a choice between buying groceries and buying medicine to keep them healthy.”

Pingree also authored a contraceptive equity bill that passed both houses. SB 389 would require insurance policies to provide the same coverage for contraceptives as they do for other prescription drugs.

Before her four terms in the Maine Senate, Pingree was an active community citizen and entrepreneur. She founded a cottage industry of hand knitters that grew to support a retail store and distribute its products nationwide.