Deadline for Maine Veteran Benefits
Maine veterans, August 9th is the deadline for you to apply for backdated PACT Act toxic-exposure benefits.
The bipartisan PACT Act was signed into law last year by President Joe Biden to expand VA healthcare and compensation benefits eligibility for more than 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to toxic hazards like burn pits, Agent Orange, and other dangerous substances during their service.
While PACT claims can be submitted at any time in the future, only claims filed by August 9th, 2023 will be eligible for backdated benefits. After August 9th 2023, PACT benefits will no longer be backdated.
More information about PACT Act eligibility and filing a disability claim can be found at https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits. To file a claim, Maine veterans can call 207-621-6938 to schedule an appointment at Togus or another location near them.
Seeing the Strength of our Alliances
This month, I had the exciting opportunity to travel with a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues to the annual NATO Summit in Lithuania. During the visit, we met with senior NATO officials, U.S. troops stationed in Eastern Europe, and U.S. officials representing our country – including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Biden.
The visit made it abundantly clear: NATO is more unified than ever before. In the face of Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine, we have only become stronger and are bolstering the defensive alliance with the additions of Finland and Sweden. In fact, I think that history will show that Vladimir Putin did more to unite NATO than any other leader.
Together, the alliance continues to be dedicated to peace – to protecting democracy, deterring territorial expansion, and preventing aggression. It's a mission that could not be more important, and that I was proud be a small part of during our visit to Lithuania.
As we made our way back from Europe to Washington, our plane coincidentally had to make a refueling stop in Bangor. We were only at the airport for a short time, but I wanted to give my colleagues a proper Maine ‘welcome home’ meal of delicious whoopie pies, potato chips and lobster rolls (pictured below). They were a real hit, and I'm glad we could give the visiting Senators a taste of the Way Life Should Be.
For more pictures from my trip, click here.
Expanding Access to the Ballot Box
Any threat to the democratic process is a threat to our democracy itself. In the face of state-level threats that undercut the fundamental right to vote for millions of Americans, we must act to protect our democracy.
Recently, I joined my colleagues to introduce The Freedom to Vote Act. This important bill sets commonsense minimum standards to ensure that no state infringes upon its citizens’ right to vote. The bill also confronts widespread anti-democratic practices such as partisan gerrymandering and dark money spending.
Free, fair and open elections are the backbone of our national commitment to government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Through this legislation, we can do our part to pass this experiment in self-government on to the next generation of Americans.
Supporting Older Maine People
It's no secret that Maine is one of the oldest states in the nation. With nearly 21% of our population over the age of 65, we need to make sure that communities have the resources to support people as they age – this starts with ensuring older Maine people can access affordable healthcare.
It's among the most pressing issues facing our state, and one that my colleagues and I have been working to address. This month, we introduced multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation that will strengthen Maine’s healthcare workforce as the need grows for end-of-life services.
First, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) that will support the well-being of Americans with terminal illnesses by investing in training, education, and research for this specialized care. The bill aims to attract more people into the field – which is seeing a widening workforce shortfall – while expanding resources to retain current workers.
Palliative and hospice care provides vital, personalized quality of life services for Maine people facing serious illnesses. As the need for this care grows, it’s important that we continue to invest in the proper resources and workforce for the field. This bipartisan legislation will train more people to perform services for Maine people with life-threatening illnesses, help the workforce keep up with evolving needs, and provide much-needed support to families taking care of their loved ones.
I also introduced legislation that will improve access to specialized doctors for Maine people dealing with hearing loss or impairments. Hearing loss can be an incredibly isolating condition that can affect someone's emotional, physical, and social well-being, yet many people that would qualify for hearing aids or implants simply cannot access the necessary care they can receive from audiologists.
Nearly 17% of Maine people have some sort of hearing loss and many veterans experience hearing problems as well – in fact, it’s the number one disability for veterans nationwide.
The bipartisan Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act would take on this challenges and ensure that older Maine people and people with disabilities on Medicare are able to access a full range of hearing and balance health care services provided by trained and licensed audiologists.
Supporting the health of Maine communities could not be more important or pressing. Fortunately, as these two bills show, this isn't a partisan issue, and I hope we can pass these bills to help Maine people age with the dignity they deserve.
Fighting for Maine Veterans' Homes
For decades, Maine Veterans’ Homes (MVH) has provided world-class care to our state's veterans. It hasn’t always been easy, but MVH has worked hard to meet America’s commitment to those who served despite rising costs and a lack of financial support from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
One of the most important services MVH provides is domiciliary care for veterans with dementia – a form of assisted living that is provided to older veterans who are independently mobile or semi-mobile but are incapable of living alone because of their disabilities.
Domiciliary care for dementia had been federally reimbursed up until 2019, when the VA abruptly stopped coverage and ended payments without any substantive explanation. This sudden lack of support for these veterans was just not right. In December of 2020, led by the Maine delegation, Congress passed the Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act that authorized the VA to resume reimbursements for this type of domiciliary care at state homes like MVH.
For reasons that escape me, more than two years since we passed that vital bill, the VA has yet to announce a proposal for resuming the payments. Since reimbursements have ceased, veteran families have had to pay more than $1,000,000 out of pocket for domiciliary care. That’s simply unacceptable; Maine veterans, their loved ones, and MVH all deserve better.
So when the VA’s Deputy Director of the Office of Patient Centered Care came before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), I demanded she give us a firm timeline of when the payments will resume and make those reimbursements retroactive to when our bill was signed into law. Hopefully, this has lit a fire under the VA to end its absurd delays.
In the meantime, Maine’s Congressional Delegation won’t just sit on the sidelines and wait for the VA to act. Along with the public pressure campaign, we’ve introduced the Reimburse Veterans for Domiciliary Care Act which requires the VA to quickly resume the payments and help ensure older Maine veterans receive the care they need—without paying thousands of dollars out of their own pockets.
Together, the Maine Delegation and I will continue our efforts until either the VA finally acts, or Congress passes our bipartisan, bicameral legislation to end the unfair reimbursement delays. The nation has a solemn obligation to the brave men and women who answered the call of service. Reimbursing their necessary healthcare is truly the least we can do.
Happenings Around Town
One of my favorite parts of my job is traveling the state and meeting with all the good people who are working to make Maine an even better place to live. I’ve always found that one day of seeing is worth at least a hundred of reading, and this month in Brunswick, Rockland, Lewiston, and Bath, that was certainly the case.
From heat pumps to solar panels, new technologies are creating huge opportunities for Maine families and our state's economy. In Brunswick this month I saw how the Maine Energy Marketers are training people to install these household technologies – creating jobs, and saving you money on your heating bill.
Maine's extraordinary wildlife is as much a part of our identity as pine trees or our rocky coastline. For generations, countless Maine people have worked hard to preserve these ecosystems and the animal habitats that make the state unique.
I had the privilege earlier this month, of joining a ceremony in Rockland honoring the accomplishments of one of these incredible, dedicated Maine conservationists. As the Founder and Executive Director of the Seabird Restoration Program, Steve Kress dedicated most of his career to protecting Maine's seabirds and bringing endangered species back to our state.
In recognition of his work, the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge dedicated their field station on Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge to Steve Kress and his pioneering achievements in seabird restoration. It was great to see this well-earned recognition and help present Steve with the dedication plaque.
A lack of affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues facing our state. It has simply gotten way too hard to find reasonably priced places to live. Last week, I was proud to join Lewiston leaders as they took a major step to address this challenge and significantly expand affordable housing across the LA community. Using $30 million in federal funding, the City broke ground on 82 rental homes on Pierce, Pine, and Bartlett Streets.
There's still a lot more to be done, but it's an encouraging step and a great example of how effective federal-local partnerships can make a huge difference for our state.
At Bath Iron Works this weekend, I joined the Secretary of the Navy and the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps at the christening of the future USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) – an amazing vessel that continues BIW's proud "Best Built" tradition.
The cutting-edge warship is a fitting tribute to Colonel Barnum, a Medal of Honor recipient who went above and beyond the call of duty for our country and his fellow Marines. I’m confident the men and women who sail DDG 124 will live up to this legacy and Colonel Barnum’s ‘EN AGITE’ or ‘CHARGE ON’ motto.
With the Senate passing the annual defense bill this week, authorizing additional destroyers that Bath Iron Works can compete to build, I look forward to many more christening ceremonies in the years to come.
Every visit was a great learning experience and a powerful reminder of why our state’s future is bright. With caring, committed communities like ours, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish together.
July Policy Update
As a reminder, you can read more on my regularly updated press release page at king.senate.gov. Here are some other priorities I’ve been working on.
- Praising a “Forward-Thinking” Cybersecurity Plan. The National Cybersecurity Strategy issued in March provided a well thought-out vision for our nation’s cyber defense; this Implementation Plan is a forward-thinking, comprehensive policy plan that can turn the Strategy into action. Read more HERE.
- Strengthening Wastewater Testing to Protect Public Health. The Public health Response and Emergency Detection through Integrated wastewater Community Testing Act (PREDICT) Act, would significantly strengthen the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) to bolster detection and monitoring capabilities of infectious diseases for public health emergency preparedness and response. Read more HERE.
- Increasing Pay for VA Employees in Kennebec and Penobscot Counties. In a letter to U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja, the Maine congressional delegation explain the need for better salaries to recruit and retain workers and why VA staff in the counties should receive Boston area pay instead of their current “Rest of United States” pay. Federal employees in four Maine counties already receive Boston area pay. Read more HERE.
- Improving Affordability of Rural Homes and Farms. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and I have introduced bipartisan legislation to make ownership of homes and farms more affordable for Americans in rural areas. The Access to Credit for our Rural Economy (ACRE) Act would give small community banks — like those across Maine — greater flexibility to offer low-interest, affordable loans and mortgages to rural borrowers. Read more HERE.
Hearing Highlights
We’ve had a busy month of hearings in the Senate Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Intelligence, and Energy and Natural Resources Committees. Here are some of the highlights:
In a hearing of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I urged top officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to work on reducing backlogs in processing veterans’ PACT Act toxic-exposure claims.
I continued my push for America to rapidly move towards a clean, affordable, and reliable energy future in a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee.
In the Armed Services Committee I asked General Randy George, current Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and nominee for Chief of Staff of the Army, about the national security impacts of a current hold on military promotions.
In The News
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