As Economic Impacts Worsen, Mainers Are Afraid Senator Collins Will Continue to Put Corporate Profits Over Needs of Working Families
Portland, MAINE – Today, the US Department of Labor announced that another 6.6 million Americans, including a record 30,900 Mainers, filed for unemployment benefits in the past week. Nearly 76,000 Mainers have filed new unemployment claims over the past three weeks alone. As Congress discusses another round of legislation to aid the coronavirus response, the people of Maine are looking to Susan Collins to shore up safety net programs they rely on, instead of bailing out corporate interests.
Willy Ritch, executive director of 16 Counties Coalition issued this statement in response:
“While massive corporations get quick access to bailout funds, Main Street small business and Mainer workers are still waiting for desperately needed loans and direct payments. This is by design, as Collins went to the Senate floor to push a secret corporate slush fund while leaving everyone else struggling to fight through the bureaucracy. It’s time for Collins to start listening to Mainers as this crisis gets worse and stop doing the bidding of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and her special interest donors.”
About the 16 Counties Coalition The 16 Counties Coalition is a year-long grassroots advocacy campaign aimed at amplifying the voices of families and working Mainers and encouraging Senator Susan Collins to vote in favor of the people she was elected to represent and defend. The campaign will mobilize members through small- and large-scale events, through digital action, and paid television, radio, and digital ads.
