Hi everyone, it’s Kile. I am dropping by with a blog post. March has started off to be a good busy month for me. This past weekend we had the cam am dog sled races that we have very year in March. So, you would think why I write about that? Well, our representative from the Maine legislature and on the federal level came to together to talk the community of Fort Kent. So that means once again I went to work on our relationship with them. I was able to talk to Representative Jared Golden and Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson.
I talked to Jared Golden about what I have been working on for years, the Marriage Penalty tax. People who get married and both are on SSI OR SSDI and when only one that has SSI would get penalized by this tax and lose most of their benefits. Their benefits go down so significantly the couple is trying to live one income. A couple with disabilities can’t live on just one income. It does not make sense. Why do people with disabilities be pushed aside and made to struggle? We are people and we are trying to live our lives.
Many of us want what others want, like to start a family, live a full life and feel happy. So, when I spoke with Jared Golden, I shared with him the bills that have been proposed at the federal level. I brought print outs of them so that he could take them with him. He appreciated that I came to have the conversation with him, and that I brought the copies of the bills for him. He knows one of the sponsors of one of the bills and told me that he would be going to speak with that Representative and work on it. Representative Golden understood how much this effects people and their lives.
I would encourage you to turn to the people that can change the way things are and get the Marriage Penalty Tax eliminated. You, can reach out to our representatives in Washington by using the following links.
Representative Jared Golden
Representative Chellie Pingree
Senator Susan Collins
Senator Angus King
