Maine Senate passes Sen. Ingwersen bill to promote mental health and wellness in heritage industries

AUGUSTA — On Thursday, March 19, the Maine Senate passed a bill from Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-Arundel. LD 2144, “Resolve, to Establish a Working Group to Prioritize Wellness and Mental Health Resources for Heritage Industries,” would create a working group to meet and produce policy recommendations to address the mental health needs of Maine’s farmers, fishermen and loggers. The bill now goes to the Governor’s desk.

“As the Senate chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, I think about food and health policy all the time,” said Sen. Ingwersen. “With this bill, we are advancing both of these areas of policy by focusing on the mental health needs of Maine’s hardworking farmers, fishermen and loggers. It is high time that we address the reality of mental health challenges in our heritage industries — and that we take action to support them. And let me be clear: It doesn’t make anyone less resilient or tough for seeking, and getting, the extra help or support they deserve.” 

The working group would include members from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; the Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Marine Resources; the University of Maine Cooperative Extension; the agriculture industry, the fishing industry; the forestry or logging industry; a statewide mental health services organization; an occupational health and safety organization; an expert in rural public health services; and a statewide organization that delivers community services. During the work session, the Committee agreed on an additional duty: to examine the impact of a lack of access to primary care services in rural areas, where heritage industries are largely located. 

If approved, the working group would produce a report by Dec. 1, 2026. Subsequently, the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; the Committee on Health and Human Services; and the Committee on Marine Resources would be able to submit legislation based on the report’s recommendations to the 133rd Maine Legislature in 2027.

Recently, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension conducted a survey, revealing that 61% of respondents from agriculture, aquaculture and wild-harvest fisheries identified the need for increased public education to raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health. Suicide rates remain higher for agriculture, fishing and forestry occupation groups.

In an opinion piece, Monique Coombs, the Director of Community Programs at the Maine Coastal Fishermen’s Association, co-wrote, “Both [fishermen and restaurant owners] quietly carry extraordinary mental and emotional strain that is essential to acknowledge if we want Maine’s food system to endure.” Further on, she noted, “Mental health challenges in these industries don’t always look like crisis. More often, then show up as exhaustion, irritability, isolation and a sense that there’s no room to slow down.”

LD 2144 now heads to the Governor’s desk, where she has 10 days to sign it, allow it to become law without her signature or veto it.

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