Sen. Susan Collins wants us to think that she did everything she could to protect Mainers by voting against the “big, beautiful bill.” Hogwash.

In a July 1 press release, Collins acknowledged that nearly a third of Mainers rely on Medicaid, and the bill cuts could threaten our rural hospitals. But she was not concerned enough to vote to stop the BBB from proceeding. She could have worked to improve the bill by sending it to back to committee but voted against doing so.

Collins could have protected the one-third of Mainers on Medicaid by voting “Yea” to increase taxes on those making more than $10 million a year, to help pay for Medicaid. She did not. She could have protected our rural hospitals and needy Mainers by voting to remove the limitation on Medicaid expenditures, but she did not. She could have voted to cut the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, but she did not.

Collins said that she was worried about tax credits for energy entrepreneurs, but she voted against an amendment that would have maintained “parity for wind and solar facilities under the Internal Revenue Code.” Maybe she’s hoping no one will notice.

I implore Maine news agencies to dig deeper than the final outcome, because it gives Collins cover to pretend that she is standing up for Maine. She’s not, and her — publicly available — voting record makes that clear.

Nicole Bissonnette
Portland