Only a few months into his new role as a U.S. senator representing Maine, Angus King seems to be easing into the Washington D.C. scene – and is already making a difference.

King said he’s been making the rounds to try and meet each senator personally, simply to introduce himself – despite the fact that some of them are wary that he must have an agenda.

He’s also arranged one dinner meeting so far with a group of senators who are former state governors, and plans to reconvene the group in the future. These efforts are helping him build a rapport with his fellow senators, and we’re glad to see him undertaking this outreach.

At the governor’s dinner, which was a mix of Republicans and Democrats, King said one senator told him that he had seen another “all the time,” but had never actually spoken to him because they were from different sides of the aisle.

That’s an unfortunate state of affairs, since misconceptions and biases against “the other” are hardened when those who disagree on issues don’t even know each other. King’s effort to bring people together and to go out and meet every senator personally could have a real impact, and we’d like to see it become the norm so that our representatives can work more effectively together.

“They all want to do the right thing, they just have a different vision of what the right thing is,” he said during a meeting with the Journal Tribune Editorial Board last week, and the partisan divides that we hear so much about don’t seem to be personal.

Personal or not, the House and Senate will soon have to come to a compromise on the federal budget – and their proposals are significantly different. Just last week, King voted in favor of the Senate budget, which he said is “responsible” in that it slows the accumulation of debt with a mix of cuts and revenue.

The differences in the two proposals highlight the debate over the role of government, with some arguing for it to be much smaller, which the House budget would do.

A compromise between the Senate and House versions will need to be worked out now, and King said he is “mildly optimistic” about the budget process.

He sees the big issue, for both the budget and the nation in general, as health care, and said he will be pursuing efforts to make fundamental change to the cost of health care, rather than just shifting the costs around.

King is a proponent of incentive-based, preventive care rather than the current system, in which doctors are paid per test or treatment. We agree that this will be a better way to promote health and reduce costs, and we also like his view on bringing health care into line with America’s capitalistic values.

All industries and utilities in the nation are kept in check either by regulation or competition, and neither is present in health care, he noted. To that end, King is a proponent of bringing shopping options, consumer information, competition and regulation to the health care industry – and we agree that such efforts would lower costs and make it more accessible for everyone.

We also like King’s reasonable approach to the gun control debate that is heating up in Washington. He’s met with Mainers on both sides of the issue, he said, and we feel he’s found an appropriate middle ground.

King is in favor of expanding background checks and increasing gun trafficking penalties, and said he is leaning toward a limit on the size of gun magazines. Those are sensible solutions that will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and make it more difficult for would-be mass murderers to sustain fire on a room full of potential victims.

On assault weapons, King’s not aligning with those who want a ban – and that decision, too, is based on simple logic: Assault weapons are no different than other rifles in their function, and only 5 percent of crimes are committed with such weapons.

The efforts he supports are the types of changes that will make a real difference in criminal use of guns and help prevent mass murder events. They’re also common sense positions that reflect the core values of Maine people, who do not want their gun rights restricted, but understand the need to keep them out of the hands of criminals.

With so many important issues coming before the U.S. Senate, we’re glad to have King representing Maine values and common sense, and would like to extend our support as he soldiers on through the current session.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.