STACYVILLE, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King today visited with people from around Aroostook and Penobscot counties to hear directly from business leaders, local officials, community leaders and health professionals about issues important to the region. In the morning, Senator King visited municipal officials from the Town of Fort Fairfield to discuss the need to expand broadband infrastructure to support innovation and help Maine’s rural economies grow and thrive. He then toured I Care Pharmacy in Fort Fairfield, a veteran owned, mail order pharmacy that serves over 5,000 people in the surrounding community. Following the Fort Fairfield stops, Senator King visited the home of Jeannine Charette of Presque Isle, whose house was recently weatherized by Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP) with funds from the U.S. Department of Energy and LIHEAP Block Grant. Senator King then joined the Presque Isle Rotary Club to outline his vision for economic development in rural Maine.

            “The people of Maine hired me to listen – to their concerns, to their priorities, and to their hopes for the future – so that I can bring their voices to Washington,” Senator King said. “These visits have once again underscored the strength of the hardworking people in northern Maine and their determination to support the region’s tightknit communities. I will carry with me what I learned today to guide my work in the Senate.”

During Senator King’s morning visits, he joined municipal officials to discuss Maine’s rural economy, particularly focusing on the importance of developing broadband infrastructure and connectivity for rural communities. At I Care Pharmacy, he met with leadership and employees to discuss the importance of the pharmacy for the town of Fort Fairfield and its economic impact on the region. Specifically, Senator King discussed how direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) hidden fees can hurt the viability of local pharmacies. Recent federal rule changes have allowed large Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to retroactively levy fees on claims from small pharmacies like I Care for Medicare D patients. Senator King is a cosponsor of the Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act, legislation that would prohibit Medicare Prescription Drug Plan sponsors, like PBMs, from imposing retroactive fees on clean claims submitted by pharmacies.

At the home of Jeannine Charette of Presque Isle, Senator King met with Jeannine, her daughter Diane and ACAP leadership to discuss the importance of home weatherization and LIHEAP funding, which can serve as a lifeline for many people living on low- or fixed-incomes and help save utility costs.

During the Presque Isle Rotary Luncheon, Senator King spoke with local business leaders and outlined his rural economic agenda to expand Maine’s workforce and build a stronger, more diverse economy for rural parts of the state. In April, Senator King joined logging industry officials and career and technical educators from across Maine to first discuss his plan, “You Can Get There From Here: Growing Maine’s Rural Economy.”

Senator King then traveled to Patten to tour the Patten Lumbermen’s Museum, which was founded in 1963 to document the history of logging in the region. Later in the afternoon, he visited Prentiss and Carlisle logging operation in Stacyville, to discuss Maine’s forest products industry, and how recommendations from the interagency Economic Development Assessment Team (EDAT), led by the Department of Commerce can help grow and support the industry.

Tomorrow, Senator King will be in the Millinocket and Lincoln to discuss economic development for the Katahdin region.

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