WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two members of Maine’s four-person delegation to the U.S. Congress will take part in an event Thursday aimed at ending partisan gridlock in the nation’s Capitol.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, are among 70 federal lawmakers who will attend the No Labels event as members of the group’s Problem Solvers Coalition.

“We owe it to the American people to pursue their best interests,” King said in a prepared statement. “It is only by working together that we can accomplish this goal.”

The Thursday event is being held to announce a reform package of nine bills “in a first-of-its-kind format to clearly demonstrate the trust-building priorities of the new group,” according to a release issued by No Labels.

The event is set to begin at 11 a.m. in Washington’s Upper Senate Park. Michaud and King are expected to give brief remarks.

Eliot Cutler, an independent candidate for governor in Maine and co-founder of the No Labels organization, will not be at the event, said Kaitlin LaCasse, a spokeswoman for his campaign.

“We are not really involved at all,” LaCasse said. “Their focus has turned much more toward the congressional side of things.”

Michaud has formed an exploratory campaign for governor and has begun to raise money for that race but has yet to announce he’s in the race for certain. Cutler and LePage have confirmed they are running.

The event Thursday isn’t directly connected to the governor’s race in Maine, according to David Farmer, a volunteer spokesman for Michaud.  There are still important differences between the two, even though Cutler and Michaud both have connection to No Labels, Farmer said.

Farmer said Michaud has long been a lawmaker who crosses party lines to find political solutions. Such legislation includes Michaud’s advocacy for a bill that would freeze the pay of federal lawmakers if they failed to produce a federal budget.

Farmer said he expected the bills revealed Thursday would have a similar theme and it shouldn’t be surprising that Michaud is involved.

“Mike has always been a moderate Democrat and somebody Republicans could go and talk to,” Farmer said.

Ed Gilman, a spokesman for Michaud in Washington, offered other examples of bipartisan work the congressman had achieved: Michaud recently led a letter signed by 230 members of Congress urging President Barack Obama to address currency manipulation as negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership continue, Gilman said. 

Michaud also recently teamed up with Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., in getting the U.S. Army to not only admit to losing a massive amount of war records, but also to force action to fix it so that veterans down the line are not harmed by such record gaps, Gilman said.

“He first started working with No Labels when they came out with a plan to ‘Make Congress Work,’ which he fully endorsed and has been pushing for some time,” Gilman said. “A key component of that agenda is the ‘No Budget, No Pay Act,’ which the congressman first co-sponsored in 2011. A form of that bill was enacted this past year.”

Other federal lawmakers supporting the effort said they hope Washington is paying attention.

“Our announcement will provide a template for how Democrats and Republicans can work together, regardless of party, to solve problems and move our country forward,” U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif, said.

The coalition is calling the set of bills “The Make Government Work” package. It focuses on legislation to make the federal government more efficient, effective and less wasteful, lawmakers in the coalition said.

“Like most hardworking Americans, I want Washington to stop wasting tax dollars,” U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., said. “And despite real and significant differences on many issues, members of both parties — the Problem Solvers — have found common ground on some common-sense measures that will make the federal government more responsive and efficient.” 

sthistle@sunjournal.com

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