Lori Kathryn Gramlich is an American politician and social worker. She is serving in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

from the 131st district, as well as a faculty position at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

. Gramlich was sexually abused as a child, and has proposed laws dealing with abuse, gender and environmental issues.

Biography

Gramlich has lived in Maine for 35 years. She is married to Bob Kelly, and they have one child. Gramlich is also currently serving as a field coordinator and professor at the

. In 2018, Gramlich ran for the

, beating former Representative Sharri MacDonald in the general election. She assumed office on December 5, 2018. She ran for re-election in 2020, beating MacDonald by a narrower margin than in 2018.

Political positions

Crime

Gramlich, herself a

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

survivor, introduced legislation that made it easier for people who were victims of sexual abuse as children to file civil lawsuits against their abusers. While Maine had already eliminated the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits brought by these survivors in 2000, the bill did not apply retroactively, making it more difficult for people who were victims as children to bring a case. The bill introduced by Gramlich applied retroactively.

Environment

In 2021, Gramlich introduced a bill that would ban

single-use A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filter ...

plastic water bottles, with the exception of plastic bottles containing flavored or carbonated drinks. The bill would also not apply during public health or safety emergencies declared by the

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

. WMTW reported that Gramlich commented "We know there is a lot of

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are cate ...

in our ocean, and this is a step in the direction to begin to hopefully decrease some of that". The bill faced significant opposition from the

foodservice The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafet ...

industry, as well as grocery stores, truckers, and bottled water producers. They cited the financial burden the ban would have on their businesses. Gramlich also introduced a bill that banned the use of

per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 milli ...

, known as "PFAS" or " forever chemicals", the latter attributed to the long life of the plastic. The ban will take place in 2030, and starting in 2023, any manufacturer in Maine planning to use PFAS has to disclose their use and rationale.

Queer people

In 2019, Gramlich co-sponsored a bill that banned all forms of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

for queer people in Maine. When an amendment on the bill was proposed to only ban "aversive" methods of treatment, Gramlich spoke out against the amendment, calling all forms of conversion therapy "abusive, unethical and oppressive".

Electoral history

2020

2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gramlich, Lori Women state legislators in Maine Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women politicians University of New England (United States) alumni University of Southern Maine faculty 21st-century members of the Maine Legislature