“Washington” is a dirty word these days. The American people are frustrated with the gridlock, and I cannot blame them. It seems that all politicians want to do is win a 24-hour news cycle and make the other side look bad. And there is no time out — it begins right after Election Day and continues to the next one.

Thankfully, Maine is no Washington.

Jason Levesque, my opponent in the last election, contacted my office at the end of last year to inquire about a bill that encourages companies to bring their call center operations back to the U.S. from overseas. I strongly agreed with the aims of the bill and cosponsored it. Since then, Levesque and I have been working together to see what we can do to advance it in Congress.

On March 16, I joined him for a tour of his company’s new call center in Pittsfield. Some reporters attending the event were surprised that we were now working together given the spirited campaign two years ago. But Levesque made a good point recently that I think is completely lost on too many in the nation’s capital: that there is a real difference between campaigning and governing.

I couldn’t agree more.

When it comes to governing, we’re all in it together. There is a need to work toward the common good and put the campaign behind you. And that’s what Levesque and I have agreed to do.

While his company is doing well and creating jobs, he recognizes the potential to create many more if Congress acts on the call center bill. It has Republican and Democratic supporters, and I look forward to continuing our work together to push for its consideration.

While news on cooperation across the aisle seems to leak through the news cycle only now and then, there have been some hopeful glimpses of bipartisan progress, including one that recently came full circle and will help small businesses in Maine.

In 2010, Congress passed the Small Business Jobs Act, which expanded much needed small business lending and provided tax incentives to promote business growth and job creation.

But when the House first considered it, people at the Finance Authority of Maine told me they were concerned that some Maine programs might not qualify for the bill’s new State Small Business Credit Initiative. This was a substantial problem because SSBCI was designed to provide $1.5 billion in funding to state lending programs, which use small amounts of public dollars to generate substantial private bank financing.

The thought that Maine might not qualify was unacceptable, so I worked with FAME to fix the problem.

Luckily my colleagues in the House agreed with us. I was able to pass an amendment to the bill, ensuring that Maine’s state-run programs were eligible to participate in the new program.

As a result, last September, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had approved a $13.2 million SSBCI allocation for Maine. This funding is now being used to support the business development missions of Maine’s Small Enterprise Growth Fund, 14 regional economic development agencies, and FAME’s Economic Recovery Loan Program.

But the initial allocation is only the tip of the iceberg. The federal investment is expected to spur more than $132 million in small business lending in Maine overall. This is accomplished because states participating in SSBCI must demonstrate that a minimum of $10 in new private lending will result from every $1 in federal funding. The state-run programs do this by partnering with private lenders to increase the amount of credit available to small businesses.

Access to capital is an ongoing challenge for businesses throughout our state. In fact, it was one of the top issues I heard about during a yearlong tour of Maine’s manufacturers that I conducted last year. Once put into our economy, this initial funding is going to leverage significant investments in Maine’s small businesses and help spur development and job creation at a time we need it most.

Passage of the Small Business Jobs Act showed what Congress can do when it puts aside politics and passes common-sense policies that respond directly to the needs of the country.

While the goodwill during that debate in 2010 has not fully extended to 2011 or 2012, I am hopeful we can return to something that resembles governing soon, despite a divided Washington.

Congressman Mike Michaud represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lives in East Millinocket.