By State Sen. Phil Bartlet

Maine, much like the rest of the country, is at a crossroads. We are at a make or break moment for many middle class Mainers and those working to make ends meet. We are at a critical point where we can make targeted investments to improve our economy; and, we can promote policies that empower individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses to create jobs. Or, we can adopt an approach that picks winners and losers and goes against our values and traditions.

Unfortunately, the tone in Augusta, under GOP leadership, has turned in to one that, at nearly every opportunity pits Mainer against Mainer. It ignores the balanced approach that is necessary for businesses to succeed and workers to prosper on the job and at home.

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by Joel Johnson of the Maine Center of Economic Policy | April 26th, 2012

In a piece that appeared Tuesday on its website, The Maine Wire, the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) argued for the elimination of the state’s personal income tax. It’s not hard to infer from this piece MHPC’s ultimate goal: To transfer control of our infrastructure, our schools, our natural resources, and our health care system for poor, elderly, and disabled individuals to private interests. The first step is to undermine state government and the influence of the voting public by eliminating Maine’s income tax.

Maine’s state and local tax system already favors the most fortunate. It takes a higher share of income from poor families than it does from middle class families, and it takes a higher share of income from middle-class families than it does from the wealthiest.

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95 million bond proposal will go to legislature in May photo of capitol by Ramona du Houx

“These public investments will create jobs now and grow good-paying jobs for the future,” said Rep. Peggy Rotundo of Lewiston, the lead House Democrat on the committee. “The state could afford to do even more to create jobs but there was little political will from our Republican colleagues to do so.”

The governor has said he won’t sign any bond proposals if he doesn’t get his proposed changes to the outstanding budget for the Department of Health and Human Services for 2013.

The five separate proposals include $51,000 million for transportation improvements; $7.9 million for water and wastewater treatment; $20 million for research and development grants; and $5 million for the land conservation.

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Democrats say they want a bond package to create jobs now. photo by Ramona du Houx

Democratic state lawmakers on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee expressed strong support for a jobs bond package today following a briefing from fiscal experts on the state’s capacity to bond.

“A jobs bond will give our economy a much needed shot in the arm. We can’t continue delaying job creation,” said Sen. Dawn Hill, of York, who serves on the Appropriations committee. “In the last year, Maine people have seen a continued drain on our jobs and income. Responsible bonding is a sure-fire way to get people back to work immediately.”

Maine has lost more than 1,000 jobs since 2011 and was recently rated 50th for personal income growth according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.Fiscal experts from the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review told lawmakers that the state had the capacity to make public investment in a bond package for voters to approve.

“Before I can accept any bond proposal we must address the shortfall in the 2013 budget. Our welfare programs have become unaffordable and structural changes must be considered to reduce out of control spending,” said Gov.Paul LePage in a prepared statement.

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Business leaders are calling for the Maine Legislature’s Appropriations Committee to recommend sending a transportation bond to voters to help reduce the state’s “burgeoning infrastructure deficit.”

The Maine Better Transportation Association, which represents 700 Maine business and transportation leaders statewide, made the plea to legislators today, noting that a strong transportation bond will help reverse years of neglect to state roads, bridges, rail and marine infrastructure.

“We have a great problem in Maine, it’s called an infrastructure deficit and every day we let it continue, we put our businesses and families at risk,” said MBTA President Randy Mace. “It is not fair to leave this kind of debt to our children and grandchildren. Our citizens desperately need the jobs that a transportation bond will provide.”

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“Pumping dirty tar sands oil through Maine to Portland Harbor is a dangerously irresponsible proposal,” said Glen Brand, Sierra Club Maine Director. “A leak on the scale of the Kalamazoo River spill into Maine’s rivers, lakes, or coast would be catastrophic for Maine communities and our tourism and fisheries industries.”

An Enbridge pipeline carrying tar sands spilled more than 840,000 gallons of sludge into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010. Drinking water, wildlife, tourism and businesses and citizens suffered the consequences of the spill.

The Canadian National Energy Board today closed public input on the proposed Line 9 Reversal Phase I tar sands pipeline project after receiving more than 41,000 citizen comments in opposition. A coalition of 11 groups submitted the comments which focus on the environmental and public health dangers presented by the tar sands project and the need for a comprehensive environmental and public safety review.

“The higher temperatures and pressures needed to move tar sands through the pipeline would significantly increase the risk of the pipeline leaking or rupturing. The effects could be devastating to the Androscoggin River, Sebago Lake, and Casco Bay,” said Environment Maine Director Emily Figdor.

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Moose crossing a road at one of First Wind's Maine wind farm sites

First Wind announced that it has obtained $76 million in construction financing for its 34 megawatt (MW) Bull Hill Wind project in Hancock County, Maine. With financing in place, First Wind will start major construction activities on the project, which will have the capacity to generate enough clean energy to power about 18,000 homes.

“We are excited to complete the financing and start construction of the Bull Hill Wind project, which will be our fifth wind project in Maine to achieve commercial operations,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of First Wind. “We appreciate the commitment of our financial partners, and we are grateful for the support the project has received from the businesses, citizens and political leadership of Hancock County along with our project partners across the state and the region. The Bull Hill Wind project will expand our capacity to generate clean, renewable energy in Maine to nearly 220 megawatts, and we are proud to boost the local economy during the construction as well as through the ongoing operations of the project.”

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Rep. Emily Cain in her office at the State House in Augusta, Maine. photo by Ramona du Houx

This week, Governor Paul LePage took the unprecedented step of issuing a line-item veto to changes made to the state’s two-year budget. The governor vetoed funding for general assistance reimbursements to cities and towns.
The budget agreement was overwhelmingly approved by Republicans and Democrats in the Maine House and Senate.

This bipartisan agreement on general assistance was not arrived at easily. We worked with officials from cities and towns across the state — and from all political leanings — to craft an agreement that was fair and responsible.

The agreement prevented an $8 million budget shortfall in the state’s general assistance reimbursements to towns from being shifted to property taxpayers. More than two-thirds of lawmakers in the House gave it a stamp of approval, followed by a unanimous vote in the Senate.

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Workers stand up for their rights at the state capitol this year

Gov. Paul LePage signed three bills this week he said will help open the door to jobs. But advocates for Maine’s workers disagree.

LD 1913 is called, An Act To Review and Restructure the Workers’ Compensation System.The bill caps benefits for almost all injured workers at 10 years, even if their injury still prevents them from returning to work. It also makes it harder for injured workers to qualify for benefits by moving the threshold to receive workers compensation benefits from 12 to18 percent disabled.

“This is among the worst affronts in a series of Republican attacks on working people this year,” said Rob Hunt,of Buxton, who serves on the Labor, Research and Economic Development Committee, where the bill was first considered. “It won’t help create a single job or get our economy back on track.”

The previous law provided a safety net of benefits for severely injured employees who must deal with permanent loss of earnings. The system prevents workers who are injured on the job from suing their employers for negligence.

“Nobody goes on workers comp to get rich,” said Rep. Anne Haskell of Portland, “After 10 years, a permanent ailment doesn’t get better.”

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Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy Director of NRCM, Phil Coupe of ReVision Energy, and Lisa Pohlmann the Executive Director of NRCM announce the use of solar panels for NRCM

The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization, has begun powering its Augusta headquarters with solar energy. NRCM partnered with ReVision Energy, a leader in solar design, installation, and service in Northern New England, to install solar panels on the roof of NRCM’s headquarters in Augusta as part of an innovative agreement. The agreement called for ReVision Energy to install the panels, while NRCM will pay the company for the power generated from the system at a rate per kilowatt-hour that is two cents less than a normal electric bill.

“NRCM always tries to find new and exciting ways to celebrate Earth Day, but I think this year’s celebration takes the cake,” said Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director for NRCM. “The solar panels on our roof are making an immediate difference in our environment, as well as our electricity bills at NRCM. The innovative power purchase agreement with ReVision Energy has made this project a reality for us. It is enabling us to take significant steps forward in terms of clean energy, in a building where protecting Maine’s environment is a top priority.”

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