Democratic minority leaders in the House and Senate answer questions about health care, welfare, the environment, voting rights, and the right-wing out-of-state agenda influencing in Maine. They also express their hope to be able to create a job package, working in a bipartisan way.

Representative Emily Cain —

The people of Maine overwhelmingly voted to restore same-day registration. Republicans even ran an extreme ad in the final days that pointed to a “gay conspiracy” theory. Why did they sink to such an outlandish concept?

The Republicans desperately reverted to their same-old campaigns based on fear and misdirection, after multiple failed attempts to create the perception of fraud in our voting system. The good news is that Maine voters saw through this deceitful campaign, rejected the change in the law, and restored sensibility and access to our elections. Democrats believe this attempt to roll back voting rights is just another example of Republicans pushing solutions in search of problems and trying to distract from the fact that they have not focused on job creation and improving our economy.

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Two young, dynamic leaders in the Legislature exhibited great commitment and direction to improve Maine last session, as they skillfully worked with their caucuses to hold back extreme, conservative measures. Health and Human Services were spared draconian cuts, and environmental laws stayed intact, as regulatory reform was enhanced by Democratic leadership. Two legislators who worked on these issues and stood up for working people and their families are Rep. Emily Cain and Sen. Justin Alfond. Here are Rep. Cain’s insights from the session:

Rep. Emily Ann Cain is a fourth-term legislator, having served on the Appropriations Committee, and the Educational Committee. The determined leader is charming, intelligent and utilizes strategy with zeal and skill. Cain has a master’s degree in higher education from Harvard University and is working on a PhD at the University of Maine. Outside the Legislature, Cain works at UMaine in the Honors College half-time as the coordinator of advancement. As well as being an accomplished singer, she ran her first Tri for Cure triathlon this summer. Rep. Cain is 31 years old.

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Two young, dynamic leaders in the Legislature exhibited great commitment and direction to improve Maine last session, as they skillfully worked with their caucuses to hold back extreme, conservative measures. Health and Human Services were spared draconian cuts, and environmental laws stayed intact, as regulatory reform was enhanced by Democratic leadership. Two legislators who worked on these issues and stood up for working people and their families are Rep. Emily Cain and Sen. Justin Alfond. Here are Sen Alfond’s insights from the session.

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Senator Justin Alfond went from being the chair on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee to the lead on the committee in the 124th legislature. A number of his bills passed others he will likely re-introduce if he is re-elected. This exclusive interview is about some of his work on education this session.

According to the Maine Department of Education’s child nutrition 2011 report, nearly 45 percent of all Maine students qualify for a free or reduced-cost lunch. How does your bill to feed hungry schoolchildren during the summer work?

Hunger is a twelve-month problem, not just a school-year problem. When a student is hungry, you can’t study, you can’t focus, and your attitude darkens. Hunger prevents our children from being the best students that they can be.

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“I saw massive layoffs,” said Rep. Erin Herbig. “A role of government is to offer protections to people so they can do the best they can in life. I believe in unions — in collective bargaining. I was in a working environment where people were being laid off. When I started working for Moss, we had 140 people; when I was eventually laid off there were 30. I spent an entire year being cut back to a 32-hour work week, which amounted to 20 percent of my income lost. There was nothing I could do. I had no voice, no power. That experience motivated me to become a community organizer.”

Bright, young and energetic Herbig is in her first term serving as a representative from Belfast. Erin, who just turned 30, came back to Maine after getting her degree at Boston College.

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You bucked the national trend last election with a substantial win over your opponent. To what do you attribute your success?

I remind people that Gov. LePage won only by 38 percent; if you combine the people who went for Elliot Cutler and the voters who went for Libby Mitchell, it’s similar to the people who voted for Mike [Michaud] and I.

Even though we lost control of the Legislature, and we have a governor who won in a three-way race, it wasn’t as if the state said, “We don’t have any progressive values.” We are Maine. Voters were all over the map. No one can credibly say that we turned into a Red state. At the same time, we are all very worried about what’s happening with the situation with the governor and the Statehouse.

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Senator Barry Hobbins, a lawyer from Saco, is the lead Democrat serving in Augusta. He’s been involved in public service since the ’70s. In his career he has led the Democratic Party and once ran for Congress. He is currently the minority leader of the Maine state Senate. He recently sat down to talk about working with a Republican administration.

The LePage proposals seem so radically different from Democratic ideals. How do you resolve those issues?

We have to find common ground on many issues. But there are fundamental issues that are so entrenched in Democratic roots and principles — of social justice and equality, and of being stewards of the environment, that we simply have to continue to uphold them to the best of our abilities. It’s the right and only thing to do.

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Gov. LePage is pushing a national agenda in Maine, which is not what voters mandated. As governor, isn’t it one’s duty to focus on the issues pertaining to all the people of Maine?

Democrats are very focused on what’s happening in Maine. We aren’t getting sucked into the National rhetoric that is coming from a lot of states where Republicans have recently taken control of the governorship and the Legislature.

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Good Will-Hinckley could become the first high school in Maine focused on teaching students agriculture, sustainability, forestry, and independent living skills.

“Hinckley wants to move away from social services and back to where they were originally— as much more of an educational institution,” said Glenn Cummings, the new president of Good Will-Hinckley, who started last fall.

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Michael Stoddard talks about Maine’s energy efficiency efforts since the establishment of the Energy Efficiency Trust. Stoddard is the agency’s Executive Director

How have weatherization efforts been progressing?

It was a fantastic year for Maine state efficiency efforts to lower customers’ heating oil through energy efficiency and weatherization. We were really fortunate to receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that allowed us to build a market-based program that provides technical assistance and access to certified energy advisers. And the icing on the cake is the financial rebates.

How much savings can an average homeowner expect if they weatherize?

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