Governor Baldacci is the current Chair of the New England Governors’ Conference. He and New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham served as co-chairs for the 33rd Conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers.

Seven resolutions were signed by the participants of the conference. Topics ranged from regional energy, green economy and pandemic preparedness issues.

“The current global financial crisis hastens us to find collaborative regional approaches to economic, energy and other issues,” said Governor Baldacci. “Working together and combining our strengths, we can stake out opportunities to grow good paying jobs and increase our energy independence.”

Specific sessions today included: The Green Economy; Energy Trade and Transmission Developments; The Regional Economy; Climate Change; Energy Efficiency; and Pandemic Preparedness.

The resolutions signed today are:
· Resolution Concerning the Green Economy;
Resolution Concerning Renewable Energy;
Resolution Concerning Climate Change;
Resolution Concerning Energy Efficiency;
Resolution Concerning Pandemic Preparedness;
Resolution Concerning 400th Anniversary of Cupids, Newfoundland and Labrador; and
Resolution Concerning Trade.

For the text of the resolutions as agreed upon at the Conference, please go to: http://www.scics.gc.ca

We talked about energy transmission interconnection lines, about the issues of renewable energies, education, healthcare, and rail expansion. We were given a presentation on the economy from the Federal Reserve director in the Atlanta district. It was very worthwhile.

We were able to weigh in on the national healthcare reform, with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, which was a unique opportunity. We shared the importance of making sure people have universal access to quality affordable health care. At the same time we wanted to make sure that unfunded mandates weren’t passed onto the states.

It gave me an opportunity to talk about Maine’s Universal Wellness Initiative. It’s a program that has been rolled out in two or three counties now. It will be going statewide the first of the year. People will be able to log on to a webpage and access resources locally, so they can do up front screening and primary preventative heath care education. The website also connects people with the resources they need in their own communities using the Healthy Maine Partnerships network.

The Universal Wellness Initiative is an innovative way to connect people with local heath care resources that are free or subsidized, as well as offering preventative care information. We are trying to build wellness and healthy out comes for people by making information and care more accessible.

I saw a New York Times article today that said that the United State’s healthcare system costs $165 billion dollars a year, ten percent of that cost comes from the problem we face with obesity. The Universal Wellness Initiative is a needed step in the right direction. It’s a very controversial and complex issue, we have to tackle. It’s one sixth of our economy. If we are not careful it will overtake our entire economy.

President Clinton has said this issue is as important as climate change. Do you agree?

It is. Both issues are connected. When you are talking to people about energy, its about being more efficient, being more renewable, and domestic. They begin to think more about the environment, more about what they are doing to the environment, and what the environment maybe doing to them. That could lead to buying local fresh produce because they want to cut down on the transportation pollution caused by trucking produce to Maine from California. Being energy efficient is part of living a healthy life style. By reducing green house gasses you are making the planet healthier, people healthier, and the economy healthier. How we look at issues changes how we interact and our lifestyles generally follow those changes.

In the business community Hannaford’s corporate leadership is showing the way and setting an example for other companies. Their new store in Augusta is the world’s first Platinum LEED certified supermarket. It shows their commitment to energy efficiency and healthy eating. They have an organic line, and are selling Backyard Farms tomatoes from their hydroponic green houses in Madison. They are using geothermal and solar energy to heat and cool the supermarket. The store also serves as an educational center for schools. You know, they started as a small Maine store. They realize the benefit of being energy efficient to the planet, the community, and economically. More and more companies are making the same realization.

Look at our paper companies. They want their trees to be grown in a sustainable certified way. The have realized that it’s how they can insure their company’s future. More and more of them are diversifying, looking at becoming biorefineries producing cellulosic ethanol.

We are meeting with the owner of the Old Town Fuel and Fiber mill who is very interested in producing jet fuel, made from cellulosic ethanol for helicopters and tanks. (Old Town Fuel and Fiber bio-refinery would produce the fuel).

We are seeing a lot of corporate leadership making the connection that a clean energy economy is good for the bottom line. It’s what needs to happen. It’s a good business practice to conserve, protect and stretch your resources. It makes sure we have a sustainable policy for economic development.

With possible federal improvements to the Downeaster Route travel time between Boston and Portland would be cut down to two hours and the new system would support seven daily round trips. With 90 percent of northeastern residents living within 50 miles of passenger-grade rail, economic development along the line is predicted to increase. What’ s the update on the Downeaster?

I was really pleased that the Congress nearly doubled the appropriation for rail. The original four billion was closer to eight billion. We don’t have a national rail policy let alone a regional policy. We, in Maine, want to do more.

We have a plan before the Department of Transportation to expand the Downeaster to Brunswick, with a stop in Freeport. Then we have a connection on the Eastern Railroad to go on to Rockland. We have proposals to connect our ports in Searsport with rail, and Eastport with rail. Our hope is that we will know before the beginning of the year weather we get the green light or not.

Despite the recession Eastern ports are seeing a steady rise in the amount of cargo container shipping traffic. Charles Moorman, CEO of Norfolk Rail said the use of freight is estimated to increase by 80 percent by 2025. Does this make you hopeful for Maine’s ports?

If our businesses are going to be able to compete and get their goods to market they can’t continue to put them on big rigs and transport them on the roads because it costs too much. They need other options available to them; rail, ports and airports. I think we are going to get a balanced transportation presentation with rail and our ports being a big part of it. I’m excited about this administrations initiatives and what we are doing here in the state of Maine.

Cargo container business has increased, and will continue to, even if the economy is flat. Businesses are shipping more because of the cost of transporting their goods using diesel or gas is higher than shipping. Passing transportation costs on to consumers is not a good business practice. Consumers pay for value. Businesses understand their predicament and are realigning by shipping their goods because it is more efficient. Portland, Eastport and Searsport can be major players. There is a bond issue to help improve these ports come November.

Maine is the doorstep to North America. You have to come in and out of Maine’s corridors in order to get into North America from Europe. And Europe is the in-between stop to Asia. That puts us on the front line for import and export opportunities.

If you look at the map of Maine with 17,000 million acres of forestlands, there are three major veins running through the state. The first is Downeast – Northern Maine that the port of Eastport serves. The second is Millinocket–Katahdin region that Searsport will serve, and the third is Portland and Southern Maine, which has Portland’s cargo port.

We have a three-port strategy based upon these veins of economic development and traffic. The more we can help facilitate that three port strategy the more we can help businesses who can then employ more people.

It will go a long way to help our pulp and paper companies which are a manufacturing base in Maine. By diversifying they have become stabilized, during a very difficult time.

Once the three-port strategy is in place, traffic generates traffic, more business opportunities and economic development will follow.

The U.S. spends less than 2% on infrastructure; China spends more than 9%. Congresswoman Rosa Delauro has a bill proposing a Capital Infrastructure Bank. You sat on the Transportation committee when you were in Congress. What do you think of the proposal?

It’s a good idea. One of the big differences between Maine ‘s budget and the federal budget is that we have bonding, so it’s a capitol budget. Specific projects costs are not integrated in the general fund budget; only transportation financing is a part of the budget. Washington put’s it all into the big budget. Paying for projects that could have a thirty to sixty year life span, out of a current operational budget becomes improbable at best. Most of the time funds promised to states for long term projects never materialize.

It’s simply not fair to the overall finances of the federal government, and the economy. It should be financed like you finance your house. When you are putting on an addition, you are going to get a home improvement loan. Or when you buy a house you’ll finance it with a mortgage. Why would you ever think you could pay for it out of your weekly pay roll check? You can’t so you never make any improvements.

We need a Capital Infrastructure Bank so projects that will last long term are paid for in a long term way. The theory is that future generations will benefit from capitol improvements to roads, bridges, rails, ports and airports. So we need to make sure we’ve set this on a financing course to make sure that future generations contribute to that effort.

Why should it be fair to today’s generation to pay for a bridge or railroad that will last for a hundred years? We don’t do that in the state of Maine. It’s something that is needed and should be amended to our federal budgeting process in the form of a Capital Infrastructure Bank.

The governors aren’t supporting a specific piece of legislation; we support the principle of a Capital Infrastructure Bank. I’m hopeful from what Rosa said that they will have a mark-up on the House side soon in regards to that legislation.

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, said at the conference that the Pass ID legislation is designed to replace the controversial Real ID law. How so?

Pass ID is a cost-effective solution that balances critical security requirements with the input and practical needs of state governments. What’s gone on is we have people coming in from out of state obtaining drivers’ licenses here, even though they aren’t residents. They have been using those licensees as I.D. to access our programs that benefit the people of Maine.

We need to put integrity into our drivers’ licenses. We need to make sure that people who live and work in the state are able to have a driver’s license that recognizes who they are.

I feel very strongly about this because of the cases the Commissioner of Public Safety has shared with me, that are currently in Federal Court. Vanloads of people have traveled up from Boston, obtained Maine drivers’ licenses, and broke the law by using them under false pretenses.

People in Maine are welcoming people, open trusting people; it’s just the way we are. In today’s world people take advantage of that good nature.

I know the Secretary of State, Matt Dunlop, has to administer the changes, and it is administratively difficult, but it is important for our public safety and the integrity of our drivers’ licenses, and to our taxpayers.

All we are asking is that people have to prove they are residents of the State of Maine. Pass I.D. takes out the onerous requirements, like the photo imaging, and putting personal information on a national database, that would infringe upon civil liberties. None of that will happen.

The Obama Administration, working in a bi-partisan manner with the National Governor’s Association, has come up with this compromise. It’s about strengthening drivers licenses, cutting down the cost to states enormously, while giving us needed flexibility. We’re looking to pass that nationally, and we are ready to adjust our laws if need be to the national law.

The amount of energy this new clean energy economy will need to power America is staggering. How is Maine progressing its clean energy goals?

Wind, solar, tidal, natural gas and wood are all a part of our energy solution. The potential to export wind energy is great. We have the largest wind farms in New England.

I was so proud when the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was here and I could say, ‘others talk about it, we build it.’

He asked how long it takes us to permit a site and build the wind farm. I told him it took us three and a half years for the first wind farm on Mars Hill. That amazed him. He said coal fired plants take a lot longer to get permitted and up and running. Frankly, I told him three and a half years was too long. So we’ve implemented changes, by working with Maine’s environmental community and the legislature. Now, in some areas in Maine, you can get expedited permits.

We are transferring that expedited permitting process to offshore wind projects. We are working to have five pre-permitted sites, no only to conduct the research but also the development of offshore wind. We’re already working with the environmental community and regulators to set those plans in motion. So we have the potential to free ten thousand mega watts of electricity offshore, which is the energy equivalent of forty nuclear power plants.

If you take that power and funnel it through to the Northeast to Boston and New York, Maine becomes a huge energy source for them. It’s an economic development source for us because you get the tax revenues, added construction, and transmission jobs. The economy benefits too as more businesses will come here because of the energy, and they in turn will conduct more business here.

It’s important to remember that its not just wind. We have potential in tidal and solar energy as well. And then there are our forests. We have our wood pellets, and biorefinary projects that will produce cellulosic ethanol. We have great opportunities with a wood resource of 17,000 million acres. It’s a huge sustainable resource.

Maine is the Saudi Arabia of forestry, and the Saudi Arabia of wind energy.

Also there is going to be a lot more use for electricity. With more availability of the resource, with transmission lines in place, costs should decrease. People will want to get away from petroleum cars. People are already looking towards electric heat.

More things will be done with the efficient use of electricity. The shift will happen because there is a great need. Maine can become a huge energy exporter and with ease meet the electric needs of our people.

The thing we have to be mindful about is that we get it done working together so we don’t allow the Midwest D.C transmission line to come through and negate all our efforts to develop wind power in the Northeast because we couldn’t get our act together.

We need to get our act together, listen to all sides of the debate, do necessary research, and act.

President Obama allocated $8 billion to establish high-speed rail corridors nationwide. Maine is one of 10 listed sites nationally eligible for the funding, which is part of the $787 billion Recovery Act economic stimulus package.

“My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come,” said President Obama. “A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve. High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”

The Presidents plan identifies two types of projects for funding. One would create new corridors for world-class high-speed rail like the kind found in Europe and Japan. Another would involve making train service along existing rail lines incrementally faster.

“The grant funds will be an enormous help for further expanding passenger and freight rail so that we are able to have a balanced transportation network. Right now all our eggs are in one basket. Rail has the potential to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, lower harmful carbon emissions, foster new economic development and it gives people and businesses more transportation choices. It’s a huge opportunity for Maine,” said Governor John Baldacci. “Once people get used to traveling by rail they will see how efficient it is and will embrace it. The Downeaster has proven to be a success, with more people traveling on it every year.”

Train travel reduces commuter stress, while reducing carbon emissions by leaving the car in the garage. Many train commuters catch up on work on the train, sleep or relax enjoying the journey. Vice President Biden used trains to commute for thirty five years. He said, “Everyone knows railways are the best way to connect communities to each other.”

A hundred years ago Maine’s smallest towns were connected to their neighboring towns by rail. Many rural communities flourished with train access as businesses had an affordable way transport their goods.

The federal government will begin awarding money for projects by the end of this summer based on a competitive application process.

Governor Baldacci said Maine is working with the necessary partners to insure the state receives the recovery act funds.

Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said that officials in Maine and Massachusetts are already working together, along with Pan Am Railways, which owns much of the rail right of way, to develop a comprehensive investment plan to upgrade the lines to make them faster.

The 110-mile Downeaster trip between Boston and Portland takes 2 hours. Since the service began in December 2001, it has served more than 2.3 million riders.

Rail improvements would allow the train to travel faster and bottlenecks on Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority could be eliminated with construction alternatives.

According to experts the line is straight enough to handle 110 mph and with an additional line built alongside any other congestion problems would be taken care of.

At 110 mph, an express train could travel between Boston and Portland in about an hour, cutting the current travel time in half.

Think about it – just an hour from Portland to Boston on a Downeaster express.

The president said the country can’t afford not to invest in a major upgrade to rail travel.

“President Obama’s vision of robust, high-speed rail service offers Americans the kind of travel options that throughout our history have contributed to economic growth and enhanced quality of life,” said Secretary LaHood. “We simply can’t build the economy of the future on the transportation networks of the past.”

“These are working people, business people. They are people who want to be able to provide for themselves and their families,” said Governor John Baldacci.

Dirigo Health, established as a step toward universal health care coverage six years ago, can be attributed to the decreasing the number of people that were uninsured and underinsured during a time those roles increased across the nation. For five years the rate of uninsured dropped in Maine.

Some people covered by DirigoChoice, the health insurance arm of Dirigo Health, lives were saved because the healthcare paid for preventative care measures. The opposition lead by Maine’s Heritage Policy Center, and lobbyists hired to insure the status quo, attacked Dirigo’s potential from the start.

The reality that lives were saved, businesses insured more workers, and the people enrolled in DirgoChoice could feel secure having healthcare happened to more than 29,000 people.

Last year Paul Hollingsworth co-owner of Henry and Marty’s Restaurant said, “Two of our employees signed up after never having health insurance in their lives. Dirigo is very important to them.”

Then the program faced an out of state advertising spending spree that proclaimed the nickel or dime on wine, or beer, really was a tax that people couldn’t afford. As a result of the advertising blitz against the healthcare program voters withdrew the mechanism that would have covered the program’s costs.

Now, close to 10,000, people who are enrolled in the program maybe at risk from loosing this healthcare coverage. Those people still need Dirigo’s lifeline and time is running out. According to Trish Riley, director of the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance, a plan must be enacted by December for the program to continue.

Governor Baldacci has proposed a bill introduced by Rep. Sharon Treat, ‘An Act to Stabilize Funding and Enable DirigoChoice to Reach More Uninsured,’ which Riley said would fix the problem.

The legislation directs Dirigo’s board of trustees to revamp the program to make it more affordable. The bill also replaces the savings offset payment with a monthly payment from insurance companies that equals 2.14 percent of their total claim payments. It’s estimated that would generate $42 million a year.

It’s basically a levy on insurance companies. The same companies that continue to increase premiums to pay for their lack of streamlined administration.

Having a monthly payment makes the funding stable. According to officials with the current system it takes two years for funding to work through the bureaucratic savings offset payment system. The new system would reduce administrative costs associated with rate-setting proceedings.

In prepared remarks, Treat said the program “may well prove to be a bridge program as we move to a more comprehensive state or federal health care system. For now it remains an important option for many Mainers.”

Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell supports the Governor’s bill and testified in committee saying, “Dirigo is needed. You have a chance to turn this ship around.”

Many other state representatives testified emotionally in favor of the bill, saying that they are the voices of the people who are counting on the program for their healthcare coverage.

In addition to offering health insurance, the program covers some state Medicaid recipients, and convenes boards responsible for working to contain costs. Because of the savings offset payment funding issues the state capped enrollment in September 2007.

There is still a great demand for the program with a waiting list of 2,000 people.