Article V, Pt. 3, § 3 reads as follows: “The Treasurer shall not, during the Treasurer’s continuance in office, engage in any business of trade or commerce, or as a broker, nor as an agent or factor for any merchant or trader.”

“If the Treasurer is in violation of his Constitutional duties, the Attorney General should be objective and forthright,” said Dion. “The Constitution is clear. We have every reason to expect an opinion that is consistent with that provided to other Treasurers by the Attorney General’s Office.”

A 1978 legal opinion from then Deputy Attorney General Donald Alexander stated that this kind of activity is a violation of the Maine Constitution.

Dion sent his initial request for an opinion to the Attorney General on Jan. 17. As of Jan. 29, he has not received a response or an indication of when the people of Maine may have a ruling on the matter.

In the two letters requesting a formal opinion from the Attorney General, Dion cited a report from the Bangor Daily News from Dec. 9, 2011, which said the Treasurer, acting as an agent of Popham Beach Club, applied for and was granted a permit to allow year-round catering functions at the beach club. Poliquin represented the beach club at the meeting of the Phippsburg Planning Board, which granted the permit.

Poliquin has refused to make public comments on the inquiry into his business activity and its potential violation of the Constitution.

“The Treasurer’s silence speaks volumes,” said Dion. “He’s not the type to shy away from a camera, so it’s telling that he has dodged the press on this issue at every turn.”

The Treasurer’s business ownership and involvement at the Popham Beach Club have not been listed on his legally required Financial Disclosure form.  The Maine Democratic Party filed an Ethics Complaint against the Treasurer for the omission.

“Today we draw the line,” said Maine Women’s Lobby Director of Public Policy Laura Harper, speaking at a press conference announcing the creation of the Maine Working Families Coalition. “With so many Maine people struggling to make ends meet in the worst recession since the Great Depression, we should be working together to find ways to create jobs – not to punish those who have lost theirs.”

The coalition represents a number of civic, service, religious and business organizations from across the state with the shared goal of a balanced approach to growing Maine’s economy that supports both employers and employees. Coalition members assert that economic security for working families is a necessity for future growth of Maine’s businesses and economy.

The coalition urged legislators to take a family- focused approach to a wide range of issues, and speakers attacked L.D. 1725 in particular, a bill to roll back jobless benefits that had a public hearing friday.

“Workers shouldn’t be penalized by having their unemployment insurance delayed just because they had earned vacation time on the books when they were laid off,” said Matt Schlobohm, Executive Director of the Maine AFL-CIO. “The Legislature fixed this problem two years ago and it is senseless to go backwards, especially while so many Maine workers are currently facing the uncertainty and stress of unemployment. We oppose L.D. 1725.”

In addition to delaying assistance, the bill would cut in half the amount of time that unemployed workers have to search for jobs at their prior wage or skill level, eliminate the consideration of childcare and transportation emergencies when penalizing parents looking for work, and would allow the administration to change work search requirements without legislative oversight.

“I know what it is like to struggle to find a job. I have faced unemployment and underemployment in recent years,” said Brenda Akers, a single mother from Lewiston who spoke at the press conference. “I am especially concerned about the part of the bill that would eliminate transportation and child care emergencies as reasons for “good cause” for not participating in re-employment services. This change will only make things harder for parents like me who sometimes have a hard time accessing affordable child care and transportation.”

Zack Keegan, a recent college graduate who lost his temporary employment six months ago, described how he finally decided to apply for jobless benefits after half a year of a fruitless job search.

“When I heard that there was a proposal that would weaken the unemployment insurance program I was stunned,” said Keegan. “I just can’t believe the legislature is focused on making it harder for workers to get this type of support during the worst economic climate in our lifetime. The focus should be on creating jobs.”

The coalition also announced opposition to L.D. 309, which would discourage working Mainers from engaging in collective bargaining in the workplace, L.D. 1680 and L.D. 1693, which would make it more difficult for Mainers to find tax relief through the Circuit-breaker Program and a number of attempts to weaken worker and consumer protections and rights including L.D. 1207 (commonly referred to as the DeCoster bill), L.D. 1786, which would remove Maine’s annual livable wage calculation.

###

Members of the Working Families Coalition include: Maine Centers for Women Work and Community, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maine People’s Alliance, Maine Women’s Lobby, League of Young Voters, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Maine Children’s Alliance, Mabel Wadsworth Health Center, Child Care Services of York County, The Alzheimer’s Association- Maine Chapter, National Association of Social Workers – Maine Chapter, Maine Council of Senior Citizens, Maine Nurses Association, Family Planning Association of Maine, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Disability Rights Center of Maine, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Business and Professional Women, Maine, Maine Equal Justice Partners, Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods, Maine Center for Economic Policy, American Association of University Women of Maine, Maine AFL-CIO, Consumer for Affordable Health Care, Maine Fair Trade Campaign, Equality Maine, AFSCME Council 93 Maine, Maine State Employees Association/SEIU, Maine Education Association, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Maine Public Health Association, Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, Maine Head Start Directors Association, Food and Medicine, Southern Maine Labor Council, Maine Council of Churches, Maine Small Business Coalition

MDC’s Green Downtowns program was created to strengthen the link between the natural and built environments in Maine’s downtowns, making them more environmentally friendly and ecologically conscious and building local leadership and capacity to support sustainable green initiatives.

EFN Funding for the first two years of Green Downtowns supported ten green improvement projects including pocket parks, trail connections, and LED lighting in eight Main Street Maine communities and technical planning in the form of conceptual green streetscape designs to 13 Maine Downtown Network communities.

This year, MDC is partnering with the Maine Forest Service’s Project Canopy program, GrowSmart Maine, Wright-Pierce Engineering, and its local participating downtown organizations to bring street trees to Maine communities. MDC has committed $25,000 to be matched by a $25,000 Project Canopy set aside specifically to plant downtown street trees for Main Street Maine and Maine Downtown Network Communities. Studies nationwide prove multiple economic, environmental and social values of downtown street trees.

MDC also will continue to contract with Maine Preservation to provide professional historic preservation technical assistance to downtown property owners. In years one and two, Maine Preservation’s Field Services program consulted on projects in 17 of MDC’s participating communities. Funds will also be used to continue our educational outreach with the “Good Design, Green Design” Downtown Institute session (March 16, Bath) and a Green Downtowns track at the 2012 Maine Downtown Conference scheduled for May 18 in Farmington. These training sessions are open to all and will have a focus on community health and the recycling of historic and older buildings as a policy principle and economic development tool for all communities.

Finally, with two years of case studies, grant successes, education sessions, consulting, meetings, and brainstorming around greening Maine’s historic downtowns, MDC will be engaging in a statewide marketing campaign to increase public awareness and community participation to further the critical link between the built and natural environments.

EFN’s collaborative funding initiative, “From Vision to Action: A Commitment to Maine’s Quality of Place” seeks to support projects that strengthen the link between the natural and built environments, emphasize public engagement, and take seriously the process and action elements required to build and sustain collaborations.

The Environmental Protection Agency today announced new standards for power plant emissions that will significantly cut emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gases and other toxics from power plants.

“The new safeguards will help protect Maine people, wildlife, waters and our environment from harmful air pollution from power plant emissions of mercury, arsenic, dioxin and other toxics,” saId Lisa Pohlmann, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “President Obama deserves our thanks for standing up to the polluters and standing up for our kids. Less mercury and arsenic in our air is a good thing.”

These health aliments will be adverted because of the EPA action:

Up to 11,000 premature deaths;
2,800 cases of chronic bronchitis;
4,700 heart attacks;
130,000 asthma attacks
5,700 hospital and emergency room visits; and
540,000 days when people miss work or school.

Even small amounts these pollutants are linked to cancer, heart disease, neurological damage, birth defects, asthma attacks and premature death.

“Clean air standards like the mercury rule provide strong health protections that each year could prevent 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 asthma attacks among children – and save 11,000 lives. But, the power plant industry opposes these common sense protections and is spending millions of dollars to block them,” said Karen D’Andrea, executive director of Maine Physicians for Social Responsibility

D’Andrea and Pohlmann urge support from Maine’s Senators Snowe and Collins to support this Mercury and Air Toxics rule.

Planners, conservationists, and citizens throughout Maine are concerned about the impact of proposed changes to Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) on Maine’s North Woods, and are urging the Legislature to examine the proposal carefully and think long and hard about the importance of Maine’s signature natural resource.

“We are pleased that the LURC Reform Committee backed away from abolishing LURC, but a number of the provisions of their proposal could result in the same outcome depending on how the details are worked out,” said Cathy Johnson, North Woods project director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “The full impact of the LURC Reform Committee’s proposals has not yet been evaluated. Implementing the recommendations could have very serious and problematic unintended consequences.”

The report does not require legislative approval of the commissioner appointments and does not specify what the criteria will be to allow counties to opt-out of LURC.

“While we are pleased to see that the board abandoned the extreme proposal to abolish LURC, we have concerns about the provisions for appointing commissioners and a new opt-out provision for counties,” said Rep. Jeff McCabe, the lead Democrat on the Agriculture Committee. “This is an area where Democrats hope to make changes to the commission recommendations.”

The way in which commissioners will be appointed has worried others.

“Allowing county commissioners to appoint themselves as LURC commissioners, as the LURC Reform Committee has proposed, without review through the normal process of gubernatorial nomination, legislative committee hearing, and Senate confirmation, would undercut LURC’s ability to be responsive to statewide perspective and legal commitment,” said Sean Mahoney of the Conservation Law Foundation.

LURC oversees the planning and zoning for 10.4 million acres of largely undeveloped land in the northern part of the state. Key highlights from the report also include changing the scope and purpose statement of the commission; shifting some LURC responsibilities to other departments; relocating staff closer to the Unorganized Territory; and changing the appeals process.

The study commission was formed to evaluate ways to improve LURC after legislation, sponsored by Senate President Kevin Raye, to completely eliminate the body failed to pass out of the Agriculture Committee. Raye is running for Congress against Congressman Mike Michaud.

“No other Maine State regulatory board has members elected by local constituencies because of inevitable conflicts between pressures to respond to local politics and the legal duty of LURC commissioners to make decisions based exclusively on the law and facts in a legal record,” said former Maine Deputy Attorney General Jeff Pidot.

These deep concerns stem from the reality of how other states have lost pristine land to developers not concerned about the natural beauty and asset of forest lands. Thousands of people from around the world visit Maine just to sees its natural wonders.

“The ‘county drop-out’ proposal would allow counties to withdraw from the currently unified system that should consistently apply to the entire unorganized territories,” says Bryan Wentzell of the Appalachian Mountain Club. “Such a ‘drop-out’ could result in increased unpredictability for applicants, inequity for landowners, and confusion for the public when divergent standards emerge.”

The report was accompanied with draft legislation.

“It was surprising to see draft legislation come out from the group since they were not given authority to do so,” said Representative McCabe.

“We are surprised and troubled that the Administration already has prepared draft legislation, given that the reform commission explicitly decided not to prepare legislation,” said Cathy Johnson of NRCM. “The reform commission concluded that drafting a bill would be the job of the Legislature. We support that conclusion and note that the draft bill released today is not consistent with the commission’s work. We urge lawmakers to reserve the right to consider the reform commission’s proposals and make their own decisions about what changes make sense in Maine’s laws.”

“The draft legislation that was submitted by the Department of Conservation makes additional changes to LURC that would further undercut LURC’s ability to protect the North Woods,” sais Cathy Johnson of NRCM.

The proposal would allow land currently zoned for forestry uses or recreation to be rezoned for development even if it would have an undue adverse impact on existing uses and resources. Currently any rezoning is required not to have an ‘undue adverse impact.’

“DOC’s proposal also would allow municipalities and counties to drop out of LURC and provide less protection than LURC did for Maine’s natural, recreational and historic resources,” said Johnson.

Current law requires municipalities to have in place zoning and rules which provide an equivalent level of natural, recreational and historic resource protection as is provided under LURC law.

“LURC currently provides one-stop land use planning, zoning, permitting, and enforcement in Maine’s North Woods,” said Emily Figdor of Environment Maine. “The LURC Reform Committee’s proposal will result in a fragmented and complicated system that is far more unpredictable, inefficient, and expensive than the existing LURC approach.”

A recent study from Chase Bank shows that during the deepest part of the near depression, Maine’s economic recession and unemployment rates were both far less severe compared to the rest of the country as a whole. This is due in large part because the foundation for Maine’s economy to progress out of the recession was firmly established with the Baldacci administration.

But the Chase Bank study shows that after LePage’s first session with the Legislature, Maine began to lag behind in the economic recovery. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the state had no bond issues on the ballot this past November, which would have immediately provided thousands of jobs for people in construction, research and development, public safety, and education. LePage and other conservatives flatly refused to discuss a bond package in 2010. According to the most recent Maine Department of Labor data, Maine has lost more than 4,800 jobs since January. And LePage’s proposed cuts would diminish the workforce further.

“The proposed state cuts to Medicaid in fiscal year 2012 will result in the loss of more than 4,400 jobs across all counties statewide,” said MECEP Executive Director Garrett Martin.

During the short time LePage has been in office, more jobs have been lost in Maine than created. But jobs have been created — in sectors where the economy is still growing and will continue to do so. These are the areas focused on by the Baldacci administration, working with the Legislature, for the state’s present and future economy. For example:

• Maine’s green economy: According to a Brookings Report, from 2003 to 2010, Maine added 2,914 “clean jobs,” growing by 4 percent annually. Between 2008 and 2009, the state rate overtook the national growth rate of 3.4 percent. The state set clean-energy goals, which has given companies confidence to invest in Maine. Renewable energy is projected to become a huge growth area for the U.S. economy, and Maine has been fostering wind, solar, natural gas, biofuels, and wood energy alternatives. Working with UMaine’s offshore wind development team, Maine could be exporting electrical energy captured on floating wind farms. This alone could create thousands of jobs and stimulate the economy, at the same time reducing people’s oil consumption, if they turn to electrical energy to heat. Businesses focused on weatherization and retro fitting buildings to use less oil are also becoming a mainstay business in Maine with the help of the Energy Efficiency Trust.

• Maine has some world-renowned scientific labs, like Bigelow and Jackson Laboratory. Some of their projects, along with other high-tech innovative companies, have been supported by new Maine Technology Institute grants introduced by Karen Mills.

• Maine has strong programs to support and nurture entrepreneurship, and because of this reality Blackstone just gave the state $3 million to expand these programs.

• Maine received federal funding for the Three Ring Binder, because of its leadership in broadband Internet access deployment to rural areas. The ConnectME program got all of this rolling. Broadband allows entrepreneurs to set up anywhere in the world, and more are choosing Maine for it’s quality of life.

• Maine’s quality of life was promoted and protected with bonds like the Land for Maine’s Future program managed by the State Planning Office. Another little-known SPO program, which started with a committee established by Gov. Baldacci, will interlink bike and walkable trails across the state, so people can travel the entire state on the “interstate bike highway.” Working with the Department of Transportation and various nonprofits, the SPO progressed this quality of life initiative and others that surely will bring environmental enthusiasts and people wanting a healthy lifestyle to the state. The SPO is now being dismantled, because of LePage.

• In eight years, the Pine Tree Tax Zone initiative brought business or expanded business in the sate — over 310 of them, creating thousands of jobs.

• Maine has a great community college system with low tuition. There has been a 76 percent increase in enrollment over the last eight years.

The thing is, none of these areas that have proven to grow the economy is the domain of a political party. The reason Gov. Baldacci got them established was because of his unwavering belief that we all can work together to progress the state of Maine for all its citizens. That’s how he made these initiatives happen. The majority of Democrats want to grow jobs using these successful initiatives, which businesses and nonprofits back. They want a comprehensive bond package. We need to return to a climate of collaboration and cooperation in Augusta, so jobs can be created.

“Clean energy is one of the few bright spots in this challenging economy — with strong job and business growth,” said Rob Brown of Opportunity Maine at the announcement last October of a new citizens’ initiative to increase clean-energy use in Maine.

Maine Citizens for Clean Energy, a coalition of organizations, businesses and individuals, aims to help create jobs, control energy costs, cut pollution, and move the state further towards energy independence. They are currently gathering signatures for the November 2012 ballot. So, if the holiday stroll downtown is interrupted for your John Hancock, this most likely is the reason why.

The ballot initiative would require 20 percent of Maine’s electricity to come from new, renewable-energy sources. It also wants electric utilities to invest in energy efficiency whenever this would reduce energy costs for ratepayers.

“Maine is dangerously dependent on fossil fuels at great cost to the state’s economy, energy security, and environment,” says Dylan Voorhees, clean energy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “Maine people spend more than $5 billion every year on imported fossil fuels, including for generating electricity. By dramatically expanding investments in clean-energy sources like energy efficiency, solar, and wind, this clean-energy initiative will help Maine’s economy, our environment, and our health.”

The initiative builds on existing policies and success: Maine already requires 10 percent of our power to come from renewables by 2017, known as the Renewable Energy Standard. The Baldacci administration also set legal goals, working with the Legislature, to produce two gigawatts of wind power by 2020, to weatherize all residences and 50 percent of businesses by 2030, and to reduce the state’s consumption of liquid fossil fuels by at least 30 percent by 2030.

The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has repeatedly reported that the Renewable Energy Standard is working — promoting renewable-energy development in Maine without burdening ratepayers.

“The PUC has reported that the costs of the energy standard are incredibly small: 35 cents on an average household’s monthly bill of $75,” said Voorhees.

While Gov. Paul LePage told a group of business people at the Cumberland Club in Portland that Maine should stop using oil to heat homes, he also stated that he wants to eliminate the state’s Renewable Energy Standard.

Right now about a third of Maine’s electricity must come from renewable energy resources. Maine is one of about two-dozen states plus the District of Columbia that have renewable-energy policies in place.

LePage said, “We need to get rid of the renewable portfolio. We need to reduce that.”

Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association, said Maine actually has the lowest electricity costs in New England.

“Primarily that’s because we don’t have deposits of coal, oil, gas. We don’t have a nuclear plant in Maine anymore, and we don’t have large, federally subsidized hydropower projects,” said Payne.

Over the past decade the renewable-energy industry has invested more than $2 billion in Maine facilities.

“Reed & Reed has helped to develop renewable energy here in Maine by building many wind-power projects across the state,” said John Cooney from Reed & Reed. “The ballot initiative would create thousands of new, family-supporting jobs in technology, construction, and manufacturing at a time when Maine urgently needs to reduce unemployment.”

Over the past several years, Efficiency Maine has increased public investments in energy efficiency that have saved almost half a billion dollars on Maine electric bills. With state and federal rebates and grants, the news about the savings from energy efficiency has spread, and some companies grew to meet the demand.

“We’ve seized the opportunity clean energy offers in Maine by expanding into commercial scale rooftop solar power,” said Kurt Penney from IRC Solar Roofing. “We’ve hired four full-time employees this year and look forward to expanding further as we do our part to provide renewable energy with stable, long-term prices for our clients.”

Efficiency Maine, the PUC, and Central Maine Power have identified over $800 million of additional untapped savings that could be achieved in Maine through further cost-effective energy investments.

But businesses need a stable state energy policy to give them confidence to continue to expand. With the UMaine floating-platform wind-farm project proposed for off the coast of Maine, potential business investors are keeping a weather eye on Maine’s Renewable Energy Standard. According to officials, the project would employ at least 17,000.

“We believe the Renewable Energy Standard has provided and will continue to provide an excellent business signal to investors that Maine is open for their renewable-energy investment,” said Payne. “Stable, consistent policies are exactly what the renewable-energy community looks for when considering project development.”

Then there is the national security threat posed by continuing to use foreign oil and the moral obligation the nation has to our troops.

“We send billions overseas to countries that threaten our national security,” said Andrew Campbell, Iraq war veteran and member of Operation Free. “By making the transition to clean, sustainable sources of energy here at home, we can reduce our dependence on other nations, making our families safer and our future more secure.”