Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Lamoine
27 November 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As I conclude this final week as your representative, I write with thanks for the trust and confidence which you placed in me through the last eight years through many thoughtful conversations in stores and dooryards.
The hardships of the pandemic continue to test us all. The needs …
“…Revenue has outperformed dire projections from earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, though the trajectory of the virus and the scope of any new federal aid package could change Maine’s budget picture in the coming months.”
Maine’s massive pandemic budget gap may not be as bad as thought, Bangor Daily News, 25 November 2020
Obviously, …
Graphic: 2019 Maine Measures of Growth Report, Maine Growth Council
November 24, 2020
Since our initial Phase 1 recommendations to the Governor in July on how to stabilize and support Maine people and businesses, the Economic Recovery Committee has been working on a second phase of priorities to grow and sustain our economy in …
9 November 2020
The Maine Climate Council approved these draft final strategies today:
…Outlined from slides from Climate Council meeting on September 16, 2020
I’m proud of this report, released today and representing a year-long effort from our subcommittee.
Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Maine Climate Council, 14 September 2020
…
Stemming from work in the Economic Recovery Committee, here is a package of economic development bonds that I am proposing in discussion with colleagues for a special legislative session.
If the legislature could agree promptly, these could be put before the voters in November and potentially be in place to benefit the economy in …
23 July 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I want to share some updates on the Maine Climate Council, the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee, and the legislature’s prospects for returning for a special session to respond to our current economic emergency.
Climate Action
As I previously reported, in June the Climate Council’s six working …
I want to offer this update from the state’s Economic Recovery Committee, on which I am appointed to serve by Speaker Gideon.
On July 2 the committee conveyed a letter to the Governor outlining our sense of the state’s most urgent priorities expressed these priorities within three themes:
This article reports on the first ‘quick start’ recommendations emerging from the Economic Recovery Committee. My own shorter-term priorities within the committee are as follows:
…“…a roadmap for reopening that could demonstrate a potential alternative to the quarantine requirement and do a better job of protecting both public and economic health.”
“…Asked whether the sentinel testing system could also be applied to schools in the fall, MDI Hospital COO Chrissy Maguire said, “that’s really the vision we’re trying to get
Since January, the Maine Climate Council’s working groups have been assembling, refining, and prioritizing recommendations to present to the full Council this week. You can now read these recommended strategies here:
Draft working document of proposal developed in partnership between MDI Hospital, Healthy Acadia, state legislative delegation, Jackson Lab, Acadia National Park, and administrators of the four MDI towns.…
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As we enter these first weeks of June and businesses continue to face the challenges of reopening and modifying their operations to keep customers and communities safe, I want to provide another update on my legislative work and a reflection on the trauma of this time.
Working towards economic recovery…
“We’re prepared, I believe, to do this really quickly, like in the next two weeks,” State Rep. Brian Hubbell said Tuesday. “That would be really good, important baseline info in preparation for whatever happens this summer.”
For 10 weeks now I’ve been sending you regular updates about the evolving COVID-19 situation in Maine. This week I’ve included information about the Governor’s revised reopening plan and resources to help you navigate the pandemic, but I also wanted to take some time to focus on non-coronavirus updates.
Below you’ll find a number of …
“Having studied our economy for the 200 years of our existence, Maine has faced incredible challenge before. …We’ve gone through one transformation after another. I have great hope we will find a path out of this. It won’t be easy. It will take a lot of hard work. And it will take every ounce of …
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, and here in Maine we find ourselves in a complicated middle ground. As parts of our economy remain closed and as Mainers continue to stay home as much as possible, many families are experiencing financial hardship and there is a strain on our state’s fiscal health. Still, if we …
Friends and Neighbors,
Because of your concerns related to a requirement that contemplates continuing the 14-day restriction on out-of-state visitors from public interactions as I outlined in my April 30 report, I wanted to respond with an update on the state’s pursuit of a more targeted, refined approach.
With COVID deaths currently at …
Now that we are in the first stage of Gov. Mills’ plan to restart the economy, many businesses that were allowed to reopen on May 1 have been hard at work updating their establishments to adhere to public health protocols. Of course, many workers and business owners still have questions about the state’s reopening …
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As you may know, Gov. Mills has announced a phased approach to reopening the economy. It is a several-months long approach to getting Mainers back to work. It is a plan that the Governor, along with medical experts and business leaders, will assess and change as needed based on the …
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I wanted to take some time in this week to speak directly to those of you struggling with the unemployment process and to those of you on the frontlines of our COVID-19 response.
To those having trouble navigating unemployment: I want you to know the gravity of the situation is not …
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Another week has passed at home, and I know many of us are getting restless. None of us ever expected to be juggling homeschooling children while navigating remote work. None of us were prepared to stock our pantries for weeks and think of ways to entertain our loved ones at home. …
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope your first week under Gov. Mills’ “Stay Healthy at Home” order has been a positive one. I know we all miss our friends, families and daily routines. I miss being out in our community and all the one-on-one conversations I’ve had with so many of you. But each day …
April 2, 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I wanted to take some time in this week’s email to break down Gov. Mills’ new “Stay Healthy at Home” order, a statewide mandate taking effect today, April 2. Please read this email in its entirety for details on what the order means for you.
Until May 1, …
24 March 2020
Dear Senator Collins, Senator King, Representative Pingree, and Representative Golden:
We come to you as a delegation during this time of pandemic crisis to ask you to do everything within your power to help vital Maine small businesses remain viable. COVID-19 is not only rampaging through our healthcare system, it is ravaging …
As a direct result of bipartisan collaboration with the Governor’s staff over the last week, an extraordinary amount of legislative work was moved and enacted yesterday.
It has been a hectic week and a half of essential …
…“This revised proposal represents a bipartisan effort to strengthen the state’s ability to respond to and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Maine. …It takes strong steps to boost Maine’s health care system in support of our most vulnerable citizens, support the Maine CDC, and prepare for the very real prospect of an economic downturn
Over the weekend, the Governor’s people worked tirelessly with us in Legislature to gain bipartisan support for appropriations and emergency policy which will aid individuals, small businesses, and health care providers facing great challenges and uncertainty.
Today we continue. Now is the time for Maine to pull together.
…
“…Members of the budget committee were meeting on Friday and were expected to continue negotiations over the weekend to finalize a spending proposal by the self-imposed Tuesday deadline to wrap up work.”
I remain open using Maine’s General Fund appropriations for roads – but only as a part of a plan which generates sustainable funding, drives greater efficiency, and reduces emissions.
“…General Fund revenue estimates are revised upward by $40.0 million for FY20 and by $34.1 million for FY21, for a combined increase of $74.1 million for the 2020-2021 biennium. “
On my fourth year serving on the Appropriations Committee, it is gratifying to receive …
Here is the first report to the Maine Climate Council from the subcommittee on which I serve.
Governor’s FY21 Supplemental Education Budget Proposal:
…and in possession of agency, foresight, and free will.…
Yesterday at the Augusta Civic Center, my working group reported to the Climate Council on the current effects of climate change in Maine in these areas:
I was privileged to work with a great group …
Credit: Robbie Andrew, CICERO Center for International Climate Research
http://folk.uio.no/roberan/GCB2019.shtml …
But the easiest reductions have been realized.
To achieve the state’s ten-year and thirty-year goals, transportation and heating must be powered by clean energy.…
Prosperity no longer correlates to consumption of fossil fuels.
Other states are doing this too — but Maine leads in this area.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-us-states-decoupling-economic-growth-emissions …
AUGUSTA – Maine could be getting closer to electric ferry service if a …
…Mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change, and increasing renewable energy generation within the state, are priorities of Governor Mills’ Administration. Working together with the Legislature, Maine has made significant progress moving forward on these issues. Reducing the State’s dependence on fossil fuels and transitioning to a more diverse portfolio of clean energy
“…I’m not opposed to using some general fund dollars to improve our infrastructure, boost our economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
In her State of the State address, Governor Mills challenged the legislature to solve the state’s transportation funding gap.
Joining that challenge, I welcome discussion of any new transportation funding models which incentivize more …
“…I’m not opposed to using some general fund dollars to improve our infrastructure, boost our economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
In her State of the State address, Governor Mills challenged the legislature to solve the state’s transportation funding gap.
Joining that challenge, I welcome discussion of any new transportation funding models which incentivize more …
…In a competition for money available from the Volkswagen settlement, in which the carmaker agreed to pay $14.7 billion nationally toward pollution mitigation to settle an emissions-cheating scandal, Mount Desert Island High School won $280,000 to offset most of the cost of a new electric bus.
…“…Hubbell said a lot of the pressure that schools are experiencing is spillover from societal problems that communities all over the state are dealing with.
“There are a lot of areas … where the state really has failed in relation to early education services, access to special services, all of the social stresses of which
Here is what MDOT currently plans for road paving, repairs, engineering, and planning for the upcoming construction season:
…Building on the previous Governor’s support for heat pumps, with this initiative Maine continues to lead on the path of beneficial electrification and decarbonization.
Broad majority support for renewable energy and climate policy exists even in the more conservative half of Maine. Check it out:
Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2019, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
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