On November 2nd the citizen's of Maine decided to change the direction of Maine government by selecting Paul R. LePage as our next Governor and by electing a majority of Republicans to the Maine Legislature. This election resulted in historic changes with 77 Republican members of the House of Representatives and 20 members of the [...]
I was honored to be asked by members of the Hampden-Newburgh Little League to give welcoming remarks to the teams. During the opening ceremonies Dewey Martin was honored with a plaque for his many years of faithful volunteer efforts on behalf of the Little League program in the Hampden area. Dewey tirelessly gives of his [...]
Memorial Day is a special solemn occasion that was established following the Civil War. It was meant to honor those who had fallen in service to their country and help to heal some of the deep wounds of our nation's. I had the honor of being asked to deliver an address at this year's celebration [...]
On Wednesday June 19th Weatherbee's third grade classes visited the Maine State Museum and following their lunch I invited them over for a brief tour of the Maine Statehouse. As we were out of session, students, faculty and parents were able to enter both the House and Senate chambers and take seats were the members [...]
I had the opportunity to present the eigth grade citizenship award to a fine young man at Reeds Brook Middle School in June. Dustin Ramsay is a someone who I first met when he was in fifth grade at the Weatherbee School and he was spearheading the Green Team. Last year he visited the Augusta [...]
I must say in reflecting back on the second session of the 124th Legislature there was not a great deal of rancor. The Speaker again managed the calendar very well and we spent very few days in session after 4pm. We managed to complete out work so that we adjourned almost a week early which [...]
After much discussion at the Appropriations Committee there was not an agreement so the Democratic majority forwarded a package that included a total of $85 million dollars. Republicans who had reached an agreement last session to bond only $149 million this session declined to support this excessive level of borrowing. The result was after several [...]
On Thursday January 21st, Governor John Baldacci delivered his eighth and final state. He noted that Maine was facing some extreme challenges and fiscal struggles. He spoke of the turmoil incumbent in these issues and the need to seek new solutions and new directions for our state government, our industries and our economy. Within this message [...]
During the second session we on the Joint Committee on Labor had a fairly small agenda but, it contained some very large issues. There were several matters to make technical changes to issues relating to the retirement system and unemployment as it related to federal legislation. We also saw proposals to change the minimum wage, [...]
We begin the second session of the 124th Legislature on January 6th. During the coming months we will face some serious challenges. A budget shortfall of more that $400 million dollars, issues relating to school consolidation, the environment, labor and wage bills and the need to correct language on some laws enacted during the first session which [...]
