BANGOR, Maine — The assistant House majority leader and House minority leader reminisced about the successes, conflicts and failures of the recent Maine legislative session in front of about 20 people at a public forum organized by the Bangor Daily News at the Bangor Public Library on Tuesday evening.
Republican state Rep. Andre Cushing lauded the bipartisan efforts that he felt accomplished a lot during this session of the 125th Legislature, while Democrat Rep. Emily Cain voiced frustration with Gov. Paul LePage’s interactions and attitude toward the Legislature.
“I feel like the governor doesn’t respect the legislative process,” Cain said. She said she hopes that respect grows when the next session starts in January.
At the close of the last session, LePage told lawmakers, “There is a lot that needs to be done.”
Cain called some of his statements during and after the session “divisive” and his tone “unnecessary and threatening.”
“He [LePage] did not get everything he wanted, I did not get everything I wanted, Andre did not get everything he wanted,” Cain said in summing up the relationship between the branches.
Cushing described the governor as a “tough negotiator who has sometimes thrown down the gauntlet” and has done his own legwork and research to be sure the bills he’s signing are solid.
Both agreed the relationship could improve.
Audience members used this first community outreach forum organized by the Bangor Daily News to have their questions answered and hear explanations of the lawmakers’ decisions on policies from health care to whoopie pies. The 90-minute event was moderated by BDN Editor-in-Chief Michael J. Dowd.
An audience member asked whether the legislators felt time and money were wasted in this session on bills such as the one to make the whoopie pie the official state treat or the one to legalize fireworks when Maine’s economy and employment climates are less than vigorous.
Cain, who voted in favor of the whoopie pie bill, said the proposal quickly made its way through the committee process and votes in both houses. She argued that heavy media attention made it seem like a much longer, more involved process than it was.
Cushing and Cain sparred over the legalization of fireworks, with Cain arguing they were too dangerous and Cushing saying, “Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the individual who takes the risk to assume responsibility and consequences of their decision.”
One of the more divisive issues discussed during the forum was the elimination of same-day voter registration in the state.
Cain, who represents parts of Orono where she said there are a significant number of first-time voters, argued that eliminating same-day registration would “cripple civic participation” in parts of the state similar to the one she represents. She said this would be a high price to pay for eliminating voter fraud, which has been found just twice in Maine in 38 years.
Giving town clerks time to gather voter information and be prepared for “the most important of civic duties” is worth the inconvenience of having to register two days in advance, Cushing said.
“This is allowing the residents of this state to vote on Election Day and not be bogged down” by people who aren’t registered, Cushing said.
The legislators said the session’s greatest successes were bipartisan reforms to improve the job climate and efforts to keep taxes low and lessen the burden on small businesses.
Cain and Cushing said they look forward to seeing more BDN forums with more conversation – and higher turnouts.
“I hope the audience got the impression that we [Republican and Democrat legislators] generally get along” and gains a better understanding of what the Legislature accomplished this session, Cain said.
Cushing said it was an opportunity to get to know what constituents are thinking about.
“For me, as a legislator, this is important for me to hear one on one what people have for concerns so I can get a pulse for what the issues are that we can take into the next session,” Cushing said.