On Thursday, Gov. Paul LePage will deliver another in a string of town-hall style meetings, this time in Waterville. If his past appearances are an indication, he’ll continue talking about cutting income taxes and eliminating public assistance benefits; describe lawmakers as unscrupulous; mention the state’s high number of drug-affected babies; and impress the need for student loan reform.
You may also have a chance to bring up your own concerns. In the past, people have questioned the governor on issues ranging from land conservation bonds to how to get young people engaged in local politics.
“Anything goes, just as long as you stay civil,” he said, to some laughter, at the town hall in Lewiston on Oct. 13.
You heard the governor. What will you ask him on Thursday? The public event will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. at the auditorium in Waterville Junior High School, located at 100 West River Road in Waterville.
Land for Maine’s Future bonds
LePage has been saying for months that he will not authorize the sale of voter-approved conservation bonds unless the Legislature agrees to spend revenue from timber harvests on public land on a home-heating program for low-income Mainers. (A commission recently said that such a payout from the timber harvests might not hold up if challenged in court.)
On Monday, however, he said he will, in fact, allow the issuance of $5 million in voter-approved Land for Maine’s Future bonds. He still objects to some of the land conservation projects and the loss of tax revenue, but explained his new decision to the George Hale and Ric Tyler show by saying he’s trying to avoid impeachment.
“I’ve just lost the energy to keep fighting because this is going to result in an impeachment trial, and I’m not interested in challenging them for an impeachment. They’re trying to make up excuses every day to impeach me, so they’ll have to find another one,” he said.
An additional $6.5 million of the bonds expired in November because they had sat for five years after being approved by voters in 2010. The Legislature will consider reauthorizing them when lawmakers return to Augusta in January.
On Thursday, the topic of land conservation is likely to come up again, as it did at the Portland town hall Dec. 8.
“I am not going to sign off on a bill that’s going to give 164 acres to a town, and two people are going to make a half a million dollars each. I think that’s gouging the taxpayer of the state of Maine,” he said at that event, without describing which project he was referring to.
How will LePage explain his reversal on Thursday? What would you ask him about his approach to the program?
Education
LePage raised an idea at his town hall in Lewiston Oct. 13 on how to help graduates pay off their student loans: The state would cover the interest on the loans, and businesses that hire the graduates would be able to pay off their student loans in return for a corporate income tax credit.
“I believe education will solve a ton of our problems,” he said. “I came up with a program last year that would give students, every student, whether they go to community college, trade school, wherever — further education than high school — we give them interest-free loans. The state of Maine gets itself to pay off the interest. We borrow the money at about 2 percent. So we pay the interest. We give student loans, no interest. Then we go to our business community and say, ‘If you pay the student loan for this young man you just hired, we’ll give you a direct dollar-for-dollar credit on your corporate income tax.’ To me … that’s a great program to attract young people.”
If you’re a business owner, would you take advantage of such an offer? If you’re a graduate with student loan debt, would this sort of program help keep you in Maine? What more do you want to know?
Government
At his Farmington town-hall meeting, LePage opened by criticizing legislators.
“These comments I’m going to make right now are personally my opinions, and I qualify it because many people in this room won’t agree. But I believe that the composition of the government in the state of Maine, the 186 people in Augusta, they’re elected to the House and the Senate, and my experience after five years is this: A third of the people that are in Augusta are there for the right reason. They’re there to help Maine people. … A third of the people in Augusta are there for power, control and money. … A third of the people there are there for one reason: To be told what to do, and they do it well.”
What do you think LePage approach accomplishes? What does he gain by describing lawmakers as obstructionists?
Taxes
“Maine is a poor state. It’s poor because we overtax our middle class, and then those who retire with a little nest egg have to leave the state to go to Florida or other states,” LePage said at the Farmington town hall.
In response to LePage saying he supports eliminating the income tax, a town hall participant in Farmington asked about the impact the loss of revenue would have on schools.
“Well, No. 1 it shouldn’t have any impact on it because you’re replacing it with a higher sales tax,” LePage said.
When someone else pressed LePage further on whether he’d pay for eliminating the income tax by cutting benefits and programs, the governor responded: “You don’t have to cut benefits. You need to get more efficient with your safety net. You need to get more efficient in your schools. I’m talking about efficiency now, not cutting. You don’t need to cut.”
Do you think it’s smart to replace the income tax with more sales taxes? Is it possible to use efficiency to pay for eliminating the income tax? What other questions would you ask LePage?
