What is one new policy that the state should embrace to make housing easier to build and afford?
The recently released report “Statewide and Regional Housing Production Goals” includes several strategies I would consider. One is to “Incentivize housing production innovation focusing on in-state manufacturing methods and state natural resources.” Our forest products sector can provide many of the materials we need to build and insulate new housing. We should ensure that workers in Maine’s forest product industry benefit from increasing demand for building materials, rather than importing them.
Transmission lines, solar incentives and offshore wind development have been controversial over the past several years. What steps should Maine take to meet growing demand for electricity?
Utilities need to use the infrastructure we already have more efficiently, by adopting grid enhancing technologies (engineering solutions that allow more electrons to safely flow along existing lines) and demand management strategies (which spread out usage so that the grid is less stressed at any given moment). We can slow the growth of electricity demand (and improve comfort) by investing in energy efficiency, like weatherization. Renewable energy can be cheaper to build and operate than fossil-fuel generation, so state subsidies are unnecessary. Last year, the Legislature passed a unanimous, bipartisan law to procure electricity from solar built on PFAS-contaminated lands (LD 1591), rather than productive farmlands or forests; that is the type of energy policy I support.
Should the state make changes to its tax laws? If so, outline your priorities.
The state needs to respect local control and allow municipalities to adopt local option lodging taxes to reduce pressure on property taxpayers to pay for essential services that tourists also enjoy. Only 3 of the 50 states prohibit local lodging taxes. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Lodging Tax Study (2019), the average total lodging tax across the U.S. is 13.5%, with some cities charging guests a total tax rate above 20%. Maine’s lodging tax is 9%, which the state collects. Maine is a cheap date for travelers… but not for our property owners.
Last session, we had bipartisan support to reduce income taxes for middle-income families, a bill the Governor vetoed. I will keep working to provide meaningful tax relief to hardworking Mainers and our seniors.
We are closing in on the one-year anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting. Are further legislative responses required around guns, mental health, supporting victims and families or other policy areas?
Yes, we need to do more to support all victims of violence, increase access to mental health services, and better compensate people who work in those very stressful fields to improve recruitment and retention.
Describe a unique attribute or area of focus that you will bring to the Legislature.
I’ll let a constituent speak for me on this one: “She brings a unique technical perspective to the State House and has shown an interest in learning new topics and developing new expertise to support her work in the legislature.”