What is one new policy that the state should embrace to make housing easier to build and afford?
There isn’t a silver bullet solution to housing – it’s about finding the right mix of state/local incentive from zoning to tax incentives/disincentives, and directing appropriate government-owned land for housing development.
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?
Combine programs like solar with land that has PFAS issues so that we are not taking usable farmland out of productivity. We also have a lot of surfaces that are a better use for solutions like solar panels than some of the current placements. I also think we’ve fallen behind on exploring wave/tidal power.
Should the state make changes to its tax laws? If so, outline your priorities.
I’d have to go through those laws line-by-line to answer this question with specificity. However, it’s difficult to run a business, to raise children, to get an education, and merely survive in Maine. We should have tax incentives/disincentives that reflect making it easier to live in Maine and that focus our tax dollars on programs with a good return-for-investment.
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?
It benefits us all to have mental health care available for everyone who needs it. However, it is extraordinarily difficult to find a mental health professional taking clients in Maine (and for the average person to pay for it if you are able to locate one). Increasing the pool of mental health professionals is challenging in the current environment – getting an education is prohibitively expensive, basic living expenses take up too much of a salary to pay student loans, insurance companies slow-pay or don’t pay at all…we need to rethink the entire ecosystem of care.
Additionally, we need a functional red flag law that balances the constitutional right to protect yourself with the right we all have to live free from violence and fear of violence.
Describe a unique attribute or area of focus that you will bring to the Legislature.
We need someone doing basic maintenance on our laws and to be looking for places where we could easily create more efficient, accessible ways to interact with our government.
Examples:
Nearly all courts and many administrative agencies have ways for folks to interact remotely (phone/zoom), but still require many interactions to needlessly be in person when cars are cost-prohibitive for many (and travel to court is burdensome even with a vehicle); we should make it be easier to interact.
Our courts are moving to efiling, but they haven’t had a scheduling module included that notifies clerks when attorneys/parties are already scheduled, creating a tremendous amount of administrative waste in rescheduling events.
We need better ways to help seasonal employees/employers survive year-round.