Ed’s note: Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives John Richardson, D-Brunswick, recently sat down with Lakes Region Suburban Weekly staff in an effort, as he puts it, “to reach out to community newspaper readers.” The following is his answers to questions about local and state issues such as the economy, education, taxes and the political hubbub occurring in Augusta.
John Richardson lives in Brunswick with his wife Stephanie, sons John and Glenn, and daughter Madeline. This is Richardson’s seventh year as a member of state legislature and second as speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Public service has essentially been hard-wired into who I am and, giving back what I’ve been blessed with, is something that I thought was a natural thing to do,” he said. “For me, it was about my desire to serve and trying to make Maine a better place for my kids and every other kid that resides here.”
Richard joined the Democratic Party because he felt it was the party that “put people first.” As a self-proclaimed “moderate Democrat” and speaker of the house, Richardson said he is open to all ideas and tries to bridge the gap between conservative and progressive ideologies.
“No side is right or wrong,” he said. “They just have different perspectives and you try to bring them together to forge a relationship where everyone feels like they are invested in the outcome.”
Richardson recognizes a “shift” that has created a political divide between the parties as of late. Republicans and Democrats have differed on such issues as healthcare and the economy in recent congressional sessions.
The recent switching of political parties by certain legislators has forced Richardson to reorganize the party and restructure committees, he said. But now, he says, the drama is over and state congress is “moving forward to do the people’s business this session.”
Budget, taxes
Richardson said the Legislature has succeeded in reducing the state’s “structural gap” from $1.2 billion to $300 million since Gov. John Baldacci took office. This was achieved by flat budgeting and cutting the budget in every place except education and Medicaid, he said. But the Legislature met fierce opposition this summer, and threat of a People’s Veto, when it attempted to borrow $450 million to balance the budget.
“We’ve imposed our own spending cap and we’ve lived within our spending cap. We’ve had the lowest increases to state budgets in 30 years. And we put the fiscal house in order since the governor took office,” he said. “We’ve done a lot, but a lot more needs to be done. Have we done a perfect job? Absolutely not. Did we attempt to borrow money in the budget? Yes. It was a mistake and we wouldn’t do it again.”
Richardson believes the new LD1 legislation, which is property tax reform that puts a limit on how much money towns can raise from their taxpayers each year, is successful. However, he sees the current assessment of property tax as unfair.
This legislative session, Richardson hopes to see renewed interest in LD2 legislation, a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the way property tax is assessed. Instead of basing property revaluations on highest market value, property would be assessed on “current use,” capped at a certain value for primary Maine residents and increased by a low percentage per year.
“I just think that if Grandma Jones owns a house down in Raymond on a lake, she ought to be paying current use,” he said. “She shouldn’t be driven out of her home. I think that’s wrong and that’s not the Maine way. And if somebody wants to pay her a million dollars for her home and they can afford a million, then they can pay property tax on” the million dollar assessment.
Education
As part of the LD1 legislation that went into effect last fiscal year, the state committed to raising its contribution to public education from 43 percent to 55 percent during the next few years.
“At the same time we are being cut millions and millions of dollars from the federal side, we are meeting our obligation by $250 million more dollars in school funding, an unprecedented increase,” Richardson said.
That $250 million will raise the state’s contribution to 53.8 percent this year and hopefully help reduce the local tax burden. A reduction in the number of Maine school districts, from 286 to a possible 35 as recommended by the state board of education, will likewise allow more money to be invested in the classroom while reducing the tax burden.
“We can get the best and brightest of teachers if we start paying them what I think they ought to be paid,” he said. “We can shift those dollars around and really meet the needs of Maine kids and administratively reduce our costs so our property taxes aren’t as high.”
Richardson also agrees with Commissoner of Education Susan Gendron’s findings on how Maine students compares to the students in China.
“We’re behind China. We have to make extraordinary measures to catch up if we want to make sure that our children are not left out of the 21st century,” he said. “If we want our children to move at a very fast pace and compete in the global marketplace, we are going to need to arm them with all the tools necessary.”
Richardson also draws a direct correlation between an individual’s income and their post-secondary education.
“I think the way we grow our way into prosperity is the creation of community colleges and increasing access to our universities,” he said. “We need to educate our people, we need to merge the education with the needs of the business community, and we need to invest all we can possibly afford and we need to do more for research and development.”
Community colleges and universities have seen record enrollment as of late, Richardson said. He will also be pushing to get federal research grants for state universities.
Small business,
economic development
In the legislative session now underway, Richardson hopes to further address the needs of small business. Small businesses total 90 percent of all businesses in Maine and account for 50 percent of the workforce, he said.
As an advocate for small business, Richardson has held local forums and listened to business owners concerns. He and other legislators have created a series of bills to support small businesses in Maine, such as the creation of a small business hotline, a regulatory fairness board and business courts for “quick resolution” to business disputes.
Richardson says Windham is a “service center” for the Lakes Region and that economic prosperity in metropolitian areas will have a “triangular effect” on the region.
“There’s no reason why as people travel to Windham and the Lakes Region that they won’t capitalize on the opportunities and the character of the region,” he said. “It seems to me that Windham is poised for economic development and that economic opportunity is just around the corner because Portland has become one of the top places in the nation to do business.”
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