SACO — On Friday night, York County became the second county in the state to host Gov. Paul LePage and his “Capitol for a Day” event, a monthly town hall-style meeting that will take place in each of Maine’s 16 counties.
Attendees at the event, held at Thornton Academy in Saco, consisted largely of LePage supporters, setting the stage for a relatively uncontentious dialogue between LePage, commissioners from several state agencies, and the public.
Despite the relatively benevolent tone of the meeting, however, some of those asking questions ”“ who were selected prior to the meeting to facilitate an orderly format ”“ used the opportunity to express their frustrations.
One woman, a York County schoolteacher, decried the administration’s proposal to cut pension funds for teachers and state employees as part of his fiscal budget.
“This whole pension fund debacle ”¦ we have no control over that pension fund,” she said. “I feel that we are being demonized in the press as if this were our problem.”
LePage replied that he is committed to retaining teachers’ pension funds, but added that teachers “have been sold a bill of goods. And unfortunately, nobody has been willing to deal with this for a long time.
“I feel bad for state employees,” said LePage. “You’ve been sold the Brooklyn Bridge, and it has not been delivered. When the Baby Boomers retire, the system will go broke unless we do something.”
Area resident Brett Davis, who home-schools his children, asked the panel about the administration’s stance regarding the subject of school choice, in which parents can decide on which middle schools or high schools their children will attend.
Steve Bowen, commissioner of Education, asserted that the LePage administration is moving in the direction of school choice.
“I was fortunate enough to grow up in Hancock County, and I was fortunate enough to have school choice,” said Bowen. “I’m a school choice supporter, the Governor is as well, and we will be moving in that direction.”
On the subject of health care, LePage declared that he will seek to put an end to the Dirigo Health plan, which was originally designed to address cost, quality and access in Maine’s health care system.
“The Dirigo Plan is going to disappear,” said LePage. “We are asking for the federal government to give us flexibility in dealing with specific issues” to comply with Medicare and Medicaid.
The Governor also said he supports the purchasing of health insurance on the individual market from a larger pool to bring down insurance costs.
“We need to be able to buy across the state line,” said LePage. “We (also) need to be able to buy a la carte,” referring to a potential system by which those buying insurance can purchase plans that cover specific health concerns.
“I don’t see why a nun in Maine should be required to purchase maternity insurance,” he said.
While health care and education were frequently discussed topics on Friday night, the baseline of LePage’s message was to expedite the process by which businesses are brought into the state, as well as his desire to keep taxes on businesses low.
“There is no society in the history of mankind that has borrowed itself to prosperity, or taxed itself to prosperity,” said LePage.
— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 319, or at jlagasse@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
