Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) sputtered his way through a Tuesday end-of-session interview with Matt Gagnon on WGAN, in which he downplayed Maine’s worsening education performance, and claimed that the legislature has largely followed Gov. Janet Mills’ repeatedly broken campaign promise of no new taxes.
“There haven’t been that many revenue increases until recently, as you know the governor had a pretty strong stance for, for quite a while on no new taxes and we, we pretty much fell, fell within those guidelines, that guideline for much of the time I served in the legislature, [sic]” said Speaker Fecteau told WGAN.
Though Mills’ campaigned on no new taxes, taxes – or “revenue raisers” as she and members of the Democrat-dominated state legislature euphemistically call them — have nonetheless risen significantly since she first took office in 2019.
In 2023, State Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) pushed through the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program which Mills’ signed into law just this year went into effect. PFML comes with a massive blanket one percent payroll tax increase for Mainers already burdened by high taxes and rising costs.
Net Energy Billing is another Democrat policy that pays for Mills’ climate agenda in part through electricity costs on consumers regardless of whether or not they use solar.
In the recent supplemental budget signed by Mills last month and approved by the legislature, Mainers can expect a slew of new tax hikes, including a $1.50 per-pack cigarette tax increase, a 5.5 percent tax on streaming services, an increase in cannabis taxes, increases for a variety of licensing fees, and an increase in fees for concealed carry permits.
These are, in the main, regressive taxes landing on the shoulders of those least able to afford new and increased costs in their ever more stretched budgets.
Fecteau attempted to defend the Democrat policies after WGAN host Gagnon pointed out that the state budget was just $7.1 billion when Mills took office, and has now ballooned to $11.6 billion.
“That’s a pretty damned big increase, does that, does that [sic] cause you any concern,” asked Gagnon.
Fecteau claimed that the budget has successfully addressed some of the state’s largest challenges, such as infrastructure, healthcare, child care, and housing.
“The investments that have been made are, are significant, and important, and I think ultimately lead to a stronger state, to a stronger economy, these things are fundamental to having economy, having an economy that works. You can’t get people into the workforce if they figure it’s cheaper to stay home than send their kids to childcare [sic],” said Fecteau.
“These are the sort of things that I think we’ve been able to tackle in the budgets that have occurred over the last several years that have led to an increase in, in the, in the budget [sic],” he stuttered.
As of 2019, Mills’ first year in office, the average annual cost of childcare was $9,224 for an infant. As of March 2025, that cost averaged between $11,960 and $15,444.
Fecteau further defended Maine’s growing budget by highlighting New Hampshire’s even larger recently-passed $16 billion budget. Gagnon pointed out that New Hampshire has no sales or income taxes, and that Maine has a comparable if not higher property tax rate, and that NH has other revenue streams.
“Yeah, but Ryan, they don’t have an income tax or a sales tax, I mean, that revenue comes in for entirely different reasons,” said Gagnon
Maine’s speaker shrugged off Gagnon’s comment.
“I don’t know how they get so much revenue honestly, but, you know, they have a different state,” said Fecteau.
Fecteau then laughed off Gagnon’s offer to explain how Maine’s more business-friendly neighbor funds state operations, and appeared utterly disinterested in learning how New Hampshire earns revenue with fewer taxes than Maine.
After Gagnon rebutted Fecteau’s various caveats, such as his claims that Maine has a significantly older population than New Hampshire, he pivoted to criticizing New Hampshire’s education system.
“Are you concerned about education funding or education results, because ours are going down and down very precipitously as we’ve funded more,” said Gagnon.
Fecteau claimed that the legislature is simply following Mainers expectations with their seemingly ineffective education spending, and downplayed the importance of test scores in measuring education outcomes and performances.
“I think we’re making the investments that Maine people expect us to, to make, and the things that matter to most people. Education is, is extremely important. Our, our, our, the folks that are working in our schools are doing really important work every single day [sic],” said Fecteau.
“Test scores are one way to look at results,” he added.
He suggested that Maine should be looking at graduation rates rather than test scores. The Speaker’s suggestion would measure only how many students schools allow to graduate, and would do nothing to measure students’ actual academic performance.
“I think if you look at, you know, actual results and people’s lives, I think Maine students are doing pretty well for themselves,” said Fecteau.
“Test scores are, they’re, they’re, they’re, a they, they give you a snapshot in time and not everyone tests well. That’s just reality [sic],” he added, “I was a terrible test taker, I probably dragged the state average down many, many points, but that didn’t define my educational experience or whether or not I was being well-educated.”
The interview concluded after the education discussion, with Gagnon exhorting Fecteau to consider the contrast between the spending increases and lackluster results in the next legislative session.
“The money, to me, is not paying off. I’m not seeing better roads; I’m not seeing better schools; but I am seeing bigger budgets,” said Gagnon.
Full Disclosure: Matt Gagnon is the chief executive officer of the Maine Policy Institute, of which The Maine Wire is a project.
