I recently officiated my younger brother’s wedding. It was a Southern Maine outdoor venue, and everything went perfectly. The ceremony solemnized…
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This year, Veterans Day marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which ended on the “eleventh…
This piece was first published in the Portland Press Herald. I am an associate professor at the University of Maine…
After a yearlong campaign of misinformation waged by the supporters of Question 1, Maine voters on Tuesday rejected Maine’s most…
After the sounds of boisterous campaign rallies fade and the realities of the job sink in, Maine’s next governor will…
More and more we are seeing direct democracy take hold in our elected representative republic. We do not see this…
Question 1 plays on voters’ emotions to pass policies that will hurt the very people it’s supposed to help. There…
The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) recently released an analysis of interstate migration, attacking the idea that Maine’s exceptionally…
The Maine Heritage Policy Center on Tuesday, Oct. 23 released a new study on the impacts of Question 1, the…
Last month, the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) published a study on the minimum wage in Maine, arguing that its…
Question 1 promises a false sense of security that is destined to fail Maine’s elderly, disabled and those who care…
Over $400,000 of Soros money helped put the Universal Home Care initiative on Maine’s ballot in November. Question 1 proposes three new…
The standard objection to increasing the minimum wage is that it will result in more unemployment for low-skilled workers. But…
There are so many bad policies rolled into Question 1 on November’s ballot that it’s hard to know where to…
It’s the political season and a lot of misinformation is flying around. I want to make sure you have the…
The editorial board of the New York Times, an authoritative source for Left-Lurcher thinking, explained what’s at stake on July…
Legislative leaders caved to the Maine Municipal Association and watered down my bill. While the new law adds protections for…
Question 1 on the ballot this November will read as follows: “Do you want to create the Universal Home Care Program to…
The Maine People’s Alliance (MPA) is pushing a ballot initiative – Question 1 – that seeks to establish a 3.8…
A decade ago, the International Marine Terminal in Portland was nothing more than a derelict ferry dock in an overgrown,…
E.J. Dionne recently penned “The Grassroots Revolt Against Kavanaugh,” datelined Portland, Maine, September 13. This got my attention at once.…
In this tight labor market, we must use every tool at our disposal to encourage laid-off workers to search for…
Matt Gagnon did a superb job of “fisking” Edgar Allen Beem’s recent Forecaster column attacking MHPC’s report on Maine’s referendum…
Dear Honorable Members of the 128th Legislature: Under the authority vested in me by Article IV, Part Third, Section 2…
This commentary was originally published in the Bangor Daily News. The state economist recently issued a report on the likely impact that…
Proponents of the Universal Home Care tax plan were either caught by surprise or caught red-handed when the Maine State…
On Sept. 17, 1787 the Constitutional Convention completed its final draft. In September 2018, Americans have had multiple opportunities to…
My administration passed a bill to lower health care costs in 2011, but Obamacare halted it in its tracks. The…
Many would agree that consistent access to the internet is an important part of life in 2018. It is crucial…
The Maine Immunization Program (MIP) is publicly funded and provides necessary vaccines to all Maine children under the age of…
The Maine Department of Labor recently released its projections for job growth for the next several years. The media has…
“Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign garnered considerable appeal from millennials. These young people see socialism as superior to free…
1,700 fewer Maine residents. 1,800 fewer workers in our labor force. 3,800 fewer jobs. A $500 million reduction in personal…
Recently, the Housing Committee of Portland’s City Council met to discuss the possibility of tightening the regulations surrounding rental agreements…
Oh, Alexandria. Ever since she won a stunning upset victory over her democrat primary rival, incumbent New York Representative Joe…
People don’t value the things they get for free. Giving legal residents who are not yet citizens the right to…
In case you haven’t heard, Question 1 on the November ballot will ask Maine voters if they want to implement Universal…
When Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was accepting public comment on the ballot language for the upcoming “Universal Home…
On Friday, Sept. 14, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai will make an appearance in Maine as the keynote…
Ballot Question 1 is another benign-sounding, feel-good referendum. In reality, it’s one more in a long line of over-simplified referendums…
Today the Maine Heritage Policy Center released its newest report, “The Will of the People?: How Maine’s ballot initiative process…
I have a hunch. This late summer or fall, after Labor Day but before Election Day, progressives in Maine will…
Here we are in August. It’s the dog days of summer, and the Legislature is supposed to come back to…
The latest in a long list of misrepresentations from the Maine People’s Alliance regarding the upcoming Universal Home Care initiative…
Last week I spoke to you about the reforms we are proposing for the child welfare system, including better staff…
Twenty-three million Americans–about 39 percent of the population–do not have access to broadband internet. As one can imagine, the brunt…
On Thursday, July 26, two public-sector unions in Maine and Minnesota granted a member’s demand to immediately cancel union membership…
The tragic deaths of two little girls under the watch of DHHS is spurring needed reforms to Maine’s child welfare…
This year’s voting will be more exciting than usual in Maine. The Democrats are eager to regain control of the…
It’s summer in Maine. We should be enjoying it. Instead, at the State House, “it’s deja vu all over again.”…
Ever since the Trump administration signaled its openness to work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients earlier this year, the onslaught…
Policymakers are always asking: ‘What can we do to attract young, talented people to our state?’ In Maine – which…
Socialism appeals to many millennials under 30 because of Socialism’s two built-in fallacies: ignorance of human nature and ignorance of…
Occupational licensing is supposed to protect the public from unqualified professionals whose goods and services may harm consumers, yet rarely…
Earlier this week, Maine House Republicans sustained Governor LePage’s veto of a bill to implement Medicaid expansion, preventing more than $31…
Since the upcoming Universal Home Care (UHC) initiative sponsored by the Maine People’s Alliance (MPA) achieved ballot status, the MPA,…
Over the last seven and a half years, the Legislature and I have had many disagreements over process, policy and…
Despite economists on both sides of the aisle agreeing that occupational licensing laws hurt workers and consumers by stifling economic…
Medicaid expansion is the law, and I am committed to implement it. But I am forced to veto LD 837.…
The biggest flaw in most social assistance programs — including TANF, SNAP, Medicaid, and WIC — is that they undermine…
After accepting public comment for 30 days on the wording of the upcoming Universal Home Care ballot initiative, Secretary of…
Medicaid-expansion advocates plan to bring busloads of able-bodied adults to DHHS offices on July 2 to enroll in MaineCare. But the Legislature…
Government meddling in competitive industry invariably hurts all citizens, and higher education is no exception. America has the highest tuition…
Economists have long criticized politicians’ penchant for creating narrow legal carveouts and targeted tax exemptions to lure large corporations. Both…
A year ago, House Republicans shut down state government to make sure bad policies did not pass. Now they are…
The founders recognized that it is in man’s nature to become seduced by the siren songs of power and privilege.…
In 2010, The Maine Heritage Policy Center shared an article titled, “School Choice working for Alna, therefore must be stopped.”…
Kimberly Fichthorn exemplifies what Maine is looking for. A 47-year-old transplant from Texas, Fichthorn has three young children and operates…
Each June, Maine voters go to the polls to elect local officials and vote on school budgets. The addition of…
Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) chief executive officer Matthew Gagnon has sent a letter to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap…
The days are winding down until the June 12th primary elections take place, and negativity has intensified among the candidates.…
The Maine Heritage Policy Center is sitting down for detailed policy discussions with the gubernatorial candidates running to replace Governor…
When it comes to the student loan debt crisis, government-oriented reforms are not the solution; they are the problem. One…
As World War Two neared its end in June of 1945, General George Patton stated, “It is foolish and wrong…
In addition to the ill feelings I shared yesterday regarding the reprehensible partisan behavior exhibited by House leadership this session,…
Have you ever wondered what government officials do all day? I am going to do my best to answer that…
I have been talking about the need to reduce energy prices for nearly eight years. Maine is a manufacturing state,…
Advocates of ranked-choice voting (RCV) commonly claim that their preferred method of deciding elections boosts civic engagement, channels the true…
Despite its relatively minimal impact on Maine workers, the labor issue presently garnering the most attention in Maine politics is…
On Thursday, May 10 in Westbrook, a very unusual thing happened. Thirty students of diverse backgrounds and political perspectives from…
Something beautiful happened this week – something that should scare every elected official who thinks their opinions supersede those of…
Last month, the Maine Center for Economic Policy posted an article on its website chastising Governor LePage and other Republican…
The Maine people elect legislators to represent them in Augusta. They expect these elected officials to enact good public policy…
After years of its status as a beacon of opportunity for young people, the city of Seattle is experiencing troublesome…
This article first appeared in the Portland Press Herald. “Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his…
Maine’s progressives have been selling the benefits of the minimum wage increase using faulty analysis. Don’t buy the hype. Our…
On Tuesday, April 24, the Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services Committee convened to take public comment on a…
Earlier this year, the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a left-wing think tank, published an article written by its budget…
“A plan to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” H.L. Mencken All…
Americans paid their 2017 federal and state income taxes this week. Filing taxes isn’t a pleasant or easy task, but…
The clock struck midnight, but what did that mean? The second regular session of the Maine Legislature is supposed to…
It’s easy to oppose the recent Republican tax cuts when the mainstream media tells you to do so. Millions of dollars were…
As the legislative session enters its last weeks, Democrats are sitting on their hands, hoping voters won’t notice they have…
Ever since Cain slew Abel with a rock, human society has struggled with an age-old question: how do we prevent…
Maine still has a chance to fix its broken ballot initiative process this legislative session. In a surprise move, Maine’s…
This article was originally published in The Ellsworth American. The Maine Legislature is expected to adjourn in a few short…
On Monday, April 9, at 1:30 p.m., Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs will hold public hearing…
As we wrap up this legislative session, I am making our elderly a top priority. Unfortunately, they are not a…
This article was originally published in the Bangor Daily News Many tax filers use online programs such as TurboTax to…
If you were pushing one of the largest tax hikes in history on Maine citizens, would you want them to know about…