Democrat’s Agenda “Not Very Encouraging”
Majority Party Demonstrates Little Acknowledgement of Maine’s Challenges and No Plan for Needed Changes  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 1, 2007

AUGUSTA – Today, the President of the Senate, the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and the House Majority Leader held a press conference to unveil their party’s outline for the 123^rd Legislature.  The leaders mentioned quality of life, education and opportunity, innovation and growth and good government as goals for the session, but specific details were not included in any remarks.

General themes mentioned by the leaders included growing Maine’s economy, increasing access to healthcare, enabling Maine citizens to improve themselves, and working for efficiencies in government.

Senate Republican Leader Carol Weston, of Montville, agreed that these themes are important, but wondered how committed the Democrats would be to making real and positive improvements for the people of Maine.  “I think it’s great that the Democrats have worked together to hold this press conference, but I’m a little disappointed with the absence of any real plan to get these things done,” she said.  “There was little mention of the challenges Mainers currently face, like our high tax burden, poor business climate and the weakening of our communities at the local level, and none of the Democrats detailed any new ways to address these challenges.”

Although the Democratic leaders went to great lengths to paint a rosy picture of the State, the reality of Maine’s economic condition paints a much different one.  For example, according to Maine’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review, in December, 2006 alone actual revenue collected from Corporate Income Taxes was $16.9 million less then expected, reflecting just some of the difficulties Maine businesses face in our poor economic climate. 

“When you present a vision, there are certain realities that must be acknowledged, and a plan to address them,” Sen. Weston said.  “The fact that the Democrats have ignored the realities that have resulted from decades of their poor policies is not surprising, but not very encouraging either.  The majority party talks about all the changes we can make to improve our standing, but these are the same words we have been hearing for years now.  It’s the Democrats who have been the party in power at the State House for over forty years, and we should all be asking ourselves how committed this party really is to undoing the damage their policies have done to our economy and the people of Maine.”

CONTACT:

William Thompson                    287-1505 (o)
Communications Director, Senate Republican Office

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