RAYE MAINTAINS PERFECT ATTENDANCE RECORD
Washington County Senator participates in 100% of roll call votes
For Immediate Release
Friday, July 13, 2007
AUGUSTA – A three-and-a-half
hour trip to Augusta
hasn’t kept State Senator Kevin Raye (R-Perry) from casting his vote on every
proposal brought before the Maine Senate this session. Between January and June of this year, 214
roll call votes were held in the Senate and Raye, who is now in his second
term, was present and voting for each and every one of them.
Raye’s achievement marks the third consecutive legislative
session in which he distinguished himself for his attendance record. Not only did the Washington County Senator
maintain a 100% voting record during the First Session of the 123rd
Legislature but, during the First and Second Sessions of the 122nd
Legislature as well. In fact, since his
first election in 2004, Raye has not missed a single roll-call vote.
Senate Republican Leader
Carol Weston, of Montville,
praised Raye’s commitment to his legislative
responsibilities. “I can’t imagine a better or more committed leader for the
people of Downeast Maine
than Kevin Raye,” Weston said. “Kevin’s attention to detail while
understanding the big picture is a great balance, and he applies that analysis
to each vote he casts. Having his passion and knowledge available for
every single vote has been invaluable to his district and to our caucus.”
“The people of my district have
entrusted me to work hard on their behalf in Augusta, and I take that responsibility very
seriously,” Raye explained. “I want to do all I can to be a strong and
consistent voice for them in the Senate, and I’m proud that I have been able to
maintain a 100% attendance record for roll call votes during my first three
years in office.”
Raye is the Senate Republican lead on both the Health and
Human Services Committee and the Government Oversight Committee. A number of bills he sponsored were enacted
and signed into law this year, among them laws that:
- reshape the
State Board of Education, currently dominated by large communities from
southern Maine, by requiring that its members be drawn equally from the
First and Second Congressional Districts, representing geographic
diversity and municipalities of varying sizes;
- authorize
counties to engage in economic development efforts, in order to allow
rural areas to more effectively compete with large communities that have
their own economic development offices;
- provide crucial new
funding for youth conservation education at Greenland Point Conservation
Camp in Princeton, by increasing the
number of moose permits auctioned; and
- require the
State to map publicly-owned lands and land held for conservation purposes,
including a representation of the
amount of land affected by conservation easements.
A member of the Legislature’s Rural Caucus, Senator Raye was a
leading opponent of the Governor’s school district consolidation proposal and sought
to soften its impact on rural areas. He
also championed passage of a new law that reduced the buffer zone on properties
located adjacent to certain shorebird, waterfowl and wading bird habitat from
250 feet down to 100 feet. He fought
successfully to win Senate passage of the Washington County Racino legislation
that was ultimately vetoed by Governor Baldacci, was a leader in pushing for
legislative approval of the water and wastewater bond issue that was approved
by voters in June, and pushed for the pending construction of a public restroom
on Route 9.
Raye represents Senate
District 29, which includes all of Washington
County and parts of eastern Hancock
and Penobscot Counties.
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