News

Augusta Update
By Rep. Mark Bryant
District 110, Part of Gray and Part of Windam
July 8, 2005

Recently, a British publication ranked Maine as the U.S. state with the
best quality of life. This rating comes as no surprise to native
Mainers—or to our transplanted neighbors “from away.” Their criteria
included activities, cost of living, cultural amenities, and basic
necessities of life, such as infrastructure and health care. Having three
grown children, two in college and one in the workforce, I’ve thought a
lot about Maine’s quality of life, and what keeps people here.

I know why I love Maine. Besides being accessible to the pristine lakes
in our area, and a short jaunt to the coast, I love the sense of family
values constantly present in how we live day-to-day. It affects how we do
business, how we take care of one another, and how we enjoy the place we
call home. I see Maine’s top ranking as a report card on the health of
our state—its people, its economy, and its environment.

A healthy population creates a healthy workforce. Our state has proven
itself to be decidedly innovative on the health care front. This past
legislative session, for example, we observed the early success of the
Dirigo health program and preserved its funding, maintaining insurance
coverage for more than 7,400 people, including 100 small businesses in our
area. To find better prices on prescription drugs, we have designed
programs to allow Mainers to purchase prescription drugs from other states
and well-regulated countries, as well as established a council to find
cost-savings through pooled purchases. Finally, we are one of the first
states to mandate that drug companies provide the public with complete
information about the results—good and bad—of their clinical trials for
new prescription drugs.

As we work towards health insurance coverage for all Mainers, it’s hoped
that we’ll reach the goal of having a healthy workforce. The next step,
of course, is ensuring they have good jobs to work at. We are no longer
relying on big business to employ Maine residents. A big company, or
even, in the case of the BRAC list, a government facility, can close its
doors at any moment and out-source Maine jobs. It makes better sense to
invest our resources into small businesses, which already employ over
two-thirds of our workforce.

To better aid small businesses, we created the Office of Small Business
and Entrepreneurship within the Department of Economic and Community
Development. We preserved family farms by stabilizing the price of milk,
and we adjusted qualifications for resale certificates so that small,
niche-based resellers could purchase inventory tax-free. And to encourage
new small businesses, we have begun a college loan repayment plan to
recruit and retain college graduates who begin their own technology
businesses.

But jobs without a healthy environment would not make Maine the place it
is. Initiatives in the first legislative session provided new protections
for wetlands, encouraged energy efficiency, and provided additional
funding to educate homeowners and tenants about the dangers of lead paint
in Maine homes.

A report card is just a piece of paper. It doesn’t tell the whole story.
Maine has its share of challenges, but we also have great successes. I
think our real secret to having the best quality of life is that we work
through our problems as neighbors and family members, because we care
about one another. This was evident as we revisited the budget in light
of the potential loss of 12,000 jobs, and our increase of the cigarette
tax to encourage more people to quit smoking. Our best reward isn’t a
rank from a far away land, it’s what we do together as Mainers.

Next month I’m headed to a meeting of the National Conference of State
Legislatures to share policy ideas. As always, I’ll be proud to tell them
where I’m from. In the meantime, if I can be of assistance on any state
matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at home at
892-6591, or by e-mail at RepMarkBryant@yahoo.com.