Last week I was honored to present L.D. 683, a bill which will at long last begin really addressing the issue of long term care in Maine. We know Medicaid is a huge driver of our state budget. It is one of the biggest, if not the biggest driver -- and its influence has been growing and will continue to grow as long as this state/federal partnership remains in place. Nationally, one quarter of Medicaid expenditures are for long term care and it may be more in Maine given our demographics and aging population.
Unless we transform the long term care system in Maine -- by setting better priorities in our spending, insuring that dollars are spent on vital quality direct services that people really need rather than excessive and complicated administrative overhead, we will continue to fall further and further behind. In the last legislative session, I proposed very similar legislation. It met with a lukewarm reception from the Department of Health and Human Services management as well as the providers and their advocates who were basically satisfied with their contracts and their role in the system. They did not want to see systems change because they were comfortable. I’ve learned my lesson. This session, I will be looking for a vigorous debate, but will be asking for an up or down vote.
I have literally spent years engaged in this issue and traveling around the country looking at best practices from other states. Some of the best of those ideas are contained in this proposal. These ideas have been successfully implemented in a variety of states -- Minnesota, California, Oregon, Massachusetts -- and I have tried to find the approaches that improved overall quality and also promoted the cost-effective use of taxpayer resources.
Here is the core intent of the bill:
*Break down the silos in service delivery of long term care. We should provide the services Maine people need, when they need it, in the most cost-effective manner and not worry about running programs based on demographics or diagnosis. We should be approaching services from a functional perspective -- making sure people get the services they need to be as independent as possible delivered as cost-efficiently as possible.
*Services should be delivered on a priority basis -- the people with the greatest needs (both medically and financially) should be given the highest priority, so that the limited resources we have to allocate to long term care serve those with the greatest needs. This means better integrating skilled services and support for activities of daily living to enable people to remain at home for as long as possible if that is what they desire.
*We should organize ourselves to best accomplish this goal -- so consolidation of effort is in order. The Department should be organized to manage without creating silos; the provider network should be consolidated to reduce duplication of services or redundant administrative expenses.
*We should reallocate existing dollars away from non-essential administrative overhead and into direct services. That’s not to say that the services are not worthwhile -- they may be. The issue is really this -- Can we afford to spend money on administrative activities when we are facing the budget situation at hand? As good as the extra support services may be -- we need to find the way to direct as much resource as possible into the hands on services that maintain our citizens. Given that, LD 683 would completely redesign our intake system -- expect more work on the front end from AAAs, ADRCs and other intake conduits with the resources allocated from federal sources; eliminate the cumbersome multiple steps in receiving services -- intake, independent medical assessment by Goold, separate service brokerage services by EIM, finally delivery of services from a proliferation of small providers. The process should be much simpler. We need to find out what people need to be independent and then help them make an informed choice about their options -- encouraging use of the most appropriate cost-effective approaches.
*By consolidating program offerings, consolidating the provider network and eliminating expenditures that are not for direct, hands on services we should strengthen the delivery system being able to serve more people, provide higher quality services, pay higher wages to direct care workers, provide more realistic reimbursement to providers, and better utilize tax-payer dollars on the things that really matter.
I want this bill to set a broad direction for the new leadership at the Department to turn its attention proactively to this important part of the health care and support system. Investing state dollars, especially as they leverage federal Medicaid resources can help build an architecture of support for seniors and people with disabilities in all Maine communities. As we build the system and approaches, we should be thinking about all citizens, not just those eligible for direct state supported services. Our MaineCare spending should be a catalyst for systems that work for Maine seniors, people with disabilities and their families.
Unfortunately, this approach makes people uncomfortable because it embraces such significant change. Some of the organizations that have multi-million contracts for services with the state -- many of which have been in place for a decade or more -- may be put at risk in this system realignment. These are the difficult choices that I believe voters asked me to make when you sent me to Augusta to represent you. I look forward to working to fulfill that challenge.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The curtain goes up on an extreme new world
PORTLAND - The cheers from the crowd drowned out the sound of his name. Trevor Kell didn't care. He was a winner in his very first amateur fight, on the first night Mixed Martial Arts fighting came to Maine.
Some 18 months after Maine's legislature gave promoters the green light to bring the sport to the state, Linda Shield's Cage Fighting Xtreme staged the Maine Event at the Stevens Avenue Armory on Saturday night. Shield and her co-promoter, Marcus Davis, believed their sport would find an audience. They got one.
Fans were waiting at the armory's main door more than an hour before it opened. By the time Pat Walsh of Stoughton, Mass., and Boston's Wai Kru club won the first of 11 amateur and professional bouts, it was standing room only on the arena floor.
"I never had a crowd cheer that loud for me," said Kell, a wrestler at Kennebunk High seven years ago. "Never. I had dreams about it."
He wasn't the only one. The sport, with its elements of boxing, wrestling and forms of martial arts with a bit of street brawling thrown in, has worked to change an early image and earn acceptance. Its critics call it barbaric. Its fans call it an extreme form of competition that challenges all the definitions of toughness.
"Being the first means everything to me," said Davis, a 38-year-old Bangor native who tried a career in boxing before switching to a successful professional career in cage fighting. He worked with state legislators to draft rules for a commission that would regulate the sport in Maine. He pushed. He may have twisted a few arms, figuratively speaking, of course. And he won.
"These are the people who will be remembered for being part of the beginning," he said, nodding at Shield's staff, the fighters from his Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer. "Two of my goals in life were to fight in Ireland -- and I did that twice -- and to be part of this."
Five of his fighters were on the card. Kell, now a house painter living in South Portland, was one. Steve Desjardins of Brewer was another. Two hours before the first bout, Desjardins walked around the empty arena dominated by the eight-sided cage in the center. A Brewer High graduate, one-time wrestler and just 20 years old, he was making his debut as well. Davis has taken some members of his team out of state to compete, but Desjardins was not one. Was he nervous? No, he said. He had spent three years preparing for this.
Don't try to paint cage fighters with the same brush. They can be college graduates, like Mike Brown, the professional lightweight champ and Bonny Eagle High and Norwich University graduate. They can be working men. They share the desire to challenge themselves by walking alone into the cage to test their survival instincts.
"You can teach fighting," said Gary Foreman, who has spent 30 years in this world. "You can't teach toughness. You find out how tough you are very quickly. The good ones find out they can be better and commit themselves to this."
Foreman is Shield's husband and her partner in this business, based in Massachusetts. They spend a lot of time on the road, taking this level of cage fighting from city to city. At Friday's weigh-in, they worked quickly and efficiently. Unlike some weigh-ins in professional boxing, there was little in-your-face testosterone.
Muscles were flexed and chests expanded for the cameras, not each other. When photographers gave a thumbs up, opponents faced each other and embraced. Such a violent sport, such a show of respect when the cameras turn away.
"It takes two to fight," said Desjardins. "We respect that. It's all good blood outside the cage."
Inside, it's very bad blood. Call it mayhem, call it barbaric.
For Kell, Desjardins and all the others, it was a simple test. That hundreds of fans Saturday night watched to see if they passed or failed did matter.
"I've never felt like this before," said Kell, as he waited for his beating heart to slow down. He had won, paid his respects to his opponents and walked out of the cage and into the embrace of friends and family. He'll do it again.
Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:
ssolloway@pressherald.com
http://www.pressherald.com/sports/solloway/the-curtain-goes-up-on-an-extreme-new-world_2011-05-01.html
Some 18 months after Maine's legislature gave promoters the green light to bring the sport to the state, Linda Shield's Cage Fighting Xtreme staged the Maine Event at the Stevens Avenue Armory on Saturday night. Shield and her co-promoter, Marcus Davis, believed their sport would find an audience. They got one.
Fans were waiting at the armory's main door more than an hour before it opened. By the time Pat Walsh of Stoughton, Mass., and Boston's Wai Kru club won the first of 11 amateur and professional bouts, it was standing room only on the arena floor.
"I never had a crowd cheer that loud for me," said Kell, a wrestler at Kennebunk High seven years ago. "Never. I had dreams about it."
He wasn't the only one. The sport, with its elements of boxing, wrestling and forms of martial arts with a bit of street brawling thrown in, has worked to change an early image and earn acceptance. Its critics call it barbaric. Its fans call it an extreme form of competition that challenges all the definitions of toughness.
"Being the first means everything to me," said Davis, a 38-year-old Bangor native who tried a career in boxing before switching to a successful professional career in cage fighting. He worked with state legislators to draft rules for a commission that would regulate the sport in Maine. He pushed. He may have twisted a few arms, figuratively speaking, of course. And he won.
"These are the people who will be remembered for being part of the beginning," he said, nodding at Shield's staff, the fighters from his Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer. "Two of my goals in life were to fight in Ireland -- and I did that twice -- and to be part of this."
Five of his fighters were on the card. Kell, now a house painter living in South Portland, was one. Steve Desjardins of Brewer was another. Two hours before the first bout, Desjardins walked around the empty arena dominated by the eight-sided cage in the center. A Brewer High graduate, one-time wrestler and just 20 years old, he was making his debut as well. Davis has taken some members of his team out of state to compete, but Desjardins was not one. Was he nervous? No, he said. He had spent three years preparing for this.
Don't try to paint cage fighters with the same brush. They can be college graduates, like Mike Brown, the professional lightweight champ and Bonny Eagle High and Norwich University graduate. They can be working men. They share the desire to challenge themselves by walking alone into the cage to test their survival instincts.
"You can teach fighting," said Gary Foreman, who has spent 30 years in this world. "You can't teach toughness. You find out how tough you are very quickly. The good ones find out they can be better and commit themselves to this."
Foreman is Shield's husband and her partner in this business, based in Massachusetts. They spend a lot of time on the road, taking this level of cage fighting from city to city. At Friday's weigh-in, they worked quickly and efficiently. Unlike some weigh-ins in professional boxing, there was little in-your-face testosterone.
Muscles were flexed and chests expanded for the cameras, not each other. When photographers gave a thumbs up, opponents faced each other and embraced. Such a violent sport, such a show of respect when the cameras turn away.
"It takes two to fight," said Desjardins. "We respect that. It's all good blood outside the cage."
Inside, it's very bad blood. Call it mayhem, call it barbaric.
For Kell, Desjardins and all the others, it was a simple test. That hundreds of fans Saturday night watched to see if they passed or failed did matter.
"I've never felt like this before," said Kell, as he waited for his beating heart to slow down. He had won, paid his respects to his opponents and walked out of the cage and into the embrace of friends and family. He'll do it again.
Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:
ssolloway@pressherald.com
http://www.pressherald.com/sports/solloway/the-curtain-goes-up-on-an-extreme-new-world_2011-05-01.html
Friday, April 29, 2011
Testimony Presenting LD 1196
Today I testified in support of a piece of legislation I co-sponsored, L.D. 1196 An Act To Clarify Assistance for Persons with Acquired Brain Injury. Below is my testimony:
Good afternoon, Senator McCormick, Representative Strang-Burgess and distinguished colleagues of the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services, I am Matt Peterson and I represent District 92 which includes the Oxford County towns of Andover, Byron, Roxbury, and Rumford, as well as the Franklin County communities of Weld and plantations of Rangeley and Sandy River plus the unorganized territories of West Central Franklin and Madrid Township. I am here today as a co-sponsor to support L.D. 1196 An Act To Clarify Assistance for Persons with Acquired Brain Injury.
I want to commend my colleague and friend, Representative Goode for submitting this important piece of legislation and thank him for asking me to join him as a co-sponsor of this significant initiative.
As you have already heard, this proposal amends existing statutory language to more fully recognize both the issues and the appropriate responses to acquired brain injury, something which, unfortunately impacts many Maine citizens and their families. I know you will hear more in a few minutes from the advocates and those with greater expertise on this significant health issue, but let me just point out that it is very appropriate for us to make these changes as a means to recognize not only the severity of acquired brain injury and its impacts on our citizens and Maine families, but also suggest that the state has an ongoing role to play in identifying and providing resources to mitigate the impacts of this condition on our people.
One of the tragic consequences of our recent involvement in the asymmetrical conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq has been a sharp increase in the number of returning service personnel who are coming home with an acquired brain injury as a result of their service to our country. The growth in frequency of acquired brain injury among our service members has led to a greater recognition of the impact of this condition on many other citizens who must deal with the consequences of the condition in their everyday lives.
This expanded recognition is another important step in coming to grips with the impacts that acquired brain injury has on the lives of Maine citizens and families. Representative Good’s proposal moves us a step along the path of assisting our citizens in facing and dealing creatively with this condition by acknowledging both new approaches to assisting individuals impacted by acquired brain injury, as well as preserving their rights, especially in instances where those rights may have been suspended as a result of the appointment of a guardian by the courts.
I am sure we all want the best for these citizens, and LD 1196 is another important step toward meeting that goal. I will not take up more of the Committee’s time unless you have questions for me. I look forward to working with you during our work session on this LD.
Good afternoon, Senator McCormick, Representative Strang-Burgess and distinguished colleagues of the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services, I am Matt Peterson and I represent District 92 which includes the Oxford County towns of Andover, Byron, Roxbury, and Rumford, as well as the Franklin County communities of Weld and plantations of Rangeley and Sandy River plus the unorganized territories of West Central Franklin and Madrid Township. I am here today as a co-sponsor to support L.D. 1196 An Act To Clarify Assistance for Persons with Acquired Brain Injury.
I want to commend my colleague and friend, Representative Goode for submitting this important piece of legislation and thank him for asking me to join him as a co-sponsor of this significant initiative.
As you have already heard, this proposal amends existing statutory language to more fully recognize both the issues and the appropriate responses to acquired brain injury, something which, unfortunately impacts many Maine citizens and their families. I know you will hear more in a few minutes from the advocates and those with greater expertise on this significant health issue, but let me just point out that it is very appropriate for us to make these changes as a means to recognize not only the severity of acquired brain injury and its impacts on our citizens and Maine families, but also suggest that the state has an ongoing role to play in identifying and providing resources to mitigate the impacts of this condition on our people.
One of the tragic consequences of our recent involvement in the asymmetrical conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq has been a sharp increase in the number of returning service personnel who are coming home with an acquired brain injury as a result of their service to our country. The growth in frequency of acquired brain injury among our service members has led to a greater recognition of the impact of this condition on many other citizens who must deal with the consequences of the condition in their everyday lives.
This expanded recognition is another important step in coming to grips with the impacts that acquired brain injury has on the lives of Maine citizens and families. Representative Good’s proposal moves us a step along the path of assisting our citizens in facing and dealing creatively with this condition by acknowledging both new approaches to assisting individuals impacted by acquired brain injury, as well as preserving their rights, especially in instances where those rights may have been suspended as a result of the appointment of a guardian by the courts.
I am sure we all want the best for these citizens, and LD 1196 is another important step toward meeting that goal. I will not take up more of the Committee’s time unless you have questions for me. I look forward to working with you during our work session on this LD.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Update From Augusta -- Getting Our Facts Straight
The River Valley leads the way in many different areas -- not just in football and wrestling. We are somewhat an epicenter for land based wind energy development in Maine. There is something about the area that has made it attractive to grid scale wind developers with projects having been proposed in a number of communities within the River Valley including Byron, Roxbury and Rumford. The proposed projects are in various stages of planning, permitting and development -- and the road thus far has not been a particularly straight path.
Earlier this week, there was a public hearing on legislation I introduced -- L.D. 1035 “Resolve, To Establish Baseline Information on Health Impacts from Grid-scale Wind Energy Development.” This proposed legislation embodies my intent to create a better framework and process that will help policy makers on the state and local levels access a set of commonly accepted facts about wind power health effects, based on a consideration of peer-reviewed studies rather than speculation and assertions which had not been rigorously reviewed.
We’ve all heard the old expression “You are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own set of facts.” In our Google culture, it seems there has been a real proliferation of pseudo-science. Self proclaimed experts appear on every corner of “Internet Avenue”, and it can be daunting sorting out the facts from the claims.
The foundation for most modern science and particularly the practice of medicine is intended to strike the balance between consumer safety and innovation. For example, without the acceptance of peer-reviewed studies as the basis for decision-making in medicine we would still be seeing patent medicines being sold with dubious results but out-sized claims. A factual foundation -- based on widely accepted, tested and peer-reviewed studies -- should also be the foundation for judging the health impacts of wind generation facilities.
It is precisely on this issue that the Rumford Board of Selectmen has been working for more than a year, with a contentious local debate and election that resulted in the rejection of a citizen committee drafted local ordinance. After that vote in November, Rumford went back to the process of drafting an ordinance -- and those discussions are continuing.
I believe all these deliberations could be better served by having access to a state-identified and recommended database of information and a set of conclusions based on peer-reviewed scientific studies. Our local officials do a great job sorting through the many challenges they face, particularly in these difficult economic times. However, like my colleagues in the citizen legislature -- they are not generally scientists, so need to be able to make decisions based on a factual foundation that has been examined and vetted by people who are qualified to make such a judgment.
That is my goal with this legislation. I think that people of Maine are better served if they can make decisions based on facts -- especially if those facts have been examined and vetted by experts that we support with our tax dollars and who are charged with the responsibility of serving our citizens. That is why an interagency task force, as envisioned in this proposed legislation, seems like the right approach.
Like all of my legislative colleagues, my goal remains to represent the District to the best of my ability. The only way I know to do that is to be sure that the elected officials and voters in our District have access to the best possible information so they can make informed decisions about the future of the River Valley. I have great confidence in the thoughtfulness of my neighbors and I believe they are very capable of making intelligent and informed choices if they have access to the facts. The goal of this initiative is to empower people to make thoughtful and informed choice.
As of this writing, I don’t know what the outcome of the Legislative initiative will be. Some folks thought the proposal went too far, others didn’t think it went far enough. That is the political and legislative process and it is not different from the discussion about wind power we have been having for the last several years here in the River Valley. At the end of the day -- making decisions based on some facts, particularly commonly held facts, seems better than flipping a coin, especially if we have to live with the impacts of a bad decision for many years.
In other news, I’m pleased to report that last week members of the Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Committee gave their support to legislation I sponsored and wrote about in a previous column. LD 109, “Resolve To Establish the Commission to Study the Promotion and Expansion of the Maine Maple Sugar Industry” received a unanimous ought to pass committee report and now moves to the House and Senate chambers for a vote by the full bodies.
I’m always interested in hearing from you with feedback, thoughts, ideas or concerns. Please contact me by e-mail at petersonhouse08@gmail.com, or call me at (207) 776-8051.
Earlier this week, there was a public hearing on legislation I introduced -- L.D. 1035 “Resolve, To Establish Baseline Information on Health Impacts from Grid-scale Wind Energy Development.” This proposed legislation embodies my intent to create a better framework and process that will help policy makers on the state and local levels access a set of commonly accepted facts about wind power health effects, based on a consideration of peer-reviewed studies rather than speculation and assertions which had not been rigorously reviewed.
We’ve all heard the old expression “You are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own set of facts.” In our Google culture, it seems there has been a real proliferation of pseudo-science. Self proclaimed experts appear on every corner of “Internet Avenue”, and it can be daunting sorting out the facts from the claims.
The foundation for most modern science and particularly the practice of medicine is intended to strike the balance between consumer safety and innovation. For example, without the acceptance of peer-reviewed studies as the basis for decision-making in medicine we would still be seeing patent medicines being sold with dubious results but out-sized claims. A factual foundation -- based on widely accepted, tested and peer-reviewed studies -- should also be the foundation for judging the health impacts of wind generation facilities.
It is precisely on this issue that the Rumford Board of Selectmen has been working for more than a year, with a contentious local debate and election that resulted in the rejection of a citizen committee drafted local ordinance. After that vote in November, Rumford went back to the process of drafting an ordinance -- and those discussions are continuing.
I believe all these deliberations could be better served by having access to a state-identified and recommended database of information and a set of conclusions based on peer-reviewed scientific studies. Our local officials do a great job sorting through the many challenges they face, particularly in these difficult economic times. However, like my colleagues in the citizen legislature -- they are not generally scientists, so need to be able to make decisions based on a factual foundation that has been examined and vetted by people who are qualified to make such a judgment.
That is my goal with this legislation. I think that people of Maine are better served if they can make decisions based on facts -- especially if those facts have been examined and vetted by experts that we support with our tax dollars and who are charged with the responsibility of serving our citizens. That is why an interagency task force, as envisioned in this proposed legislation, seems like the right approach.
Like all of my legislative colleagues, my goal remains to represent the District to the best of my ability. The only way I know to do that is to be sure that the elected officials and voters in our District have access to the best possible information so they can make informed decisions about the future of the River Valley. I have great confidence in the thoughtfulness of my neighbors and I believe they are very capable of making intelligent and informed choices if they have access to the facts. The goal of this initiative is to empower people to make thoughtful and informed choice.
As of this writing, I don’t know what the outcome of the Legislative initiative will be. Some folks thought the proposal went too far, others didn’t think it went far enough. That is the political and legislative process and it is not different from the discussion about wind power we have been having for the last several years here in the River Valley. At the end of the day -- making decisions based on some facts, particularly commonly held facts, seems better than flipping a coin, especially if we have to live with the impacts of a bad decision for many years.
In other news, I’m pleased to report that last week members of the Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Committee gave their support to legislation I sponsored and wrote about in a previous column. LD 109, “Resolve To Establish the Commission to Study the Promotion and Expansion of the Maine Maple Sugar Industry” received a unanimous ought to pass committee report and now moves to the House and Senate chambers for a vote by the full bodies.
I’m always interested in hearing from you with feedback, thoughts, ideas or concerns. Please contact me by e-mail at petersonhouse08@gmail.com, or call me at (207) 776-8051.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Update From Augusta
One of the things that is most gratifying as a legislator is being able to work with constituents to identify and solve problems. I was pleased when an Andover resident and member of the SAD 44 school committee came to me with a concern about a bill that was passed in the last legislature that directed school districts to use student social security numbers to track performance through school and beyond in the workplace, creating what is called a “longitudinal study.” The bill passed without much debate and I voted for the initiative.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Why were we elected anyway?
Some of the recent events and controversies in Augusta have people on both sides of the aisles scratching their heads and asking the fundamental question: Why were we elected? It’s a good question to be reminded about, but my answer is always the same in these conversations. I was elected to represent the people of the River Valley to the best of my abilities and I will continue to do that as long as I have the privilege to serve.
The days are getting longer and the tempers seem to be getting shorter -- a clear sign that it must be April in Augusta. Those who are urging more respect and civility seem to be winning the day – and I applaud their efforts. We need to keep alive that spirit and the willingness to compromise over the next few weeks as we enter difficult budget negotiations against the backdrop of our state’s fiscal problems. Working together, we can find solutions. We did in the last session, and I believe we can in this session as well.
While there are certainly people in both parties who are “hyper-partisan,” I find that most members of the Legislature are there to serve the people back home and do the very best they can. I will continue to work as hard as I can to collaborate with my colleagues whenever possible. We have a long way to go on budget matters to find solutions that can win broad support. The present proposals are far off the mark -- and that seems to go for both sides of the aisle. My Republican colleagues are as concerned about some initiatives as the Democrats.
In November, Maine voters sent a clear message -- they were ready for a change. Republican candidates sent a clear message, too -- we will bring change to Augusta. Republicans won the majorities because voters believed they could do a better job, it’s as simple as that. People believed that
Republicans who got elected would manage things more effectively. On the campaign trail, I often heard people say in talking about candidates, "Let a businessperson do it," as though business has the answers when it comes to good management.
Better management and new ideas is exactly what I want to see, too. I am convinced we can do a better job and manage our resources more carefully to provide high quality services with less waste and less duplication. It is one of the reasons I was such an enthusiastic supporter of Governor LePage’s nominee for Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mary Mayhew. I believe that Commissioner Mayhew brings new management skills and insight to the position. She is focused and energized and is capable of excelling in the job. I want to help her do just that -- manage the giant state human services bureaucracy more thoughtfully and more cost-effectively on behalf of taxpayers. In a future column, I hope to talk about some specifics and work I am undertaking in my dialogue with Commissioner Mayhew.
Beyond that, I keep waiting for those “new ideas,” and unfortunately I haven’t seen too many yet. As I said above, I know we can do a better job with our expenditures in health and human services. To that end, I have proposed some direction in a systems change bill that will be debated later in the session -- but I am still waiting to see those better approaches from the administration. Unfortunately, this budget is balancing the state's finances on the backs of working families, poor people, old people, people with disabilities, and public service men and women; teachers, firefighters, and police. Those are not particularly new ideas; they have been around for a very long time. The other way this budget balances is on the backs of Maine’s municipalities and the local property taxpayers. There’s nothing new or innovative there either.
Where are the new management initiatives? Where is the reorganization or consolidation to create efficiency? Where are the new ideas? How will we create new jobs? How will we better educate our children? How will we care for our aging parents? That’s what I want to work on and vote to support.
The legislative session is a work in progress and the budget is at its core. It’s always hard to see the end of the process from this vantage point, but I am sure it will finally arrive.
In the meantime, the next few weeks we will be having more lively debates. Changes in state policy around promoting and regulating wind power projects have been proposed in a number of bills. In the River Valley, we know first-hand how passionate those discussions can become. I expect the same for the hearings in Augusta.
Other details and proposals for welfare reform, regulatory relief and a host of other issues will be hotly debated. In the end, I am confident we can chart a course that will serve the very best interests of Maine people. At least we have the Whoopee Pie / Blueberry Pie vote behind us -- so we’ve proven we can compromise. Let’s hope those lessons carry over to other key policy choices.
The days are getting longer and the tempers seem to be getting shorter -- a clear sign that it must be April in Augusta. Those who are urging more respect and civility seem to be winning the day – and I applaud their efforts. We need to keep alive that spirit and the willingness to compromise over the next few weeks as we enter difficult budget negotiations against the backdrop of our state’s fiscal problems. Working together, we can find solutions. We did in the last session, and I believe we can in this session as well.
While there are certainly people in both parties who are “hyper-partisan,” I find that most members of the Legislature are there to serve the people back home and do the very best they can. I will continue to work as hard as I can to collaborate with my colleagues whenever possible. We have a long way to go on budget matters to find solutions that can win broad support. The present proposals are far off the mark -- and that seems to go for both sides of the aisle. My Republican colleagues are as concerned about some initiatives as the Democrats.
In November, Maine voters sent a clear message -- they were ready for a change. Republican candidates sent a clear message, too -- we will bring change to Augusta. Republicans won the majorities because voters believed they could do a better job, it’s as simple as that. People believed that
Republicans who got elected would manage things more effectively. On the campaign trail, I often heard people say in talking about candidates, "Let a businessperson do it," as though business has the answers when it comes to good management.
Better management and new ideas is exactly what I want to see, too. I am convinced we can do a better job and manage our resources more carefully to provide high quality services with less waste and less duplication. It is one of the reasons I was such an enthusiastic supporter of Governor LePage’s nominee for Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mary Mayhew. I believe that Commissioner Mayhew brings new management skills and insight to the position. She is focused and energized and is capable of excelling in the job. I want to help her do just that -- manage the giant state human services bureaucracy more thoughtfully and more cost-effectively on behalf of taxpayers. In a future column, I hope to talk about some specifics and work I am undertaking in my dialogue with Commissioner Mayhew.
Beyond that, I keep waiting for those “new ideas,” and unfortunately I haven’t seen too many yet. As I said above, I know we can do a better job with our expenditures in health and human services. To that end, I have proposed some direction in a systems change bill that will be debated later in the session -- but I am still waiting to see those better approaches from the administration. Unfortunately, this budget is balancing the state's finances on the backs of working families, poor people, old people, people with disabilities, and public service men and women; teachers, firefighters, and police. Those are not particularly new ideas; they have been around for a very long time. The other way this budget balances is on the backs of Maine’s municipalities and the local property taxpayers. There’s nothing new or innovative there either.
Where are the new management initiatives? Where is the reorganization or consolidation to create efficiency? Where are the new ideas? How will we create new jobs? How will we better educate our children? How will we care for our aging parents? That’s what I want to work on and vote to support.
The legislative session is a work in progress and the budget is at its core. It’s always hard to see the end of the process from this vantage point, but I am sure it will finally arrive.
In the meantime, the next few weeks we will be having more lively debates. Changes in state policy around promoting and regulating wind power projects have been proposed in a number of bills. In the River Valley, we know first-hand how passionate those discussions can become. I expect the same for the hearings in Augusta.
Other details and proposals for welfare reform, regulatory relief and a host of other issues will be hotly debated. In the end, I am confident we can chart a course that will serve the very best interests of Maine people. At least we have the Whoopee Pie / Blueberry Pie vote behind us -- so we’ve proven we can compromise. Let’s hope those lessons carry over to other key policy choices.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Former President of the American Medical Association Says Maine Should Be 'Ashamed' for Sanctioning MMA
In today's issue of the Portland Press Herald, the former President of the American Medical Association and Southern Maine resident, Dr. Robert McAfee, wrote that Maine should be "ashamed" for legalizing and regulating the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. With only a little over three weeks until Maine's first sanctioned MMA event and as the prime sponsor of the legislation that brought the sport to our state--I was a little disheartened to read the Dr.'s opinion this morning.
Ariel Helwani, one of the hardest working and most respected journalists in MMA, was good enough to interview me and blog about Dr. McAfee's position. Read what Ariel had to say about Dr. McAfee's editorial here.
Ariel Helwani, one of the hardest working and most respected journalists in MMA, was good enough to interview me and blog about Dr. McAfee's position. Read what Ariel had to say about Dr. McAfee's editorial here.
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