Peterson Endorsed by Fire Fighters

The Professional Fire Fighters of Maine (PFFM) has endorsed Matt Peterson in his run for re-election to continue serving House District 92 in the Maine Legislature. The decision to endorse Peterson was made based upon his voting record in the 124th Maine Legislature and his responses to the PFFM questionnaire.

"I am thrilled to receive the endorsement of an organization that plays such a vital role in maintaining the health and safety of our communities," Peterson said. "Fire fighters put their lives on the line to serve us and I'm glad that my voting record on the issues that are important to them reflects my respect and admiration for what they do for Maine people day-in and day-out."

For more information visit http://pffmaine.org/.

Peterson Endorsed by Teachers

The Maine Education Association (MEA), Maine's professional advocacy organization for over 25,000 Maine educators, has endorsed Representative Matt Peterson in his bid for re-election to continue serving House District 92 in the Maine Legislature. Endorsements were given to candidates who demonstrated strong support for public education, for the well-being of Maine's students, and for the best interests of Maine's dedicated education workforce.

"Being a product of Maine's public schools and coming from a family of educators, I understand the need for a strong educational system," Peterson said. "I also respect that there aren't any quick fixes or magic bullets and that just giving a child a computer does not make him or her a motivated learner. Teachers play a priceless role in the process--and as individuals, families and as a state we need to support them in their efforts to give our children a quality education."

For more information visit http://www.maine.nea.org/.

Presentation to Rumford Board of Selectmen 8/5/2010

One of the best parts of the job of being a legislator is getting to learn about a lot of the details that make up the funding patterns for state and local government. I had no idea about charges mandated to municipalities by the state in order to offset the cost of fire protection from a publically operated and regulated water district. Selectman Buccina brought this to my attention a couple of months ago when he asked why Rumford had to pay the water district a mandated fire protection charge that is governed by the Public Utilities Commission.

It was a great question, and I didn’t have the answer, so I set up a meeting with PUC staff to get some history and background on this charge. Selectman Buccina and I met with PUC staff on June 25th, and they were ready for us. It seems like we are not the first to raise this question and look for alternatives to this mandated charge.

Here are some of the things we learned:

• As far as the state is concerned fire protection is the main purpose for any municipal water system, with providing water for other uses (residential of commercial) are all secondary.
• Since fire protection is the primary rationale for creating, funding and regulating a municipal water system -- it must be built to produce flows that are adequate to meet fire protection demands -- and for small systems that means the total system is significantly “overbuilt” were it to be compared to a system just to deliver water to homes and businesses.
• The assessment to the municipality is based on a formula that has been developed over many years -- starting in 1888 -- with the most recent study finished in the late 1980’s. That resulted in Chapter 69 of the PUC rules which establishes the rate setting mechanisms for these charges.
• I’ve provided a very complete overview of the charges and how they have been determined, prepared by the PUC staff. It gives lots of detail about these charges and how they are governed.

Next steps:

The PUC does not seem ready to abandon this long held practice of charging a Public Fire Protection assessment to every municipality with a regulated water utility. In fact, just the opposite -- they are ready to defend this practice vigorously.

Here are our choices:

1. Take the information and drop the matter -- continuing to pay the fire protection assessment.
2. Look at alternative ways to evaluate the real cost / value of the fire protection assets, so that the annual payment reflects the actual associated costs. This approach has two downsides -- it will cost money to conduct such a study, and the study could actually raise the assessment rather than lower it.
3. Pursue a policy change that would create a new approach or formula for the allocation of fire protection assessments to municipalities. If that is your choice, I would be happy to work with you to put together legislation to accomplish this and sponsor that legislation. Let me observe, however, that this will likely be a contentious issue that could pit municipalities against one another. Most likely, depending upon what changes would be made, it would match bigger municipalities against smaller ones. Therefore, if you want to pursue policy changes, I suggest that you bring the matter up with the Maine Municipal Association and work through their Legislative Policy process.

I am happy to stick with this issue and process just as long as you want to. Let me know what you want to do and we’ll stay at work on the issue. You may want to review this material from the PUC in some detail and discuss this again at another time. We have several months before any legislative proposals would be submitted, so you can consider the approach with some tine. The way to succeed with a policy change in an area like this is to build some allies -- and that will mean close cooperation with other municipalities -- probably though MMA.

Selectman Buccina may have something to add -- so I’ll turn it over to him. Thank you for the opportunity to serve in this matter and at least get the ball rolling.

Remarks from the Denis Pratt ADA Awards

Yesterday marked the 20th Anniversary of the historic signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Here in Maine we marked the occasion in Bangor with the Denis Pratt ADA Awards presented by the Maine ADA Coalition and hosted by Husson University.

Founded in 2009 and led by Alpha One, Maine's Center for Independent Living, the Maine ADA Coalition is a group of non-profit organizations. The Coalition is involved in disability related information and services working together to create new opportunities for people with disabilities in Maine.

I was honored to be invited to speak at the event. Below is a copy of my remarks and an example of the press that followed.

Thank you for allowing me to celebrate today's historic occasion with you all.

As an Independent Living Specialist at Maine’s Center for Independent Living, as a Member of the Maine House of Representatives, and as someone with quadriplegia, I wish I could say that Maine leads the nation in accessibility... We don’t. In fact, we haven’t really surveyed accessibility in Maine on a large scale or formally. We’ve looked at pieces of the puzzle -- schools, public buildings, our court houses, parks, some businesses, places of public accommodation, our voting facilities -- all the things mandated under the ADA and other federal laws like HAVA (Help America Vote Act passed after the contested 2000 presidential vote). Denis Pratt -- who we remember today was involved in lots of this work.

Let me start with the good news part of this discussion. Our state government facilities have made the concerted effort to be accessible and they are to be commended in that regard. I have always found the public facilities in our Capitol complex to be fully accessible. The same is true for almost all the public facilities statewide. Although we’re not perfect, we’ve done a great job on the state and municipal government levels.

We’re winning that battle. And we are winning the battle with Maine businesses, too. Business people realize that access is good business. People with a disability are consumers, too. Good business is good business -- so the progress will continue.

But accessibility in Maine is a different story from that.

I can’t cite statistics -- and if I did it would be out of keeping with our celebration. Instead I want to share an experience which I am now repeating. Governor Baldacci can probably still remember his days as a member of the Maine Senate before he went on to serve with distinction in higher office -- both the US House of Representatives and the Blaine House -- and I am sure he remembers his many hours campaigning for the Maine Legislature.

Campaigning in Maine means “knocking on doors.” It means going door to door in the District, introducing yourself and asking people one on one to give you their vote. For elected officials, a vote is almost a sacred thing, and “the ask” is a great responsibility and a duty. I was struck by the weight of this duty two years ago when I made my first run for elected office, and I’m reminded of it every day as I campaign for re-election in November.

If knocking on doors is the essential task -- and it is -- what does that mean for me when the door is up a small flight of stairs?

From the perspective of a legislator -- and legislative candidate in a wheelchair Maine accessibility has a long way to go. Any person with a disability -- looking for an accessible place to live -- knows exactly what I am talking about. Any Maine family who is welcoming an elderly parent or a disabled family member into their home knows what I am talking about. Even one of my colleagues in the Legislature who had a skiing accident that left him temporarily with a mobility impair knows what I am talking about.

Having a disability is not a moral flaw or a mortal failure. It is not something that deserves discrimination or censure. My friends -- if you are lucky enough to live a very long life -- it is something you will most likely encounter. There is a point in a long life where we stop gaining facility and start losing it -- and that is unavoidable. If you live long enough -- you too will doubtless enter that category we call “people with a disability” because you need assistance with one or more activities of daily living.

In short -- we have a way to go -- especially when it comes to our homes. As I pointed out -- first things first -- but after 20 years, we should raise our expectations.

Alpha One has consistently helped people improve access. Sometimes we’ve done it with good technical assistance, sometimes with a key referral, and sometime with money to make an improvement. And we are making progress-- but we still have a long way to go. A good friend of mine is just finishing a 33 foot ramp that will allow me to get out of my car and roll up on his deck and the into his home. Great, but he talked about it for four years before he did it.

So today -- let’s celebrate the progress we’ve made. But let’s also be sure not to take our eyes off the ball. We’ve done a good job. We’ve made remarkable progress. We still have a long way to go. We need to keep working and this work will be generational in scope. I am glad we are here today and I especially want to thank Governor Baldacci for taking the time from his schedule to join us -- but let’s keep working. Making Maine the most accessible state in the nation sounds like a pretty good goal--and one worth pursuing.

Thank you again, and enjoy the celebration.

http://www.wabi.tv/news/13143/denis-pratt-ada-awards

Mixed Martial Arts bill goes into effect this week

AUGUSTA — A new law sponsored by Rep. Matt Peterson, D-Rumford, that clarifies the role of the Mixed Martial Arts Authority of Maine went into effect as of Monday, July 12.

The new law as sponsored by Peterson, LD 1685, “An Act To Clarify the Enforcement Role of the Mixed Martial Arts Authority of Maine,” spells out the Authority’s role and duties and authorizes the board of directors of the Authority to conduct specific inspections of mixed martial arts competitions, exhibitions or events and enhances enforcement mechanisms of the board.

The new law also requires the Authority to adopt rules regarding the certification process for authorized participants and requires that a physician be present during each mixed marital arts competition, exhibition or event. It allows the board to discipline authorized participants if they fail to adhere to the rules adopted by the Authority and allows for fines up to $500 for each violation. It also extends the deadline for the Authority to adopt rules from March 1, 2010 to October 15, 2010.

These clarifications will expedite the increasingly popular sporting events to be held in the state, bringing revenue and entertainment to Maine’s citizens. If all goes as planned the first MMA event will be scheduled at the end of 2010 and will ensure the health and safety of the participants.

Mixed Martial Arts is a full combat contact sport, combining several different styles of fighting. In 2009 Peterson introduced a bill establishing the Mixed Martial Arts Authority to regulate and promote mixed martial arts competitions, exhibitions and events in Maine.

Recent plans to hold a boxing match in Lewiston brought to light the discovery that due to the abolishment of the Athletic Commission in 2007, boxing no longer has a governing body and is therefore illegal under a centuries old statute.

“I was dismayed to learn that boxing events cannot be held in Maine since they no longer have a regulating body,” said Peterson. “If reelected, I would love to work with the boxing community the same way I worked with mixed martial arts community, to change the statute, so that boxing events can once again be held in Maine.”

Bill to cover prosthetics signed into law

AUGUSTA – A bill, sponsored by Rep. Mark Bryant, D-Windham, and co-sponsored by Rep. Matt Peterson, D-Rumford, to require insurance plans to cover the latest prosthetic limbs was signed into law by Governor John Baldacci today. Under current law, health insurance carriers are required to provide coverage for prosthetic devices, but coverage is not required for those devices containing a microprocessor. The bill removes the exclusion for prosthetic devices that include a microprocessor.

“Microprocessors have become far more common and affordable,” said Bryant. “Most artificial limbs prescribed to amputees by doctors today have microprocessor chips in them. This bill is a needed step to bring the law covering artificial limbs up to date. At the public hearing we heard from dozens of people who utilized artificial limbs, they all testified that going from an older prosthetic to one that contained microprocessor technology had huge benefits for their health, mobility and overall quality of life.”

The original law requiring policies to cover prosthetic limbs was passed over a decade ago, when microprocessor technology was very new and expensive. Microprocessor chips are tiny computers embedded into the artificial limbs that allow them to move and react more like a real limb.

“Technology has continued to improve the lives of people living with a disability, and no place have these advances been more significant than in the development of sophisticated prosthetic devices that expand the capacity and independence of people who have lost a limb,” said Peterson. “This law is designed to do one simple thing--to make sure that insurers in our state will make available the most appropriate alternative available to those they cover. This is what we all expect when we purchase insurance, and we have the responsibility to ensure that these expectations are enshrined in our statutes and regulations. This is another important step in making sure the insurance climate in Maine strikes the proper balance.”

The bill, LD 20 “An Act To Require Insurance Companies To Cover the Cost of Prosthetics Containing Microprocessors,” passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

Remarks at the Hope Association Annual Meeting May 18, 2010

On May 18th, 2010, I was honored to be featured as the Keynote Speaker at Hope Association's Annual Meeting.

For decades now, Hope Association has been providing top-quality services to individuals in the River Valley living with developmental disabilities. To learn more about Hope Association please visit their website at http://www.hopeassociation.org/.

Reprinted below is a copy of the remarks I offered at Hope Association's Annual Meeting:



It is truly a great honor to be invited to share this evening with you and to offer a few remarks. Having grown up in Rumford, I have long been aware of the great work that this organization has done on behalf of other Rumford citizens. You have been one of the real leaders in Maine in serving a very special population with creativity and dedication. It is a privilege to join you and a distinct honor to get a chance to talk with you tonight.

I have to admit that I’ve known about his speaking engagement for quite a while, and I’ve had lots of time to think about what to say -- which means I’ve had lots of time to worry over what I should say and do and how I could rise to the occasion of sharing my thoughts and my experience with a room full of such dedicated and caring people. What I mean to say is this -- What can I possibly say that would be worthwhile to such an audience? I’m truly humbled by this crowd and your record of service to our community.

Fortunately, having spent two years in Augusta, I’ve had plenty of experience observing people who are willing to talk at great length about things they know very little about -- so I certainly know how to “take the plunge!” Please don’t quote me to any of my Augusta colleagues -- although we’ve all been guilty at one time or another. I don’t want to dive in -- so I thought I’d talk about some of my own experiences and things that I do feel qualified to talk about.

I thought I’d take my few minutes tonight to consider some of the lessons I learned from the Legislature in the last session -- and some of the larger issues they suggest, including some of my life lessons. I’m the kind of guy who has to bring things down and internalize them -- apply them to my own life and experience to really understand them. I grasp things -- but to really understand them, I have to see ideas through the lens of my own life. I’m a pretty concrete thinker in that way -- it’s just the way I’ve always been made, and it has served me pretty well. I hope so anyway -- because I don’t imagine I’ll wake up tomorrow having become a theoretical astrophysicist overnight.

So, tonight I want to talk about two themes that came through over and over in the last session and that have larger implications for almost all we do. The themes are balance and resiliency. They are both pretty important ideas to me personally, and it seems like they are engines for this great organization, too.

First, balance. I’ve gotten a little bit of attention in the news recently for something that was almost accidental. As you may know, one of the initiatives I sponsored in the last session was a bill to sanction and regulate mixed martial arts events in Maine. I’m a huge fan of the sport. I was a wrestler in high school, and my younger brother was one of the greatest wrestlers to come out of Mountain Valley. He has continued to train and has become a mixed martial artist. I have friends who are fighters and trainers and promoters, and I wanted to bring the sport to Maine while making sure that there were standards and oversight to protect the health of all those involved in the sport.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about the mechanics of the legislation -- but we had to pass something because in 2007, the Maine legislature eliminated the Maine Athletic Commission that used to oversee professional boxing events. Apparently, it had been years since there was any boxing match scheduled, maintaining the Athletic Commission cost the state money, and so in 2007, the Legislature voted the Commission out of existence. Nobody came to testify against that action, there were no questions asked about the elimination of an organization that apparently had no function.

In 2009, we created a new regulatory body -- the Mixed Martial Arts Authority -- designed to oversee mixed martial arts or MMA events. The Governor appointed members to the Authority, they have been meeting and working on rules, and the first MMA contests will be held later this year. Here’s where the story gets complicated. I read an article in the Lewiston Sun Journal about the Gamache family planning to have a prize fight in June in Lewiston. I was at an MMA Authority meeting, sitting next to a representative from the Attorney General’s Office and asked him if he had seen the article. I was actually reading the article on line at the time. He said, he hadn’t seen it and would I send him the link. So I did -- with a simple question : Who is overseeing these fights?

To make a long story short, the Gamaches were eventually contacted, informed that the fight they had planned was illegal under a 19th century Maine statute and that they should consult a lawyer before they proceeded with the fight. Apparently, my question started a process that ended up with the Gamaches being “warned” against holding the event. Since then, I have been working to try to find a way to let this fight move ahead under emergency rules passed by the MMA Authority. Unfortunately, the AG’s office has vetoed the idea and so now it looks like the fights will have to be moved to next year after the Legislature can create a new statute allowing boxing to once again be sanctioned in Maine.

So -- what does this have to do with balance? Besides the fact that boxers need good balance. As you can imagine -- I have gotten a fair number of e-mails and calls from irate boxing fans who want to tell me how stupid the state is for eliminating the Athletic Commission -- WHAT WERE WE THINKING? My favorite was from a constituent that I hear from a lot. He has strong opinions about many things and I enjoy the exchanges because he is a thought-provoking, common sense fellow I have known all my life.

He let me have it in an e-mail. Augusta this, and Legislature that -- you get the idea. We were interfering where we had no business and so forth. Why I liked the e-mail so much was because I had gotten one from him just a few days before complaining about the way we “wasted money in Augusta” spending it on all kinds of unnecessary things -- bureaucracy that didn’t do anything, and on and on …..

I hadn’t had the chance to respond to that first e-mail, so they were both in my inbox, and ended up next to each other. I suppose you can see where I am going with this ….. How do we balance such competing interests? When the Legislature eliminates a Commission that was costing taxpayer dollars but hadn’t had any activity in years -- it looked like a good idea -- one he could certainly support. It was a good idea, until the Commission was needed to license a boxing match -- which he really wanted to attend. Tough to be a fan of less government, smarter budgeting and fiscal responsibility -- and still want all the services that government provides -- including regulating prize fighting.

It’s all about finding the balance between what we need, what we want and what we can afford.

That has been a big lesson for me serving the River Valley in the House of Representatives. How do we find that balance? Another way to think about it is -- how do we set the right priorities? As a member of the Health and Human Services Committee that was the stark lesson from every day’s sessions. There are so many valid, yet competing claims for the limited resources. Allocating those limited resources requires a real balancing act -- and lots of priority setting.

I wish I could come here tonight and say -- things in the next budget will be better, it will get easier, money that has been cut will be restored. But that is not the case. We will have even greater demands and even more fiscal constraints in the next session. In the last session, we were able to fill some of the gaps with the infusion of federal resources from the stimulus act. Those funds will not be available as we project the next two year budget. As a result, we can expect even more belt tightening, even more cut backs, and an even harder time trying to provide essential services to Maine’s most vulnerable citizens.

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it?

So that brings me to my second theme for the evening -- Resilience. We not only need to keep our balance -- we need to find the ways to bounce back -- be resilient. I can tell you right now that there will be pressures on the state funding that Hope Association receives. That will be true of every health, human services or social services organization that receives state funding or state contracts. I don’t know what the pressure will look like -- but it will be coming. Guaranteed.

As someone who has lived with a disability for more than a decade -- I’ve learned firsthand the value of resilience. Without an ability to bounce back, I don’t know where I’d be. That same resilience is characteristic in the lives of so many of the individuals and families that your organization so ably serves. Resilience is what we do -- and what we will be called upon to do even more if we are to continue to serve.

But even before my injury, resilience is something that I learned growing up in the River Valley. We’re a place and a people who come back. We’ve seen difficult economic times -- and we are still seeing them. We’ve seen big changes at the mill and in the paper and woods industry -- but we know how to bounce back.

Resiliency requires some creativity. After my injury I had to learn lots of new ways to do things I had been doing all my life. In hindsight, I realize I had to unlearn a number of things -- old patterns, old ways of doing things that just didn’t work anymore because of my changed circumstances. Being creative, learning new approaches became a lot easier when I finally let go of some of the patterns that had dominated my life. The key to resilience is that ability to let go of old patterns that may have worked well in the past, but have a more limited application in the future. Tough to let go of things that have served us well -- but it is necessary to face the new challenges.

For an organization like Hope Association that is all about promoting resilience for individuals and their families -- I know you can and will rise to the challenge. You have got to find new ways to reach out and to serve, even in an era of fewer resources. You will have to find new ways to help families become more resilient, more independent and more creative as we all struggle to do more with fewer resources.

We have a lot going for us. The River Valley is a strong community of neighbors and friends. We have a tradition of caring and looking out for each other. Hope Association is a perfect example of that spirit. And we have a history of picking ourselves up and moving forward despite setbacks.

Now is the time to start exercising those creative muscles. Go back to the roots of the organization and look for new ways to accomplish your goals. Prepare now for the changes that are coming -- don’t wait to be overwhelmed by them. This is a strong and vital organization -- and its true vitality will be found in its resiliency in this changing environment. Don’t just react to the change -- lead the change.

Speaking to an organization with a name -- Hope Association -- you cannot deliver anything but an upbeat message. Yes, times ahead will be challenging. My commitment to you is that I will work as hard as I can to find balance and help the state set the right priorities between supporting programs that people depend upon, and operating in the most cost-effective manner possible.

I hope you will work with me in seeking that balance -- with your good ideas, your thoughtful analysis of alternatives, and your commitment to resiliency. Together, we will find a way to continue the outstanding record of service that has characterized Hope Association for decades.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. I look forward to working with you individually and as an organization. Thanks again.