LaMarche Delivers State of the State Speech

Gubernatorial Candidate Pat LaMarche delivered a "State of the State" speech which addressed healthcare, education, jobs, taxes, the environment, and wasteful government spending. Here is the complete text of her speech:

Hello, it's great to see everyone. It's a great honor to speak with you. It always is.

I'm going to talk today about the state of the state. I only have a half hour so it doesn't give me much time to touch on all the topics that are so necessary to the people of Maine.

Consequently, I spent a little time looking at the past few state of the state addresses to see if there might be some things I could cut out.

Now when I talk about the state of the state, I'm talking about what the conditions are in the state of Maine today. Where are we at, how are we doing, what kind of shape are we in?

How are the living conditions for Mainers? How are our kids doing? How are our grandparents doing? How's our heath? Are there enough nurses for the number of patients? How many people, especially our veterans and elderly, run out of money before they get enough medicine, food, or fuel? And speaking of fuel, what kind of alternative energy is our government supporting so that we can stay warm and safe during our cold Maine winters? What affordable alternative energy opportunities are our government championing so that our businesses can operate efficiently and competitively? Can we afford to drive our cars to work? Does the average Mainer work in a job where it takes less than an hour of work to pay for his or her commute each day? What's going on with our tourists? How's our environment? Who are we taxing? Why?

When I looked at past state of the state addresses to see how much time I would need to discuss these pressing questions, I realized that 30 minutes was a totally inaccurate time frame. If I want to actually discuss the state of affairs here in our state the way others have, I don't need 30 minutes. I need about three!

See, if I delete the part about promising things for 'some day down the road.' If I veer away from the not-so-veiled, 'if you re-elect me, I promise to get this done.' Then I free up a whole lot of time for talking about where we are at, the direction our boat is steering and if we alter the course of that boat, do we still have time to avoid the iceberg?

We will never make accurate choices about our next move if we don't effectively evaluate where we are right now. Ignoring the present and painting rosy pictures about the future just blindfolds us to wise decision-making. Anyone who has run a small business in Maine or raised a family here knows about tough choices. Those who are still here, running their businesses and raising their families, know how to make the right choices. And we know that none of those choices would have possible without facing the truth of the situation first.

So here we go, the real skinny on the state of the state. And when it comes to talking truth, we never have enough time, so I'll do the best I can with the time I have remaining.

Maine's healthcare costs are higher than the national average. The primary reason for that is that Maine has the oldest population in the country. The last year of a person's life is their most expensive when it comes to the cost of healthcare. That's true if a person dies tragically at 10, 40 or 100. And while we in the U.S. have a higher infant mortality rate, higher diabetes rates, and greater risk of heart disease and stroke than 23 other modern industrialized countries, still most folks die old and it costs quite a bit to have a dignified and hopefully pain-free passing.

By the way, the other 23 countries differ from us in one other way. They have a universal health care system. Mainers spent 7.7 billion dollars last year on health care and the related insurances. That's nearly a quarter of our state domestic product. And nearly double the percentage that those 23 other countries pay.

Anyone here have a child in his or her junior year of high school? Then you know that every junior in high school took the SAT this year instead of the learning results test. Oh yeah, that was mighty expensive. Millions of dollars to implement an untested idea!

Every high school had to become an SAT testing center, instead of the regional ones that used to exist. And in order for the schools to obey the rules of testing set down by the state and federal government, the kids had to show up for the test. If they didn't, the school was out of compliance.

I know of schools that had to delay the test so that the teachers could go to the kids' houses that Saturday morning and pull them out of bed. School busses had to do their regular route and the kids had to be given a day off at some other point in the year to compensate for the mandatory Saturday attendance.

But 100% SAT participation, that's bound to mean that more smart kids get educations and stay right here in Maine. At least one could argue that this was the hope that the state used when they pursued this course of action. But Maine already had one of the higher SAT participation rates in the country. And we have one of the smallest populations of young educated people in the nation.

Our kids already took the SAT's in nearly record numbers, went off to college and then left the state. Lets take a quick minute and see where they might have gone. Should we decide to have a favorable job climate and lure them home, we're going to need to know where to go looking for them.

Maine's SAT testing rate last year was 76%. Vermont's rate was 66%, and they have almost 33% more young well-educated people than Maine does.

By young, I mean between the age of 22 and 35, and by well-educated I mean having a bachelors degree or higher.

Virginia, Washington, Hawaii and Maryland all had less than Maine's rate of SAT takers. Although, truth be told, they were less than Maine's 76% but still above 50% of students that take the SAT. However, all have many more educated young people in their states.

So lets try a few other states that have more educated young people than Maine, but aren't even in the ball park of Maine's 76% of all students that take the SAT.

In Minnesota, only 10% of kids took the SAT, in Kansas only 9%, Utah just 7%, and Arkansas only 6%. But, you guessed it, they all have more highly educated young people than Maine. So now we know where Maine's kids are. They are in the states with the good jobs, not the most SAT tests.

Consequently, Maine's population isn't older because mature folks are migrating here. Maine's getting older because its young people are leaving.

So lets take a moment and look forward for two minutes. According to the Maine Department of Labor, over the next six years the jobs that are going to increase in demand in Maine are the following:

• Nurses
• Personal and Home care aides
• Cashiers
• Food prep services, fast food
• Social/human services associates
• Home health aides
• General and operational managers
• Waiters and waitresses
• Retail sales first-line managers
• Retail salespersons
• Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants

Now these jobs are going to increase as a percentage of what they are already.

Lets take another look at them. What isn't mentioned? Teachers, college professors, machinists, electricians, farmers, pharmacists, plumbers, doctors, dentists, computer programmers, and engineers.

What's the difference between the list that is mentioned that the list that isn't? According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics for Maine, of the former list only two of those professions make a wage greater than the poverty level for a family of four. In my list, they all do.

And by the way. You don't need to take the SAT to become a plumber or an electrician.

Let's move on, shall we?

Maine is cold at certain times of the year. Bet you never heard that in a state of the state address. But it is. And Maine is a state where tragedy occurs when well-meaning parents try to keep their children warm with fuel that isn't fuel. And as you probably remember, it happened again this winter. Is there anything sadder?

And our government is now planning to do the same thing. Burn stuff that isn't fuel and call it fuel. Then call it an alternative energy policy.

No I don't mean biodiesel; of course that's fuel. C'mon Willy Nelson knows enough to burn biodiesel… hey maybe Willy will be the next of the multitudes of people who would like to voice displeasure and run for governor in the state of Maine!

I mean, of course, vinyl siding, pvc pipe and insulation as fuel.

The last time I was in a work session in the legislature, it was for a hearing about biomass boilers and using them to burn construction and demolition debris.

And you can't beat this! Our state will have the corner on this fuel supply. Nope, no competition to burn out of state demolition debris for us, because Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont have already made it illegal.

Gee! How lucky for us. That's right, burning stuff that shouldn't be burned to make energy is going to be an idea that's all ours. Those other states are looking into wacky renewable energy like wind and water and fuels raised by farmers.

And lastly, lets take a quick look at taxes. We have all heard the mantra that Maine has the highest per capita taxes in the nation. The biggest reason can be found above, in the fact that 8 out of 10 of our most rapidly growing job categories in Maine can't pay an average family's bills, let alone their taxes. Per capita, our incomes are in the lower half of the country's.

We are constantly compared to our neighbor New Hampshire, who has far lower per capita taxes. First of all, they have much higher incomes. Secondly, they tax differently. They tax profits and not incomes for example, and while their property taxes are significantly higher than ours, they offset that with the elimination of the sales tax.

But thirdly and most importantly, New Hampshire doesn't just collect money from their profitable businesses and their property owners, their government knows the benefit of a well-turned dime as well.

Anyone here ever been to New Hampshire? Better yet, ever been to Massachusetts? And what's the easiest way to get to Massachusetts? Going right through New Hampshire, right?

And what's on either side of Route 95 in New Hampshire, coming or going? Their liquor stores. New Hampshire makes scads of money on two big businesses for them. Alcohol and the lottery.

When our fiscally conservative counterparts point out the more favorable business climate along our border to the south and west, do they ever recommend the privatization of the two most profitable revenue generators that state has?

When you stand near the border with New Hampshire, do you see our neighbors clamoring to give away state-generated profits and burn construction debris instead?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that New Hampshire isn't full of rocket scientists (although, by the way, they do have more rocket scientists than we do) — but I don't think this takes rocket science.

What's the state of the state? We've privatized the profitable parts of our state government to out-of-state interests. We have sent good jobs out of state and our kids out of state after them. Our healthcare costs are on the rise and every one who still has health insurance today knows that they can no longer afford the deductible. We have invested in SAT tests instead of in the children who are taking them.

We have an unruly and ungainly tax structure that unfairly burdens all but the elite few.

We have a near record number of candidates for governor running against an incumbent who thinks putting a few hybrids on the road makes up for the sin of burning toxic out-of-state waste that is imported from states with better governments — waste that we burn in biomass boilers that can't handle it.

Our state hires out-of-state firms to work for the people, hastening our demise. For crying out loud, Even our number one industry left in Maine — tourism — is promoted with state dollars given to an out-of-state advertising agency.

If our state isn't investing in our future, how can we expect anyone else to?

So here we are. A state at the crossroads. A state in need of leadership. A state of kind, generous, hard-working souls who need a government that respects them, understands their needs, and is willing to either invest in their businesses or get out of their way.

So as I said, it's an honor to be here. An honor to be with some of Maine's hardest working folks.

In 1974, when Governor Longley rocked the country by becoming the first independent governor in the United States, he told Maine that the election was about integrity and who you can trust.

And people believed him, and people trusted him.

And I know whom I can trust, I can trust you, and I can trust the people of Maine.

And, as I hope you already know, you can trust me.

Thank you.