WHEREAS, emergency medical services is a vital public service; and

WHEREAS, the members of emergency medical services teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and

WHEREAS, access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury; and

WHEREAS, registered nurses in the United States constitute our nation’s largest health care profession and are an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients; and

WHEREAS, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of the people of Maine in a wide range of settings; and

WHEREAS, forest trees cover eighty-nine percent of Maine’s land, making the state the most heavily forested in the United States; and

WHEREAS, city and town shade trees provide natural beauty, shade, and refreshing health for urban environments; and

WHEREAS, trees can reduce erosion of topsoil by wind and water, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; and

Like many Maine parents across Maine, my husband Stan and I used to sit at our kitchen table, look over our bills, consider our family’s needs, and then budget – making the hard calls on how much of our paychecks to save or spend and what to spend them on.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Like Maine families, the State of Maine makes hard decisions about how much to spend and what to spend the public’s money on. Earlier this month, Maine’s nonpartisan Revenue Forecasting Committee upgraded the State’s General Fund revenue forecast by about $223 million just for the current biennium, which ends this June. The Committee also upgraded revenue projections for 2024 and ‘25 by $71 million. The Committee noted, however, that revenues are beginning to plateau after years of significant increases during the pandemic, which we expected. But we aim to live within our means and still address immediate issues impacting Maine people.

Maine’s Constitution requires a balanced budget—that means that these projected surplus revenues must be allocated.

This week, I announced a change package to the budget and to use these projected revenues in a responsible way to address serious, pressing issues – like the housing crunch, homelessness, and food insecurity – while also still making thoughtful, strategic investments to strengthen our economy and make Maine a better place to live in the long-run and encourage businesses to move here and provide good paying jobs.

This legislation includes an additional $50 million, on top of the original $30 million proposed, for a total of $80 million to build more affordable housing for Maine people. That includes $35 million for the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program, which is very popular, and $35 million for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Together, these programs are expected to support nearly 500 new housing units statewide.

This legislation also includes an additional $12 million in one-time funding for emergency shelters for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. The legislation also establishes the “Housing First Program” to provide so-called “wraparound services” for people living in supportive housing.

The lack of affordable housing is a serious issue holding Maine people back. Another issue threatening the health and well-being of Maine people is food insecurity. The change package includes $2 million in one-time funding to prepare up to 10,000 meals a day for homeless, or sheltered, or other people with food insecurity.

Families struggling to afford housing and food simply can’t succeed. These investments will address the immediate, serious needs of Maine people, but we have to strengthen our economy at the same time to make sure that every person can find and keep a good-paying job that provides for their basic needs.

To expand job training for Maine people, the change package includes $5 million in one-time funding to create a workforce attraction pilot program; expand the Maine Career Exploration program; and enhance job support programs for older workers and people who have disabilities. The change package also includes $2.3 million in ongoing funding for the Maine Apprenticeship program.

To attract good businesses with good jobs to Maine, this legislation package also dedicates some of these revenues to modernize Maine’s business tax credits to reward companies who invest in workforce training.

These are just some of the strategic investments we are making. The legislation also includes funding to support children — doubling the state income tax credit for child care; launching the “Child Safety and Family Well-Being Plan” to prevent abuse and neglect; expanding community services for children with behavioral health needs; renovating schools that need repairs.

The change package also funds critical infrastructure repair, like drinking and wastewater improvements, and culvert replacement, allowing us to draw down more matching Federal funds for projects across the state.

The legislation is in addition to the more than $200 million worth of initiatives we’ve passed that provide tax relief to Maine people – like the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and Property Tax Fairness Credit; the pension deduction, which cuts taxes for retirees; and the expanded Homestead Exemption to help with property taxes. And of course, for the first time in history, we’ve been funding 55 percent of the cost of education and we’re returning more money to towns through municipal revenue sharing, all intended to hold down property taxes.

We’ve proven that we can live within our means, addressing our most pressing issues while making investments in our future, just as Stan and I did for years at the kitchen table every night.

I look forward to working with the Legislature in the coming weeks to enact the change package and make those investments in our state.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening and to all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day.

WHEREAS, the State of Maine is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role our homes, buildings and infrastructure play, both in everyday life and when disasters strike; and

Hello this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

You know, since I took office in 2019, Maine’s Gross Domestic Product, which is a key measure of economic growth, has increased by more than 10 percent. That’s the best rate of growth in New England and 9th the best rate of growth in the nation. In fact, Maine has experienced more economic growth over the last four years than it did in the previous fifteen years.

That’s great news – but we could do better. One big thing holding us back is our shortage of appropriately skilled workers. Everywhere I go, business leaders tell me they need more people to work, and right now, there are two available jobs for every person seeking a job in Maine. And with a low unemployment rate of 2.6, it makes it harder to find people eligible and ready to work.

To tackle this challenge, we need to reward companies who make investments in training and incentivize other businesses to begin doing that. So, this week, I introduced bipartisan legislation to do just that.

Back in 2003, when unemployment was high in Maine, legislators created the Pine Tree Development Zone Program to create more jobs. Under that program, eligible businesses could reduce their state taxes for up to ten years by creating new, quality jobs in certain businesses, or by moving existing jobs to Maine.

The Pine Tree Development Zone Program will expire at the end of this year, so now is the perfect time to remodel it and meet the current needs of Maine’s economy.

So, as I said, one of the greatest difficulties is the inability to fill many of the job openings we have with skilled workers. And we also need more private sector capital investment – particularly by businesses in promising, high-growth sectors.

So, my bill tackles these challenges by replacing the Pine Tree Development Zone program with a new one called “Dirigo Business Incentive."

The Dirigo Business Incentive program has a two-pronged approach:

• First, it’ll encourage businesses to train more people to succeed in the workforce by investing in qualified worker training programs.
• Second, it will attract and expand businesses in promising, high-value sectors through tax credits for capital investments.

Under the Dirigo Business Incentive program, businesses that pay to train three or more workers in an approved training program will receive a $2,000 tax credit per worker trained. Businesses across most of Maine would receive up to a 15 percent tax credit for capital investment, or a lower 7.5 percent credit for York, Cumberland, and Sagadahoc counties. 

York and Cumberland counties will be eligible for investment incentives that they are not now generally eligible for under the Pine Tree Zones program. These new credits are specifically targeted towards high-value industries – such as manufacturing, agriculture, aquaculture, logging/forestry, freight, software, and certain professional services like scientific research – so we want to expand and attract these high growth sectors in Maine, and that’s how we do it.

This Dirigo Business Incentive will take effect in 2025, replacing the Pine Tree Zones Program, as well as several other tax credit programs.

For businesses already receiving Pine Tree Zone benefits, they will be able to keep them through the eligibility period and transition into the new program.

Modernizing Maine’s economic development benefits to tie them directly to capital investment and workforce training will allow Maine businesses to invest with confidence, keep Maine competitive with other states, and improve our workforce and strengthen the economy.

I want to thank Senate President Troy Jackson and House Majority Leader Maureen Terry for sponsoring this bill. I look forward to working with the Legislature and a variety of stakeholders so we can take another important step forward in strengthening our economy and improving the lives and livelihoods of all Maine people.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, Jewish Americans have resided in Maine since colonial times, and today, there are over 12,000 Jews living in our state; and

WHEREAS, Bangor was home to Maine’s first synagogue, established in 1849, as well as the largest Jewish community at the time which consisted of six families; and

WHEREAS, throughout their presence in Maine, Jews have faced antisemitism, frequently called the “world’s oldest hatred” and a scourge that still persists today; and

WHEREAS, mental health is an essential component of overall health and wellbeing, and through working together to raise public awareness and reduce stigma around seeking mental health treatment, we can improve the lives of individuals and families experiencing mental health challenges; and

WHEREAS, 50 percent of all mental health disorders begin by age 14 and 75 percent of all mental health disorders begin by the mid-20's; and

WHEREAS, Maine is fortunate to have over 388,000 people aged 60 and over who contribute skills, talent, wisdom, and experience to our great State; and

WHEREAS, the number of older adults in Maine is increasing and becoming a larger portion of the State’s population; and

WHEREAS, established in 2022, the Maine Cabinet on Aging is working to advance policies that will support Maine people in aging safely, affordably, and in ways and settings that best serve individual needs and preferences; and

WHEREAS, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans came together to celebrate the first Earth Day, recognizing the importance of protecting our environment and preserving our natural resources; and

WHEREAS, in the months and years that followed, the United States Congress passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, Endangered Species, and Marine Mammal Protections Acts and founded the Environmental Protection Agency; and