The Working Waterfront submitted four questions on issues we felt were of importance to residents of Maine’s coast and islands to the three gubernatorial candidates. We asked that answers be kept to 300 words or fewer. What follows are their answers.
1: Residents of Maine’s islands face dauntingly high electricity and home heating costs. What policy would you pursue to reduce those costs?
Eliot Cutler:
Winter heating and electricity costs claim a big portion of most Maine families’ household operating budgets. As governor, I will work closely with island communities to redouble Maine’s conservation and energy efficiency efforts to cut winter heating oil bills and energy costs in ways that make the most sense.
We need to review existing programs and incentives for conservation measures offered by Efficiency Maine Trust and the Maine State Housing Authority to determine whether new incentives and programs need to be better tailored to meet the challenges of our island communities.
We must also take better advantage of the “smart” electric meters now in most homes to speed up time-of-day pricing, which offers lower rates for using power during off-peak hours. We can help people reduce or shift usage during high cost periods in response to market price signals and reduce costs for our coastal and island communities that are home to organizations that are open on the weekend and during evening hours.
Our island communities offer a unique opportunity to explore community based and offshore wind, and solar resources as well as new microgrid and energy storage systems. The energy project on Monhegan Island, for example, is financed with a grant from the USDA’s High Energy Cost Grant program, enabling the island to diversify its electricity generation by paying for a new generator and a roof-top solar array as well as a switchgear that will add solar and wind power sources to its power generation capability.
The need for economical and sustainable energy is critical. To facilitate low-interest, tax-exempt financing and public-private partnerships and make energy more affordable for islanders, the Cutler administration will establish the Maine Energy Finance Authority within the Finance Authority of Maine to encourage investment in these renewable energy resources and help construct needed energy infrastructure.
Paul LePage:
My administration proposed focusing state energy funds on the highest cost regions of our state, which was designed for our island communities, but the Legislature opposed the proposal. Despite the Legislature’s rejection, we are working to address heating cost challenges.
While previous administrations have simply bought light bulbs, my administration has focused resources to lower heating costs by providing rebates and loans to invest in heat pumps, natural gas, efficient propane systems, wood pellets and energy efficiency. The program is working and more Mainers are transitioning to lower heating bills, throughout our state and including our island communities. We must accelerate this progress.
My administration has proposed using the harvest of state forests to reach more households, but the politics of Augusta defeated this common-sense proposal. Electricity costs on the islands are extremely high, and that allows a wide variety of cost-effective solutions. While renewable energy systems may not be cost-effective on the mainland, it can make sense on the islands. My administration would support creating targeted policies on the islands to help households invest in the systems that will lower bills.
Mike Michaud:
As I outline in my Maine Made plan, the No. 1 thing that the state should do to lower energy costs for homeowners—and businesses—is invest in energy efficiency and weatherization. That’s true for heating oil and electricity costs.
We know that these investments pay huge dividends, and consistent state support is critical to making the program successful. It’s also the fastest way to reduce costs.
I also want to reduce Maine’s use of home heating oil by 50 percent by 2030, which will help to save homeowners money.
I support the expansion of natural gas as a transition fuel to lower electricity costs and believe that Maine must continue to support clean, renewable sources of energy that can protect against price spikes associated with oil and natural gas while also helping to protect the environment.
2. Maine has one of the oldest housing stocks in the nation and, according to housing experts, a lack of quality affordable rental housing (especially true on the coast). What might be done to improve homes, rental properties and home ownership rates?
Cutler:
To improve ownership rates, we need to reduce operating costs and free up income to improve residential properties. Property taxes increasingly place a disproportionate burden on vulnerable groups of Mainers. My plan to reduce property taxes will not only keep more Mainers in their homes but also free up household incomes to pay for conservation and efficiency upgrades and repairs as well as ongoing costs like heat and electricity.
For example, under our property tax relief plan, a resident of Vinalhaven who owns a home assessed at $210,648 would save 19 percent, or $371.
To address the “affordability gap” to access cost savings from the adoption of affordable energy systems and greater heating efficiencies, a Cutler administration will look at conservation incentives and programs targeted to the needs of less affluent Mainers, those living on fixed incomes, and owners of multi-family apartment buildings, and to convert to more efficient heating equipment and technologies including heat pumps, solar panels and pellet stoves.
I also support the expansion of programs under which homeowners and apartment building owners can invest in thermal efficiency upgrades, energy conversions and retrofits of our aging housing stock. Not only do we need to prioritize the removal of old, inefficient appliances such as refrigerators and inefficient lighting, we must reduce our reliance on expensive home heating oil and diesel fuel by encouraging all property owners to pursue efficiency through state-sponsored programs, to replace old heating systems with more efficient options and by making our homes and apartments more energy efficient through energy audits and the strategies enabled by these audits, such as weatherization and insulation.
LePage:
Under new leadership from my administration, Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA) has undertaken significant initiatives to address housing needs in Maine. MSHA has focused on process and program changes that have reduced the cost of units constructed, increased assistance to existing homeowners, and promoted first-time home buying.
In 2013, the number of quality, affordable units increased by 49 percent and the cost of these units decreased by 32 percent. We nearly doubled the number of first time homebuyers from 318 to 610 from 2012 to 2013. With regard to improving homes, MSHA improved the homes of more than 200 low-income households and provided weatherization or furnace improvements to over 46,000 homes.
Michaud:
When it comes to improving our existing housing stock, we need to first focus on energy efficiency and weatherization. That investment will reduce energy costs, make the homes more comfortable and more valuable.
We need to be more aggressive about our investment in affordable housing and senior housing. Right now, too many Mainers face the risk of being priced out of their homes and communities, or can’t afford to live where they work.
We should work to restore funding for Maine’s Circuit Breaker program and the Homestead Exemption to help reduce the burden on property taxes on low-income homeowners and renters.
We also need to attack the problem from the other end. We need to give Maine workers a raise. I support increasing the minimum wage and making the earned income tax credit refundable. Both will lift more families out of poverty and help them to better afford a safe place to live.
We also have to stop playing games with municipal revenue sharing, which drives up property taxes, and the state must get on the path to meeting its obligation to fund education. Those two things will take pressure off property taxes and help people afford to stay in their homes or purchase a new one.
Every community’s housing needs are a little different. In my hometown, we have vacant houses. On the coast, longtime residents, particularly on a fixed income, are land rich and cash poor, making it difficult to pay taxes. In Portland, prices are rising faster than salaries, making it hard for teachers, firefighters and other middle class professionals to live where they work. We have to tailor our approach to the specific problems in different parts of the state.
3. Tourism is a top economic driver in Maine, especially on the coast—how would you would support and enhance it?
Cutler:
We need to promote year-round, destination and cultural tourism throughout Maine, including our special island communities. Lasting and meaningful growth in the Maine economy—more jobs and higher incomes—will be hard to come by in the absence of real growth in Maine’s No. 1 industry. On the other hand, dramatic increases in year-round, destination and cultural tourism would fuel not only annual increases in the volume of tourists but also increases in the amounts of spending per tourist visit. With increases in tourist spending will come better-paying jobs in Maine’s tourism economy.
To capitalize on our competitive industries like tourism, our state must invest the kind of time, effort, expertise and money that is necessary to develop a brand that is meaningful, a true umbrella brand that embraces all of the products and experiences for which we want Maine to be known. We should begin investing in a serious and sustained way now, so our brand can be an enduring economic driver even in challenging economic times.
Building a powerful brand for our state is both an investment opportunity and an obligation that we have ignored for decades. For a state where so many jobs are now and will be in the future tied to tourism and other areas of the creative economy, there aren’t many more important investments that we can make in our future and in our kids’ futures than the development of a strong Maine brand.
Furthermore, the Cutler administration will commit to an annual increase of $10 million in the state’s promotion budget (paid for by our property tax relief plan) to be spent leveraging our competitive strengths through the development and promotion of a strong Maine brand and better marketing of our state.
LePage:
First we must continue to protect the Maine brand. The natural beauty of our state is indeed a tremendous selling point, and we need to ensure that it can be enjoyed for generations into the future.
In order to grow this critical industry, it is important that we examine untapped markets, particularly at the international level. We must also create a business climate here in Maine that affords our hospitality industry the best opportunity to be successful. When these primarily small businesses make money, they reinvest in their business, either in improving their property or service, or allowing them to market their business
Michaud:
National and international forecasts show that tourism will remain a reliable driver of Maine’s economy for decades.
We have a unique opportunity to leverage our status and history as a world-class destination and our “Maine Brand” to market products to visitors from around the globe.
It’s not enough to simply work to attract more people to Maine or to set arbitrary goals for increased visitation that are unsupported by our current tourism infrastructure. Instead, Maine should capitalize on the state’s brand to support a broader range of products and services.
I want to turn every visitor to Maine into a lifelong consumer of Maine products. That way, we gain an economic benefits from their visit long after they leave. I will work to build a national market for high-quality Maine products by directly marketing to visitors after they have returned home.
I want to start the Maine Tourism Training Initiative to create a cadre of world-class tourism professionals, and create the Maine Tourism Leaders Program to help exceptional tourism businesses attract higher-spending visitors.
We also have to lock-in Maine’s tourism competitive advantage by conserving our natural and scenic assets, and protecting our clean air and clean water, our downtowns and our working waterfronts.
4. Maine’s fishing industry is highly dependent on lobster. What would you do to ensure that Maine’s fishing families have a fallback source of income if the lobster catch declines in value?
Cutler:
Maine’s coastal and island economies are exceedingly dependent on our lobster resource and the related businesses it supports; the entire state of Maine would suffer if something drastic happened in the lobster industry. I will work to ensure that we maintain the robust lobster fishery that we have today, and I also will promote research and policies that will allow us to diversify our marine resource economy.
As governor, I will have open and transparent relationships with my cabinet and their departments. Certainly in the case of the Department of Marine Resources, we cannot separate management, science and enforcement—they all must work together in order for us to have ecologically and economically sustainable coastal and island communities. I believe there is considerable additional research that we need to do in order to properly manage our lobster resource and all of our marine species.
I am also interested in exploring studies that will provide more insight into what is happening with our lobster populations in the face of rising water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, climbing sea levels, ocean acidification, the arrival of new, aggressive predators from the south and other environmental or social pressures. I believe we also need a fishery management plan for lobster that we can invoke in the event of a disaster.
Diversifying our economy is not just a challenge for fishing families; it is also a challenge for families that have depended on the paper industry and other traditional Maine industries. The best thing we can do to diversify our economy and provide fallback sources of income is invest in an educated, trained workforce that will attract a variety of new businesses to Maine and create new opportunities for businesses that are already here. I also believe that technology can play a big role in ensuring that our island communities share in those opportunities.
LePage:
This question focuses on value and not landings, which is appropriate. Lobster landings could decrease, but that might not mean there is any problem with the lobster resource. But if value decreases, it is definitely a problem for the industry.
To proactively avoid any erosion in the value of lobster, my administration supported the overhaul of the old marketing efforts to create the more effective Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative which will build demand for Maine lobster. In addition, Commissioner Keliher submitted guiding legislation, and has been meeting with the lobster industry, to introduce the concept of a state fisheries management plan for lobster. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that we are equipped for any changes to the resource, and can act appropriately to minimize impacts on the industry.
It is a matter of being prepared, and not having to rely on a regional management entity (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council) to make decisions that we should be making for ourselves about what we want to achieve in Maine.
Beyond that, I see the work that DMR does as part of our state’s economic development, and want to ensure that they have the resources they need to conduct the good science and proper enforcement that will allow fishing to continue to support coastal communities for generations to come.
Under my administration, DMR will continue the hard work of rebuilding our fisheries, which have declined, so that there is greater opportunity for participation in the future. The recent gains in the scallop resource have certainly provided increased opportunity for winter fishing by lobstermen who have also held that license.
Finally, there is significant opportunity for growth in the aquaculture sector, which may be of interest to some fishermen who want to diversify their activities on the water, beyond what they have traditionally done.
Michaud:
I believe that Maine can become the food basket for all of New England by supporting our farms and families.
Maine’s lobstermen and women have faced some significant hardships in recent years. As the size of the catch has increased, prices have fallen at the dock. I want to place a new emphasis on marketing and on increasing processing and other value-added industries in Maine so more of the dollars from the fishery stay in the state.
I will place a new, high-level focus on agriculture and fishing within a Michaud administration and a complete review of state policies and regulations that impact the sectors.
We will invest in new infrastructure, including support for business planning and low-interest loans, and create an institutional buying program that will put more Maine products into schools and other state-supported organizations.
I will support increased commitment to protecting farmland and working waterfronts, and make sure that we can provide technical assistance and capital for agricultural and fishing businesses.
We will also create a training program to help the next generation of farmers and fishermen to learn best practices and the basics of running a small business.