AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage, in his final State of the State address on Tuesday, vowed to keep fighting for Maine’s residents until his last moment in office and urged them to pick a new governor and Legislature who will keep politicians from running the state into the ground.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage, in his final State of the State address on Tuesday, vowed to keep fighting for Maine’s residents until his last moment in office and urged them to pick a new governor and Legislature who will keep politicians from running the state into the ground.
LePage said he never imagined he’d go from living on the streets of Lewiston to living in the governor’s mansion, where, he said, he’s fought to bring Ronald Reagan-style conservative principles to a state with a long independent streak.
The governor said that after “bringing fiscal sanity to Augusta,” it’s time for the nation’s oldest state to “reinvent” itself to attract young adults with innovative student debt relief programs and invest in research and commercialization.
“Put on your work boots. Our job is not done. Now is not the time to slow down,” said LePage, who recently met with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., to talk about infrastructure and economic development initiatives.
In recent months, the outspoken governor has shied away from personal attacks while touting his financial accomplishments and focusing on his policy goals, like lowering energy costs.
He stuck to similar themes in his Tuesday address and said that before he took office in 2011 the Legislature used the state’s rainy-day dollars as a slush fund that hurt the state’s credit rating. He said he “right-sized” the state government workforce, eliminated red tape, created charter schools, cut taxes and improved the infrastructure.
LePage, who’s known for railing against his opponents, used his address to thank Republicans and Democrats who’ve worked with him, including Democratic Sen. Troy Jackson, whom LePage once accused of having a “black heart.”
LePage also spoke forcefully against out-of-state groups that have pushed citizen initiatives such as voter-approved Medicaid expansion.
Democrats criticized LePage for not mentioning the state’s opioid epidemic, which is killing about one Maine resident a day. Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon said the address included too much finger-pointing and the governor’s legacy will be of an executive branch unwilling to work with lawmakers together on such issues.
The governor entered the House chamber to chants of “Health care now!” from protesters who called on him to stop dragging his heels on Medicaid expansion. Lawmakers said this week they haven’t received required monthly reports from his administration on the roll-out of expanding Medicaid to roughly 80,000 low-income residents.
LePage also touched upon a laundry list of policy goals for his last year, from protecting elderly citizens from foreclosure, to taxing conservation land owned by trusts, to making Maine a “right-to-work” state. He’s gotten pushback from Democratic Attorney General Janet Mills and a county official on his moves to empty a state minimum-security prison that costs about $5 million a year to run and that lawmakers had funded through June.
The governor can’t seek re-election because of term limits. His successor could be one of two dozen gubernatorial hopefuls, who include legislative leaders and his former Department of Health and Human Services commissioner Mary Mayhew.
LePage issued a word of caution to voters: “We will be voting whether to continue the path we were on or revert back to where we were.”
Mainers for Health Care rallied outside the State House prior to Gov. Paul LePage’s State of the State address, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Augusta, Maine. The coalition that supported the successful Yes on 2 campaign to expand Medicaid in 2017 say LePage and his allies in the Legislature are trying to block Medicaid expansion, which is now state law. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Gov. Paul LePage arrives to deliver the State of the State address to the Legislature, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address to the Legislature, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address in the House Chamber, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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