He left home at 11 after a rough childhood, spending time on the streets, yet managed to finish both high school and college. He later went on to work as a Pepsi-Cola truck driver, at a meat-packing plant and as a short-order cook. This is the story of Gov. Paul LePage, who, in a little more than six months, has ushered in sweeping reforms for Maine — a record of accomplishments it might take other governors years to achieve. What’s even more remarkable is that LePage is a tea party-backed …
Maine is one of the noteworthy states that worked on state health care reform in the spring legislative session. For years, Maine has suffered under poor health policy—leading to fewer insured, skyrocketing premiums, and few coverage choices. Last week, Governor Paul LePage (R) spoke to an audience at The Heritage Foundation about the need for state innovation and free-market solutions instead of a federal government takeover of the health care system. In his comments, Governor LePage pointed out that the diversity of states is a critical consideration in health care …
The disheartening impact of Obamacare has solidified doubt and resistance surrounding federal health reform. It will burden small businesses and dump millions more into the failing Medicaid program. As a result, states are increasingly using their authority to implement health-care reforms tailored to their citizens. Gov. Paul LePage of Maine is leading the way in the fight against government-run health care. Today he visits Heritage to share his insights on the issue. The event will be broadcast live online at 2 p.m., followed by an expert panel, including Florida state Rep. …
An Issue Brief released yesterday by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation (RWJF) concludes that small firms would largely benefit from the reform efforts that have been put forth in both the Senate bill (HR 3590) and the House bill (HR 3200). While the benefits from these bills to small businesses already are uncertain – and likely even deleterious – the latest version of the senate bill is even less likely to result in actual benefits for small employers. Previous Heritage analysis has shown that small businesses would be affected by …
Yesterday in a victory that was not as close as the final pre-election polls had suggested, voters in Maine adopted a “people’s veto” to protect the traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The margin was 53-47. The voting was closely watched for several reasons, as each of the other 30 states that have held popular votes on marriage redefinition has seen popular majorities approve the traditional understanding. Even more important, had proponents of same-sex marriage prevailed in Maine, it would have marked the …
As citizens in Maine and Washington state near votes on measures to protect traditional marriage, a subtheme of the debate on this issue is being raised anew: the harassment and intimidation of advocates of traditional marriage by their opponents on the issue. On Wednesday of this week, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 to preserve a stay on Washington state’s planned publishing of the names of citizens who signed the petition that put marriage-equivalent benefits for same-sex couples on the November 3 ballot. Washington’s law SB 5688 is controversial because …
Today’s Wall Street Journal reviews the results from Maine’s experiment with Obamacare: In 2003, the state to great fanfare enacted its own version of universal health care. Democratic Governor John Baldacci signed the plan into law with a bevy of familiar promises. By 2009, it would cover all of Maine’s approximately 128,000 uninsured citizens. System-wide controls on hospital and physician costs would hold down insurance premiums. There would be no tax increases. The program was going to provide insurance for everyone and save businesses and patients money at the same …
The federal stimulus package is allowing the Governor and Legislature to put off making the hard and necessary decisions to put Maine’s economy on a sustainable, long-term financial footing. For example, recent research by The Maine Heritage Policy Center finds that the state workforce is both over-employed and over-paid when compared to national averages. A restructuring of the state workforce would have saved up $435,224,338 in 2007. To Governor Baldacci’s credit, his latest budget does propose eliminating 219 positions—too bad he has another 4,278 to go. Instead of making additional …
