Governor Mills Welcomes Members of the 132nd Maine Legislature

Governor Janet Mills tonight welcomed the members-elect of the 132nd Maine Legislature to Maine's state capital during a banquet and reception for incoming legislators at the Augusta Civic Center. The banquet was held as part of the Pre-Legislative Conference, a gathering hosted by the Legislative Council to prepare new and returning lawmakers for the next session of the Maine Legislature. Governor Mills will swear-in members of the 132nd Maine Legislature tomorrow.

The Governor's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are as follows:

Good evening. It is my honor to welcome the incoming members of the 132nd Legislature ahead of the regular session which begins tomorrow, December 4, 2024!

Just over two hundred and forty-one years ago tonight (December 4, 1783), another group of people gathered in a tavern in New York City. It had been only nine days since the last British soldier had left American soil and eight years after a brutal war for the independence of the United States had begun.

General George Washington was set to take his final leave of the army he commanded. In his farewell orders delivered earlier that fall, he credited his victory to the men in that room in New York -- the soldiers who, he said, "came from the different parts of the continent, strongly disposed by the habits of education to despise and quarrel with each other," who nevertheless became "one patriotic band of brothers." He celebrated their perseverance through "almost every possible suffering and discouragement" as "nothing short of a miracle."

Today, drawn from sixteen different counties across the State of Maine, you one hundred and eighty-six public servants have been chosen to represent the interests and wellbeing of 1.4 million people.

You are educators and members of law enforcement, farmers and fishermen, consultants and contractors, firefighters and physicians, retirees and realtors, social workers and software engineers. You are veterans of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Air Force, Air National Guard, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. One of your members responded at Ground Zero to the 9/11 terrorist attacks; and some of you are 911 dispatchers. You are former bartenders and barbers, Eagle troop and girl scout leaders, cartographers and coaches.

One member is a soil scientist. Another an expert in ticks. Many of you go by nicknames -- like Billy Bob instead of William, and Trey instead of Harold. (and this year we'll miss "Bucket" Davis in the House) Some of you are former corrections officers, crop farmers, and DARE coordinators -- oh wait, that's all just Senator Scott Cyrway.

The new Senate membership, with ages ranging from 30 to 75 years, will include for the first time three Black members, including the very first Black person in Senate leadership, Assistant Majority Leader Duson. And she is joining an all-female majority leadership team that will guide a chamber that includes three farmers, two small business owners, one police officer, a nurse-midwife and an energy efficiency educator.

The new House, with members ranging from ages 25 to 79, will include its very first Japanese American member, three Somali American members, one former semi-pro basketball player, 5 attorneys, 10 educators, 8 healthcare professionals, 7 real estate agents, one electrician and four current or former lobstermen.

You all bring very different life experiences to the state's capital, and that is at the heart of our democracy -- people coming from differing areas with life experiences who represent their constituents, debate, find common ground, and ultimately create policy and laws that will improve the lives of Maine people.

For those 36 of you who are brand new to this legislative business -- those who have never served before -- my advice is: Get out of your comfort zone. Go out of your way to get to know members from different parties and different regions of the state from your own.

Enjoy your committee assignment, whether it's your first pick or your last committee choice; learn from other committee members, figure out who the go-to people are of either party on issues like taxation, education, healthcare, health insurance and appropriations; and get answers to your questions.

Look carefully at the language of the bills before you. Make sure that they meet the goal, that they don't create unintended consequences or try to solve problems that don't exist.

Beyond that, you may also want to get a glossary -- You will want to know the difference between GPA and EPS, MMA, UMS, MSSM, CDC, CDS and CMS; OPLA, OPEGA & OFPR; DEP, CERCLA, NEPA, RCRA, LUPC; AG and Ag and MGFA, and a lot of other alphabet soup!

Know the difference between a structural gap and a deficit; unfunded mandates versus unexpended fund balances, enterprise funds, TANs versus general fund bonds versus Garvee bonds.

Learning all this and holding down a job and remaining close with family, friends and constituents is not easy; but there are also plenty of helpful staff to keep you informed, to keep you on track, to minimize anxiety and to keep you in touch with the folks back home.

As the 132nd Legislature convenes with both new and experienced members, it will be called again to solve problems and create good public policy for the people of our state.

Your first test will be enacting a responsible biennial budget.

That's going to require tough choices.

In the coming weeks, I will be putting forward a budget that is lean and that maintains, to the greatest extent possible, commitments the Legislature has already made.

Now, the Legislature has taken my previous budget proposals and then put its own mark on them, adding its own measures. Many of those measures were important, but they did add to the state budget.

As you consider my budget proposal, and other legislation before you, I urge you to keep the long-term fiscal stability of our state as a high priority.

Outside of the state budget, I am sure that we will deal with other pressing issues -- from housing to health care to education, workforce, property taxes, increased costs and lots more -- but I know you are all committed to reaching common-sense solutions and consensus on complex matters and that you will do so well before the third Wednesday of June 2025.

Just over two hundred and forty-one years ago, in the dawning days of a new nation, General Washington counseled his soldiers to change their military character into that of a citizen, with that "steady, decent tenor of behavior," anticipating from their "good sense and prudence, the happiest results."

At the dawn of this new legislative session, I offer my heartfelt thanks for your service, and I look forward working with you all in the months ahead to achieve the kind of smart and steady progress and "happy results" that the people of this state deserve!

Thank you!

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