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LISBON FALLS, ME – Tonight, Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason laid out his clear plan to put Maine First, answering questions about the economy, our education system, and the citizens’ initiative process.
“You make more money, have more jobs, your home is worth more, and you’re safer than when Democrats ran the state before 2010,” said Senator Mason. “The policies we have passed with Governor LePage the past seven years are just the beginning. It is time to put the gas pedal down and continuing fighting for lower taxes until the eventual elimination of the income tax. The best path to prosperity is to cut taxes and drive the economy upward, leaving more money in private hands so that people, not government, can solve their own problems.”
When asked about education spending in Maine, Senator Mason said, “Two out of every three students in Maine public schools aren’t able to do basic math and half don’t meet the minimum score for English. We need to find more effective ways to spend the money we already have. Currently, we spend more on local school than any other single item in the state budget — $1.2 billion this year alone. However, only 60% of the funds are spent on actually teaching our children. We must do better or we are going to doom our children to a life of poverty and intermittent employment. We need to make sure our kids are getting the education needed to compete in the world of tomorrow.”
Maine’s citizen’s initiative process has been the target of many debates and political conversations this year. Senator Mason, the Chair of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee which oversees the process, has consistently stated that the policy must be changed to make it harder for our of state and out of country special interests to pursue their policy experiments and “return the control back to the people of Maine.” In order to do so, Mason laid out the following three solutions: 1) base the amount of signatures necessary to earn your spot on the ballot off of the presidential year turnout not the gubernatorial election turnout; 2) require a certain amount of signatures from each of Maine’s congressional districts to ensure southern Maine does not drive statewide policy; 3) do not tie legislation to a boiled down question that does not fully represent the policy.
Garrett Mason made on thing clear tonight – Maine families and Maine businesses must be put first.
