PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — House Rep. Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, will be serving as assistant minority leader in the Maine Legislature over the next two years and plans to collaborate across the political spectrum to address problems affecting northern Maine.
On Nov. 6, Stewart was re-elected to his second term representing much of Presque Isle in House District 147, and was subsequently elected by Republicans to the position of assistant minority leader, also known as whip of the House Republican caucus.
“It’s a good way to get the trust of your peers,” said Stewart, who at age 24 is one of the youngest state legislators in the country.
Stewart said he’ll be hoping to build on momentum from his first two year session to tackle issues such as workforce development, and added that he’ll be working with Democrats, who will hold a majority in the House and Senate as well as control the executive branch of government.
“If we want to be successful, we have to work with the other side,” Stewart said.
Of the 10 legislative leaders from both parties in Augusta, two will be from Aroostook County, he noted, referring to State Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, who was elected to serve as Senate president.
“It should be a good session for The County,” Stewart said. “Between the two of us, we should be able to address these problems in a collaborative way.”
Among the issues he wants to tackle are those affecting much of rural Maine and in particular Aroostook County, in the inter-related areas of economic development and demographics.
Stewart said he wants to work on “figuring out ways to diversify our forest products sector and building access to new markets.”
That includes solutions to northern Maine’s higher-than-average energy costs and ways to help the biomass industry, which has seen depressed prices for biomass electricity that in turn mean decreased revenues for logging operations that sell wood residues. The ReEnergy biomass plant in Fort Fairfield recently shut down operations, amid the low electricity prices and value of renewable energy credits.
Another issue is the workforce, Stewart said.
“We need to make sure we’re addressing the skills gap specific to rural Maine, making sure our [career and technical education] programs and community colleges are robust and meeting the needs of the workforce.”
And the overarching issue is rural Maine’s demographics, reflected in Aroostook County as the oldest county in the oldest state in the country.
“If we don’t reverse our demographic trends, we’re going to be in big trouble,” Stewart said.
