NEW CANADA, Maine — Senate Democratic Leader Troy Jackson of Allagash will host Gov. Paul LePage at a logging roundtable at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in New Canada.
The purpose of the meeting is to let the governor hear firsthand from Maine loggers and truckers about the effect unfair Canadian competition has on their livelihoods and their families. The event begins at 4 p.m. at the Sly Brook Sno-Riders Club, 114 Sly Brook Rd., New Canada.
Jackson invited Gov. LePage to Aroostook County to hear from workers in the logging industry after the governor vetoed a bill, LD 1573, a bill with bipartisan support that would have required Mainers to be hired for logging operations on state-owned land and on land owned by people or businesses who received state subsidies.
“I’m tired of coming home from Augusta to hear my colleagues in the logging industry say that their machines or trucks are idle because all the local work is being done by workers from across the border,” said Jackson, a fifth-generation logger whose family still makes a living in the Maine woods.
“If families like mine are ever going to get relief from unfair international competition, decisionmakers in Augusta need to understand the real effect that international competition has on local workers and the local economy,” Jackson said.
Following the veto of LD 1573, Jackson submitted a new bill for consideration in the next legislative session. The bill, which is still being drafted, would incentivize the hiring of American loggers and truckers by providing a new “Hire American” tax credit for businesses that hire workers from the United States.
