Follow-up
We reported to you about a month ago in summary form some of the things that we learned at the forum held on October 17, 2007. We noted one of the main themes of the forum was the need for Maine business and government, leaders as well as Maine people in general, to adopt a business friendly attitude. It was agreed that we need a more focused, long-term plan and heavy participation by businesses in the plans. We pointed out that the Department of Labor needed to be more involved than it is currently and more empowered to track workforce needs.
Importantly, we need leadership by business, by government, by the people, and by the Legislature. We need bipartisanship. We support the work of the legislative Prosperity Committee.
Most attendees at the forum agreed that the term regulatory climate in Augusta is "tense" -we need a more welcoming atmosphere at all levels and in all departments of government. It was suggested that the Executive Department take the lead in getting political parties to work together to advance Maine's future. We offered to facilitate that work.
We asked for your feedback and we got it. Most people said that we need to continue our work, so here are some current results:
Legislative Matters
Representative Nancy Smith has taken the lead in suggesting that the committee which she co-chairs along with Senator Bromley, the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee, use the "Measure of Growth in Focus" prepared by the Maine Development Foundation as a basis and as a guide for the committee's work. You will recall that the annual report of the Maine Economic Growth Council touches in the areas of economy, community, and environment and there are some twenty-three touchstones rated in terms of their importance and need for attention. The Council gave only two of those areas a star for exceptional performance -that of health insurance coverage and sustainable forest lands-but noted that there were a number of areas red flagged for serious attention. They are as follows: Research and development expenditures; Manufacturing productivity; State and local tax burden; Cost of health care; and Transportation infrastructure. Click here for an outline of their findings.
Wouldn't it be great if every legislative committee took the excellent planning done by the Maine Economic Growth Council, put that together with the Brookings Report and then used those as benchmarks for legislative actions? If we get that accomplished, and I believe we can, that would be an important step forward.
We understand that Representative Smith and her committee are going to feature these performance measures as touchstones for decisions on legislation which comes before them and that they will urge other committees to do the same. We're helping to facilitate that effort with Laurie Lachance, the head of the Maine Development Foundation, and we think this is an excellent idea.
The Maine Development Foundation will, within the next couple of months release their 2008 findings and we're anxiously looking forward to receiving them. We have in mind a quote from Laurie Lachance as follows:
"Our strongly held values of equity and fairness have, at times, led to a propensity to spread investments across sectors or geographies rather than focus our limited development resources on the area, program or sector with the highest economic return or likelihood of success."
Executive Department Matters
Elwood Ellis sent us some excellent vision statements for schools and that is attached with this report. It strongly suggests, at all levels, a vigorous and relevant core curriculum in literacy, arts, social studies, mathematics, science and technology, all supplemented by elective courses. Take a look at it-it's excellent.
The Department of Education, under the leadership of Commissioner Susan Gendron, is moving forward with our school consolidation and, in spite of a petition drive to bring a halt to the entire proceedings for school consolidation, we have come in under budget, so to speak. There were 75 plans submitted for regional school consolidations; 3 are pending; and there are 5 letters submitted in place of a plan; and one refusal to submit. Essentially, we're within the original contemplation and the Commissioner expects those to drop to between 70 and 80. That sounds like excellent progress.
The Board of Jobs for Maine's Graduates (JMG), which Jon Doyle chairs, recently voted to expand its presence in Maine in assisting young people with potential to stay in and complete high school. By the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year, JMG will have an additional 20 plus school base sites for a total of 80 throughout the state growing the current total of 2,600 students served to 4,000. The majority of these new sites will be at the middle school level to reach students at what has proven to be one of the most critical periods in their education careers. JMG is going to launch an expansion fund, including commitment from JAG Board of Directors via corporate gifts, awards from foundations, major corporate gifts, and work with key partners and the stakeholders, including Jobs for America's Graduates, the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Department of Labor, Common Good Ventures, Quaglia Center for Student Aspirations, the Maine Community Foundation, and the Unity Foundation.
Maine has the best record in the country for similar programs and Governor Baldacci chairs the parent national organization. Its charge is to make sure that kids with potential get an appropriate high school education and that they stay in high school. Our graduation rate exceeds that of kids who aren't in the program and, based on tracking by the Maine Department of Labor, they make more money than the average high school graduates. We're going to enhance our program.
Media Action
Mary Mayo-Wescott of Augusta who has a weekly show entitled "Maine View Business Magazine" has featured panelists from our forum on several of her shows and is doing an excellent job keeping the matter before those in the capitol area. We've had some ongoing conversations with the print media, particularly through Representative Nancy Smith talking with John Christie, the Editor of the Kennebec Journal, who has been more than willing to listen and react.
There have also been discussions on Maine Watch with host Jennifer Rooks featuring Representative Nancy Smith and Laurie Lachance, two of our panelists. That's available on www.mpbn.net/mainewatch/portland+chamber+of+commerce.html. Give me a call and I will tell you a great conversation I had with Laurie Lachance.
Future Action
It's our intention to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas and actions and along those lines in the next month or so we'll get out another report and keep you posted on legislative action and their reaction to recent measures of growth for legislative benchmarks.
Recent Updates
12/31/07 - The Draft Final report of the Committee on Future Maine Prosperity is available and may be obtained by directing an email to Natalie.Haynes@legislature.maine.gov.
