AMFTony Payne, a lifetime political and civic activist, is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Maine's Future. He has over 30 years experience in Maine's business community including service as Vice President of Underwriting & Marketing for Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company as well as the New England Region Vice President for Communications at OneBeacon Insurance. In addition, he was President of Maine Media, Inc. and has been honored with the Edward L. Bernays Award for lifetime achievements by the Maine Public Relations Council. He currently serves on the Town Council in Falmouth where he and his wife are raising three sons.
entry 31 of 76 < previous | next >
Six Flags Over Maine, Bag Fees Not Amusing
Mar 3, 2009 02:11 PM
Categories: Economy, Government at Work
You've heard of the Six Flags amusement parks that dot the US landscape. Now Maine has its own six flags but none of them are any fun.
The Measures of Growth in Focus 2009, an annual barometer of Maine's economy, was released last week by the members of the Maine Economic Growth Council and the Maine Development Foundation. They assigned six red warning flags to the 24 categories for which they gather data on Maine's economy.
- Per capita income remains low and aggravates the state's tax burden
- High speed internet subscribers are not keeping pace with region or nation
- Manufacturing productivity also is not keeping pace with the nation
- Cost of health care is 33% higher than the national average
- Cost of energy is 32% higher than the national average
- State and local tax burden is not closing the gap toward the New England average
The members of the Maine Economic Growth Council also awarded four of its measures a gold star, one more than in their 2008 report.
- Research and development expenditures rose with the recently voter-approved R&D bond
- On-the-job injuries and illnesses continued to decline
- Chronic diseases (cardiac, cancers, diabetes) declined
- Health insurance coverage remained high compared to the national average
The report uses the most recently available data, however, it may be data for years as far back as 2004 and not much that is more recent than 2007. Nevertheless, this report remains one of the most thorough studies of Maine's economic performance and should serve as a constant guide when considering the impact of public policies on Maine's relative prosperity.
Plastic Bag Fee Deserves the Sack
Charge you for plastic bags and send the money to Augusta? Wait a minute!
A proposal (LD 367) by Sen. John Nutting of Leeds (SenJohn.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov) would charge consumers ten cents per plastic bag at the checkout; require businesses to count the number of bags "sold"; and, then, remit the entire amount to state government for their use in the state's recycling education efforts. The problem it seeks to cure is litter and one-time useage.
While using canvas or other reusable totes should be encouraged to ferry groceries and other goods from the store, legislating the behavior deserves the sack for a variety of reasons:
- This creates new revenue to the state with no guarantee that it would be applied to the stated use
- There is no consideration of the cost to businesses to manage this program though the Department of Environmental Protection would be allowed to recover "reasonable" expenses to administer the program
- It will surely result in more state employees to run the bag-fee program as well as add staff for the expenditure of this revenue
Once again, it sends the message that Maine is a one-of-a-kind state that is unfriendly to business
- Imagine the greater amount of energy used to manufacture, ship and store politically-correct paper bags presuming they are to be exempted! The carbon footprint would dwarf the hi-tech solution we know as plastic bags.
Just like the attempt years ago to ban juice boxes in Maine this is not good for Maine people, the environment or the economy.
Press Herald Says NO to "Card Check" Bill in Congress
The battle for your opinion is on. Organized labor is fighting for a dramatic change in how unions are allowed to organize workers. A Portland Press Herald editorial recently opposed the controversial bill that would open every mom and pop business in Maine to union organizers - without the adequate protection of a secret ballot.
As Andy Charles, a Westbrook business owner, suggested at a recent news conference, a business owner could go home on Friday night while union organizers collected signed cards from a majority of those employees during the weekend. On Monday morning, the business would be unionized - without any discussion, vote or a chance for the employer to offer a counter argument.
If employers are abusing the current secret ballot pprovisions, as union proponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) charge, then new or existing remedies should be used to stop the practice. This bill, on the other hand, is not just over-swinging on the issue, it is a heavy-handed attempt to undermine democracy in the workplace. It is also interesting that the "card check" tactic is not allowed to decertify a union or change which union will represent workers.
Pass it on, please!
We really appreciate your support and engagement and hope you continue to find our newsletter of use and interest. In the meantime, please pass this and future newsletters along to your friends, family, co-workers, customers and vendors. Knowledge is power. Thanks so much!
Legislative Contact Information:
State Representatives:
2 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
Tel: 1-800-423-2900
(preferred method of contact)
State Senators:
3 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
Tel: 1-800-423-6900
(preferred method of contact)
To e-mail your state legislators, click here.
Need a speaker?
We are always looking for opportunities to talk about Maine's economy and the impact of public policy on jobs, capital investment and the cost of government. Please let us know if your company, service organization or trade association would like to have a speaker either before or after the election. Just drop us an e-mail (info@allianceformaine.org) and we'll get back to you.
Please, pass this along to your friends, family, co-workers, vendors and customers and ask them to do the same. You can make a difference! Thanks!
Tony Payne
Executive Director
207-232-7830
tpayne@allianceformaine.org
The Measures of Growth in Focus 2009, an annual barometer of Maine's economy, was released last week by the members of the Maine Economic Growth Council and the Maine Development Foundation. They assigned six red warning flags to the 24 categories for which they gather data on Maine's economy.
- Per capita income remains low and aggravates the state's tax burden
- High speed internet subscribers are not keeping pace with region or nation
- Manufacturing productivity also is not keeping pace with the nation
- Cost of health care is 33% higher than the national average
- Cost of energy is 32% higher than the national average
- State and local tax burden is not closing the gap toward the New England average
The members of the Maine Economic Growth Council also awarded four of its measures a gold star, one more than in their 2008 report.
- Research and development expenditures rose with the recently voter-approved R&D bond
- On-the-job injuries and illnesses continued to decline
- Chronic diseases (cardiac, cancers, diabetes) declined
- Health insurance coverage remained high compared to the national average
The report uses the most recently available data, however, it may be data for years as far back as 2004 and not much that is more recent than 2007. Nevertheless, this report remains one of the most thorough studies of Maine's economic performance and should serve as a constant guide when considering the impact of public policies on Maine's relative prosperity.
Plastic Bag Fee Deserves the Sack
Charge you for plastic bags and send the money to Augusta? Wait a minute!
A proposal (LD 367) by Sen. John Nutting of Leeds (SenJohn.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov) would charge consumers ten cents per plastic bag at the checkout; require businesses to count the number of bags "sold"; and, then, remit the entire amount to state government for their use in the state's recycling education efforts. The problem it seeks to cure is litter and one-time useage.
While using canvas or other reusable totes should be encouraged to ferry groceries and other goods from the store, legislating the behavior deserves the sack for a variety of reasons:
- This creates new revenue to the state with no guarantee that it would be applied to the stated use
- There is no consideration of the cost to businesses to manage this program though the Department of Environmental Protection would be allowed to recover "reasonable" expenses to administer the program
- It will surely result in more state employees to run the bag-fee program as well as add staff for the expenditure of this revenue
Once again, it sends the message that Maine is a one-of-a-kind state that is unfriendly to business
- Imagine the greater amount of energy used to manufacture, ship and store politically-correct paper bags presuming they are to be exempted! The carbon footprint would dwarf the hi-tech solution we know as plastic bags.
Just like the attempt years ago to ban juice boxes in Maine this is not good for Maine people, the environment or the economy.
Press Herald Says NO to "Card Check" Bill in Congress
The battle for your opinion is on. Organized labor is fighting for a dramatic change in how unions are allowed to organize workers. A Portland Press Herald editorial recently opposed the controversial bill that would open every mom and pop business in Maine to union organizers - without the adequate protection of a secret ballot.
As Andy Charles, a Westbrook business owner, suggested at a recent news conference, a business owner could go home on Friday night while union organizers collected signed cards from a majority of those employees during the weekend. On Monday morning, the business would be unionized - without any discussion, vote or a chance for the employer to offer a counter argument.
If employers are abusing the current secret ballot pprovisions, as union proponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) charge, then new or existing remedies should be used to stop the practice. This bill, on the other hand, is not just over-swinging on the issue, it is a heavy-handed attempt to undermine democracy in the workplace. It is also interesting that the "card check" tactic is not allowed to decertify a union or change which union will represent workers.
Pass it on, please!
We really appreciate your support and engagement and hope you continue to find our newsletter of use and interest. In the meantime, please pass this and future newsletters along to your friends, family, co-workers, customers and vendors. Knowledge is power. Thanks so much!
Legislative Contact Information:
State Representatives:
2 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
Tel: 1-800-423-2900
(preferred method of contact)
State Senators:
3 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
Tel: 1-800-423-6900
(preferred method of contact)
To e-mail your state legislators, click here.
Need a speaker?
We are always looking for opportunities to talk about Maine's economy and the impact of public policy on jobs, capital investment and the cost of government. Please let us know if your company, service organization or trade association would like to have a speaker either before or after the election. Just drop us an e-mail (info@allianceformaine.org) and we'll get back to you.
Please, pass this along to your friends, family, co-workers, vendors and customers and ask them to do the same. You can make a difference! Thanks!
Tony Payne
Executive Director
207-232-7830
tpayne@allianceformaine.org
ewv says,
You could have called it "6 Bags over maine" because all of it is a direct result of Augusta's stifling taxes and social controls -- except that it is a lot more than 6.
Maybe Sen. Nutting wants to be Augusta's bag man bringing in the loot.
Mar 6, 2009 12:02 AM
B.A.Lambert says,
The members of the Maine Economic Growth Council awarding a gold star for a decline in on-the-job injuries and illnesses is just like giving a child a trophy for participating in a sport.
It has no intrinsic value.
At least The Measures of Growth in Focus 2009 pointed out that injury reduction is correlated to job loss in the industrial sector. Looking at the 2008 and 2009 job losses the 2010; 2011 & 2012 reports should be able to place platinum or "Gold-pressed latinum" (see Star Trek for definition of this precious metal) stars on the reduction of injuries.
More symbols of false success: job loss = injury reduction = Latinum Star Awards.
Mar 12, 2009 09:39 AM
entry 31 of 76 < previous | next >
2 Comments: