By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Incumbent Jessica Fay (D) is being challenged for the Maine House 86 (Casco, Raymond, Poland) seat by Republican candidate Gregory Foster. The News posed the following questions to the candidates, whose answers appear in alphabetical order.

Q. Why did you decide to enter politics?

Fay: I’m a small businessperson who is also a State Representative and I bring that perspective with me to the position. When I first decided to run for the Legislature, it was because I realized that I could bring a thoughtful, responsive and respectful perspective to the job. I didn’t decide to run for ideological reasons, I simply wanted to help people in our community solve problems.

I love our community, our entire region, and wanted a representative who would recognize how special this area is, would protect our environment, and would represent the district in a common-sense, bipartisan manner to really get things done.

Foster: Being politically active most of my adult life, I have supported candidates in their campaigns to get elected, including my dad who won three out of five elections as a state representative from Gray. More recently, I believe our state is moving in the wrong direction, and I am making this effort to correct it.

Q. What strength/skills would you bring to the position?

Fay: In order to most effectively represent the District, I have built relationships and worked to develop trust among my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as those who work in state government. While legislating sometimes requires passing laws, there are many times when there are other solutions to people’s problems – even simply making the right connection between a constituent and an agency can make a huge difference. These skills are invaluable and take time to cultivate.

Being patient and inviting and respecting different perspectives creates a better solution. This is why each bill that I have sponsored and passed has had bi-partisan support.

Foster: As a consulting forester, my expertise is in managing forest properties for private, non-industrial forest land owners in southern Maine. My knowledge is valuable as it pertains to promoting long-term forest management that makes these properties more valuable and less vulnerable to use changes. Protection of watersheds is a great benefit, when state policies and laws affecting forest land owners are preserved and enhanced. 

Q. What do you believe the role of government should be?

Fay: I believe the Preamble to the Constitution lays it out perfectly. Our government shall “establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” State government can play an important role in each of these domains – for example: protecting survivors of domestic violence, ensuring quality of life, promoting clean drinking water, and securing our elections.

Foster: It is to keep order and safety for the people.

Q. If elected, what would be your three priorities (and explain why they are a priority)?

Fay: If I have the privilege of being re-elected, I will continue to work on the issues that constituents have told me are important to them. 

1. We all hear about how Maine is the oldest state in the nation. Drawing attention to and passing policies that have impacted older Mainers like property tax relief, age-friendly communities and access to home care has been an important part of my legislative work. I will continue working to improve the way we value and care for older people in our communities so that everyone can age with dignity in the way that suits them best. This includes tax issues, workforce issues and healthcare issues.

2. Working to improve the way our laws protect survivors of domestic violence, specifically in the area of financial abuse. We have made some important progress in addressing issues like coerced debt but there is more to do.

3. Continuing to address toxic forever chemical contamination that is impacting Maine farmers and drinking water has been a focus of my legislative work, and I will continue that focus. PFAS chemicals can cause cancer and immune system issues as well as developmental problems for children.

Foster: 1. Education for K-12 is of high priority. Maine ranks 27th out of the 50 states. The US of A ranks in the 30s in the world, when it once was number 1. This state and nation will continue to prosper only if our students are better prepared for college, vocational school or the workforce. American companies needing qualified professionals are or will be looking outside of the nation for employees.

2. Maine taxpayers are among the very highest taxed in the nation. When federal money runs out, the cost of the recently expanded state government will increase the tax burden on them. Complicating this problem is the fact that fewer people are working now than before the pandemic, while at the same time Maine’s population has increased. 

3. The cost of doing business in Maine has contributed to the loss of businesses and the lack of attracting businesses to Maine. Recently, Irving, who owns a large portion of Maine’s forest, built a paper mill in Georgia, a result of Maine’s poor business climate. Paper mill jobs are among the highest paying jobs in the nation.

Q. What issues/problems do you feel the state has fallen short on and what do you propose to do to improve that situation?

Fay: Maine has fallen short on protecting our children. This is a complex problem whose solution should include supporting families in crisis and holding DHHS accountable. I currently sit on the Government Oversight Committee and we are in the process of investigating DHHS’s handling of child protective services. There are multiple interventions that should be implemented, including increasing transparency, improving communication and better training for workers and supervisors. 

Foster: Certainly, the above three issues are of concern. Parents need the ability to send their children to the school of their choice and the money should follow the student. Vouchers or some other means need to be available to the parent. Educational institutions that compete to educate the child will result in lower cost and higher educational results.

People simply need to keep more of their income. Lowering the cost of government and resulting lower taxes will positively affect Maine’s economy. Higher retained income for Maine people and a more positive business climate will result.

During the pandemic, the Governor ended up having too much executive power. This needs to be addressed so that the people still have representation through their elected officials in the House and Senate. State policy and laws resulting in incentives for capable Maine workers not to work, need to be reduced.