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Staff reports 10/12/2008

House District 52
Chelsea, Washington, Jefferson, Somerville, Whitefield and unorganized territory of Hibberts Gore

Name: Elizabeth (Lisa) Miller
Age: 57
Party: Democrat
Residence: Somerville
Employment: Senior Program Officer, Bingham Program (a health foundation)
Education: BA in Human Biology, Stanford University, Masters in Public Health, University of Michigan
Political experience: Second-term state legislator, House District 52, member of Joint Committee on Health and Human Services; House Chair of the Long Term Care Oversight Committee Secretary, Rural Caucus; five years on Somerville School Committee; town health officer; president, Somerville VFD Women's Auxiliary; member, Regional Recycling Committee

Name: John Stewart
Age: 42
Party: Republican
Residence: Washington
Education: Propulsion Engineering in the Navy. “I am a student of life. I have no formal education.”
Political Experience: None


1. What can you, as a state legislator do to help people struggling this year with the high cost of gas and oil?

Miller: The Legislature will undoubtedly add funds to the LIHEAP program, hopefully expanding the eligibility levels. We can also increase weatherization assistance. We can continue to encourage home energy audits, both by training additional auditors and providing incentives for audits. I’d love to see a LIHEAP-like program for gasoline—we're beginning to see low-income folks in my area quit minimum wage jobs in Augusta because they can't afford the gas.

Stewart: I would like to work on a bill to offer a dollar for dollar tax credit to businesses who contribute to LIHEAP and weatherization projects. It is very important that we focus our efforts on weatherizing homes so that we do not have to spend as much on fuel in years to come.

2. How would you handle the biggest issues facing the towns in your district?

Stewart: I will work to represent the people of District 52 to the best of my ability. I will work with local town government to insure that the state does not continue putting unfunded mandates on small towns that will raise our taxes.

Miller: School consolidation is the most immediate issue in my district. I have been serving on one of our Regional Planning Committees all year. This leads into the second issue of importance in our area: property taxes. The consolidation discussions thus far have shown some promising areas for cost control. Another problem in our towns is broadband access—a critical issue for our small businesses. I have helped develop expanded access for two of our towns.

3. Do you have any plans that would result in more jobs for Maine?

Miller: I will continue to vote for investments in higher education and look to fund expansions in health care training programs. Health care has been an important source of jobs in my area. We need to pump more money into renewable energy and alternative fuel innovations. The energy crisis has also highlighted the problem with transporting food--we need to buy local.

Stewart: We need to insure that Maine is attractive to business so that we can compete with the other 49 states. To do this we need to lower the tax burden on the people and businesses of Maine. We also need to lower the cost of health insurance by repealing guaranteed issuance and by opening the market up to more competition.

4. What do you think of the beverage-tax repeal on the November ballot?

Stewart: I hope that the people of Maine are successful at defeating this egregious Tax. This was a tax imposed by the majority in the legislature in the middle of the night in the last hour of the session. There were no public hearings and no opportunity for the citizens to tell there representatives that they can not afford another tax to pay for a failed program. If elected, I promise that I will never vote to increase taxes.

Miller: “I’m against it.”

5. Would you support legislation to change the income tax or sales tax.

Miller: I was very disappointed when the tax reform package failed in the last legislative session. I’d still like to see the income tax rate dropped down to a flat rate of 6 or 6.25 percent, offset by a broadened sales tax base and some cuts in spending.

Stewart: Yes, I will.


6. What’s the biggest social issue facing the state in the next two years?

Stewart: The high costs of health insurance, taxes and energy, and the need for more higher paying jobs.

Miller: Pressing social issues don’t often cram into a two-year time frame. A particularly disturbing issue, made even more visible by the energy crisis, is a growing despair in the middle class. A yawning gap between the very rich and the rest of us is creating a perfect storm of cynicism and lowered expectations.

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