In 1826, fifty years after we became united, free and independent states, President Thomas Jefferson - shortly before his death - declared  "Let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."

As we celebrate Independence Day, we remember the rights our founding fathers sought to secure, the women and men who have served our nation, and the work we must still do to honor them.

Good morning, I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine. Thank you for listening.

Independence was not easily won, either on the battlefield or in Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed so many years ago.

Historian Garry Wills described this best when he recounted the feelings of one of the founding fathers, saying “Adams, remarking the difficulty with which the resolution of independence was passed, said it was like getting thirteen clocks to strike at the same instant."

At the moment when our need to unite was the greatest, on the brink of war with a world power and with our future in the balance we overcame disagreement to declare that we were free.

Today we still struggle to set the moral compass of our country, to acknowledge the mistakes of our past and present and to build a brighter future together.

What binds us together in these difficult times is the promise that has always carried us - that all are created equal, that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That is a promise we keep not based on a person’s religion or race, gender or political party, but on the belief in a free nation with liberty and fairness for all.

As we gather with friends, family, and neighbors this holiday weekend, let’s remember the full history of this nation, let’s honor the sacrifices of service members who have protected our precious freedoms, and recommit ourselves to the pursuit of a more perfect union.

I wish you and your loved ones a safe and Happy Fourth of July Weekend.

I am Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Hello. You know in 2017, the retail prices of some of the most widely prescribed medications that older Americans take to treat everything from diabetes to high blood pressure increased by an average of 8.4 percent - four times the rate of inflation.

Nationwide, one in four Americans struggles to pay for their prescription medication, while one in ten simply do not take their medicine as prescribed because of the high costs.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

You know no one should have to choose between food, or fuel or medicine.

Earlier this week, I was pleased to sign into law a comprehensive prescription drug reform package. These four new laws will allow the wholesale importation of prescription medicine, will create a prescription drug affordability board, will increase drug price transparency and will better regulate pharmacy benefit managers- those middle men you know.

I signed LD 1272, "An Act To Increase Access to Low-cost Prescription Drugs," sponsored by Senate President Jackson, because it is aimed at establishing a wholesale prescription drug importation program upon approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now you may ask, "Will the Feds approve this?" Well, the President has said publicly that he would support similar measures in other states, like Florida and Colorado, so we’re counting on him to do it for Maine too.

I also signed LD 1499, "An Act To Establish the Maine Prescription Drug Affordability Board," also sponsored by President Jackson, that will create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to develop strategies to lower prescription drug costs including bulk purchases, and multi-state purchases, and/or rebates.

Then I signed LD 1162, "An Act To Further Expand Drug Price Transparency," sponsored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, which will gather data to help us understand how the costs of development, advertising, and profits affect prescription drug pricing for consumers. This bill adds to previous legislation which I worked on with Senator Vitelli when I was Attorney General and became law last year.

And finally, I signed LD 1504, "An Act To Protect Consumers from Unfair Practices Related to Pharmacy Benefits Management," sponsored by Senator Heather Sanborn of Portland, that will prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from keeping rebates paid by manufacturers and will require those rebates to be passed along to the consumers in Maine or to the health plan.

Those four bills all got overwhelmingly bipartisan support in the committees and on the floor of the House and on the floor of Senate and I am very pleased with that bipartisan cooperation to address the drug prices in Maine.

You know it’s personal too. When my husband, Stan, suffered a stroke – which ultimately took him from us a year later – I learned an awful lot about the health care system in Maine firsthand.

We were lucky, we had insurance -- but dealing with copays and deductibles and the high cost of prescription drugs and fighting the insurance companies is a challenge for all of us.

Health care coverage should not be a luxury, or a privilege reserved for well to do people.

It is a human right.

I am proud that Maine is taking a major step forward in ensuring affordable, accessible health care for every Mainer, every small business, every entrepreneur, self-employed person and every family across the state.

I want to thank Senate President Jackson, Assistant Majority Leader Vitelli, Senator Heather Sanborn, Senator Foley, Representative Prescott, and the AARP and so many others for their hard work on this very important issue.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Earlier this week, joined by Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Independent members of the Legislature, I was pleased to sign the state’s biennial budget into law.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

The biennial budget is the culmination of months of work by my Administration and by both Democrats and Republicans on the Appropriations Committee and in the Legislature.

I am very proud of all the work that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have put into this budget process and of the bipartisan agreement we’ve achieved as a result of that hard work.

You know like all budgets and like all compromises, nobody achieved everything they wanted, but this budget takes meaningful and important steps in investing in Maine’s future.

It expands health care and makes health care more accessible.

It increases the minimum teacher salary and dedicates more money to fixing crumbling schools.

It provides property tax relief to hardworking Mainers, seniors, families, and small businesses.

It invests in workforce training and in higher education.

And it puts money aside into the Rainy Day Fund.

These are the priorities that Maine people have asked us to deliver on, and I am proud to have worked with the Legislature to have this.

You know in his 1861 Inaugural Address, Governor Israel Washburn, a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s, said:  

“Waving aside petty schemes and unseemly wrangles…let us rise, if we can, to the height of the great argument which duty and patriotism so eloquently address to us.”

I think this bipartisan budget is just the start of Maine lawmakers rising to restore our tradition of civil discourse and rediscover our common ground, rooted as it always has been in our shared love and dedication to this great State of Maine.

That is the type of government that Maine people deserve. It’s the type of government Maine people want. It the type of government we can all be proud of. And it is the type of government I will continue to work for as long as I am governor.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

You know, it is difficult to speak about death on days such as this, where spring is lifting up dormant life and summer is inviting us to such happier times.

Some say that dusk is both the most beautiful and the most troublesome time of day. That is why the subject of impending death, the dusk of our days, is so difficult. 

Good morning, I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, and I thank you for listening.

This week we dealt with a bill -- commonly called “physician assisted suicide” or “death with dignity” -- that purports to address the decisions relating to end of life care, the dusk of our lives.

Basic principles for and against this bill are these:

First of all, those in the shadows of life — as all of us may be at some time — deserve the highest level of care, compassion and caution from those in charge of society’s resources; from those in charge of its rules, laws and mores.

For those people who are unable to care for themselves -- of whatever age, ability or capacity -- society has a great responsibility.

It is our role, both governmental and charitable, to lift people up, to give them the means to pursue the highest level of self-sufficiency, happiness and opportunity.

A law that permits the act of suicide by people nearing the end of life might be seen as an abdication of that responsibility.

On the other hand, there are those who say that what government provides — and all that it should provide — is the protection of personal liberty to the extent that the exercise of that liberty does not infringe on the rights and security of others.

The opportunity for someone of sound mind facing imminent death to avoid further suffering is viewed purely as an act of personal liberty by some, a decision with which government should not interfere. 

In the context of L.D. 1313, the pursuit of individual liberty beseeches us to authorize in law an act of suicide with the assistance of the medical profession. 

An individual would be free, without punishment of law, to ingest a lethal amount of a nonprescription drug, or to terminate one’s life in some other manner, were it not for the requirement of the prescribing of a lethal dosage of a drug.

The assistance of the medical professional presents a moral dilemma for many people in the health care profession and of course for spiritual leaders who caution against suicide in any form, or against government placing its stamp of approval on actions that may devalue life, and against the participation and assistance of government and licensed professionals in life-taking measures.

On the other side of the moral dilemma is the fact that medicine has found so many ways to prolong life way beyond the expectations and expectancies of the past. 

So what sometimes comes with that extended life, and extended disease, is extended suffering, pain, great physical and mental discomfort.

So what is the balancing of rights here when an individual, in the throes of suffering and facing certain death, but while still competent, dearly wishes to end life, denying death its ultimate pain? 

Some argue that the enactment of L.D. 1313 equates to the government authorizing taking life, or “playing god” with the lives of our citizens.

You know it is not up to the government to decide who may die and who may live, when they shall die or how long they shall live.

But it is our duty to provide the most comprehensive end of life care, a task we have only recently begun to recognize.  

And what is the responsibility of society when compassionate end of life care may be not be adequate or accessible?

We also have a duty to prevent people from being victimized, to prevent discrimination against persons with disabilities, to make sure others do not take advantage of our vulnerable citizens.

Despite the narrowest of votes in the House of Representatives, L.D. 1313 is favored by a majority of Maine people surveyed and it includes some, though not all, safeguards to protect the decision-making of competent terminally ill patients and to protect misuse and abuse of lethal medications and the diversion of dangerous drugs.

This right to decide the means of ending one’s life by lethal prescription might be seen as an extension of the right to decline life-sustaining care that was articulated in the Maine Supreme Court decision more than thirty years ago.

There the Court concluded that the law recognizes a previously competent patient’s “right of self-determination in matters of health care to be essential to the integrity and dignity of his person.” 

While I do not necessarily agree with the Court that the right of the individual is all that absolute, I do believe it is a right that should be protected by law- the right to make ultimate decisions- along with the protections for those who are unable to articulate their informed choices and those who do not have access to quality end of life care.

So, after weighing all these concerns, and perhaps for other reasons I am just not able to articulate today, I have decided to sign LD 1313.

For all of these concerns as well however, I have also issued Executive Order Number Nine, which requires the Department of Health and Human Services to engage in Emergency Substantive Rulemaking within the next few months.

The broad purposes of this Executive Order will be to provide a high level of protection for those in care and those who shall be in care; to track trends in the utilization of the law; to pursue our responsibility for end of life care; and to avoid the moral and social consequences of a law that in some way might facilitate the taking of life without the full authority of the individual.

It is my hope that this law, while respecting the right to personal liberty, will be used sparingly, that we will continue to respect the life of every citizen, with the utmost concern for their spiritual and physical well-being, and that we as a society will be as vigorous in providing full comfort, hospice and palliative care to all persons, no matter their status, location or financial ability, as we are in respecting their right to make this ultimate decision over their own fate of their own free will.

I know that there will be many who agree and disagree with my decision, but I thank you for listening this morning to hear directly from me about why I’ve made this important decision.

I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, and I thank you for listening.

This week, my Administration announced an investment strategy to improve our economy, to address some of the critical challenges facing our state, and to position us to succeed in the years to come. 

These are the goals of the bond package we submitted to the Legislature.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

The first critical challenge facing our state addressed by the bond package is access to high speed internet.

About 83,000 households in Maine do not have access to broadband and, right now, the ConnectME is only able to fund small projects a few at a time.

With the availability of faster internet speeds, it is time we change that. We can no longer be a slow speed state in a 5G nation.

So, the first pillar of our proposed bond package invests $30 million in broadband expansion. This will enable the ConnectME Authority to leverage private and local investments to bring high speed internet access to more unserved and underserved areas of our state – and along with that, the businesses and people we need to expand our economy.

High speed internet is just one critical tool that our state needs to succeed.

To break down the barriers to innovation, and to welcome creative ideas, and to build a diverse and sustainable economy, we need to invest in research and development.

So, the bond proposal invests $15 million in the Maine Technology Institute for research and development and $5 million for infrastructure, equipment and technology upgrades for businesses to create and preserve jobs. 

This money will help create good-paying jobs in emerging industries in every region of our great state. Now there also must be skilled workers ready to fill those jobs.

So, our bond proposal also invests $19 million to support workforce training, career and technical education and their capital needs, and access to child care, among other initiatives.

Education and technical training are key to ensuring that every person can achieve skills to get a good-paying job no matter where they live and no matter their age in our state.

You know as a mother of five daughters, I also know that even if you have a good-paying job or are working full time as a parent in this state, it can be very difficult to balance family needs and work needs.

So, we need to attract young families with children to Maine. We also need young parents to be able to work in Maine. And you know, work and raising a child are not necessarily incompatible.

So, our proposal provides $5 million to expand childcare facilities across the state. 

Another major focus of the Administration is to protect Maine’s environment and to shepherd in an era of clean energy and good-paying jobs associated with that industry. 

So, the bond package we proposed provides a $65 million investment in Maine’s environment, beginning with a $30 million investment over three years for the very popular Land for Maine’s Future program.

Our bond package also provides $20 million in hazardous materials cleanup and drinking water treatment, $10 million in municipal energy projects, with more efficient heating technology, and $5 million in low interest loans for clean energy projects for homeowners in Maine.

All of this pretty much carries matching funds of various sorts.

The last pillar of our investment package is a $105 million transportation bond to pay for critical upgrades in improvements to transportation infrastructure. 

You know, the American Society of Civil Engineers has graded Maine’s infrastructure a “C-”, and they ranked Maine’s roads even lower at a “D”. Well we feel that every day when our cars hit those potholes. I think it’s time to address this.

With this bond package we will expand broadband to more rural areas, we’ll build a skilled workforce, we’ll repair roads and bridges, and we will welcome clean energy projects which create jobs and which address climate change. 

This bond package will also leverage federal and private matching funds with at least a 1:1 match on nearly all of these bonds.

This investment strategy, along with the state budget, will tackle our challenges head on, it will continue to diversify our economy and it will make Maine the best place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.

I look forward to working with the Legislature on this proposal and to sending it to the people of Maine, including all of you listening, for your thoughtful consideration. 

I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

Like most of you, I’ve known times when I was sick at work or had a sick child and had to leave work and take care of that child, or had some other type of emergency that has called me away from work.

It’s not something anybody wants to do, we value our jobs and people have a good work ethic here in Maine and we are proud of that.

But you know unexpected circumstances are just a fact of life – and that is exactly why these emergencies should not break the bank for working men and women in Maine.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

So earlier this week, I signed bipartisan legislation to make Maine the first state in the nation to allow paid leave- not just sick leave- but paid leave for employees working for an employer with more than ten people.

Under this new law, businesses with more than ten employees will allow each person to earn one hour of paid leave for forty hours worked. That’s after you’ve worked there for four months. Employees have to give reasonable notice for their employers before taking leave of course.

Smaller businesses with fewer than ten employees and seasonal businesses which operate for less than six months- they’re exempt.

As a result of this new law, about 85 percent of working Maine men and women will now have access to paid leave. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 out of our state’s 50,792 businesses will not be impacted.

So we’re leaving the small businesses alone but providing paid leave to an enormous number of men and women in our workforce. This law provides economic and financial security to the vast majority of Maine working people while also appropriately balancing the legitimate needs and concerns of employers, especially small businesses.

This is important and it’s significant.

I think this forward-looking policy is good for our economy and it is good for the workforce because people of Maine are our greatest asset.

When we invest in them and when we support the people and the businesses who employ them – our economy succeeds.

I am proud to have negotiated and to have signed this bill into law along with Republican Senator Stacey Guerin and Democratic Senators Shenna Bellows and Rebecca Millett and many others on both sides of the aisle. It is a shining example I think of good governance.

It is good policy that resulted from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle negotiating and working together to find common ground – not everybody getting entirely what they want, but ultimately arriving at a product that takes meaningful steps forward for the people of Maine.

A bill that is understandable, simple in its terms, and easily implemented.

That’s how we can and should lead. It is how our state is leading the nation, and we are just getting started.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Campaigning across the state of Maine last year, I visited a lot of towns like Madison, and Millinocket, Old Town, Bucksport – towns that have lost paper mills over the last decade.

While some of these mills, most of them are still idle, some towns are actually finding new life and I’m pleased that, just this week, our Administration welcomed a new business to Bucksport, where one company is moving forward with a $250 million salmon farm near the site of the old mill.

Good morning. I am Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Our heritage industries – farming, and fishing, and forestry – are adapting and diversifying with a changing economy. Our small businesses, from Kittery to Fort Kent, are innovating and engaging in exciting new work.

One business I visited was reclaiming some sunken logs out of the Penobscot County lakes, some of which had been there since the Civil War, and turning those logs into beautiful furniture you can’t find anywhere else in this country.

Hey that business is just one example of how Maine people are using their skills, and resources, and ingenuity to succeed in regions all across our state.

Well I think it is time for state government to do its part developing a diverse and sustainable economy that supports these new ideas and makes it possible for every person to live and work at a good-paying job in the state they love.

You know, ten years ago, who would have thought that Maine would be the craft brewery capital of the country? Who would have thought that Portland, Maine would become the foodie central of the northeast or that two of the 40 best restaurants in the nation are located in Biddeford.

That may not strike you as economic development – but it really is.

In every region of Maine, from salmon farms and flourishing kelp and oyster industries, to young families moving here to take over the family farm, there is economic development happening every day in our state.

But some of that economic development has been piecemeal, fragmented, a little short term.

Businesses need stability and certainty to invest here.

It is high time to develop a long-term economic development strategy that involves both private and public sectors and creates the stability that businesses need while addressing the needs of the entire state and move our economy forward.

That’s why this week I directed the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, led by Commissioner Heather Johnson, to work with other government agencies, and business leaders and private organizations to develop a real ten-year strategic economic development plan for the state of Maine.

Over the summer, the Department will host a series of regional meetings to get the input of business and municipal leaders and members of the public, including some of you listening.

Together we will craft a ten-year plan that drives economic growth, and that addresses our workforce challenges and results in a strong, sustainable and diverse economy.

You know, I want to see real action, not just talk. I expect the economic development plan on my desk by fall so that we all can get to work with the Legislature and implement it.

It is time to expand the economic development vision and what’s happening here in Maine right now, and identify ways that we can do a better job to strengthen our economy, mobilize our state to work together and achieve those goals.

I hope that you will be a part of those efforts and that you’ll share your ideas in the months ahead so that we can create a diverse and sustainable economy and a brighter future for our state.

I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

When Attorney General Mike Carpenter first dedicated the Maine Law Enforcement Officers Memorial to our fallen officers back in 1991, he declared “there never should be in the state of Maine another name added to it.”

With solemn grief and a renewed commitment to fulfilling that promise, we all gathered this week to add the eighty-sixth name to that memorial.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

While the men whose names are chiseled into the law enforcement memorial departed this life in a supreme act of sacrifice, that is not the only thing they had in common.

For those individuals, every one of them, the rule of law was not some dusty book sitting on a shelf or some set of bygone beliefs enshrined on a faded plaque. 

The law to them was, as it is to us, a promise, a guiding principal governing how we treat one another and the key to preserving the precious peace, the fragile security, the enduring freedom of our communities.

The rule of law was what they lived for, what they kept in their hearts, and it was what they died for.

As District Attorney, and as Attorney General, Maine’s top law enforcement officer, I saw the bravery and kindness of these individuals first hand. They inspire me still and I think about them every day.

This past Thursday, as we added one more name to the memorial, I thought about Corporal Eugene Cole of the Somerset Sheriff’s Department. He lived in Norridgewock — a town that loved him as much as he loved them.  He lost his life protecting the people of his town.

He served in the army and was a rural patrol deputy for the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office before being promoted to Corporal. Like his brothers and sisters in law enforcement, he dedicated his career to helping Maine families and he was a constant source of support for other deputies and for members of law enforcement across the state.

On the job he was steady, kind and compassionate, known for keeping a level head even in the dark moments of the job.

Community policing was not some chapter in a law enforcement manual for Gene Cole, it was in his blood. He knew his community, and his community knew and respected him and listened to him.

Cpl. Eugene Cole was also a father of four and grandfather of nine children who called him “bampie.” He was a dedicated husband, and a guitarist and songwriter in the bands Borderline Express and “The Cole Brothers.” 

Cpl. Cole’s end of watch came on April 25, 2018, when he was shot and killed in the line of duty. 

His wife of 41 years, Sheryl Cole, asks us, “To honor Corporal Eugene Cole, follow in his footsteps. Be kind. Help your fellow man. It doesn’t matter what your job is, how big your house is, or how much you paid for your car. We are all the same race — the human race. Treat each other as such. Let this be part of his legacy,” Sheryl Cole wrote.

During a time of unimaginable grief, Sheryl has shared her husband with us in death as she did in life, as so many Maine law enforcement families do every day. 

You know, tragedy can strike everywhere. No police department and no community is immune. 

But remember we live in a state full of thoughtful and kind people, including the 86 men whose names are on the Law Enforcement Memorial stone.

Let us remember today to be kind, to stay healthy, to care for one another, on and off duty, in memory of these men, remembering also always our own humanity and theirs.

And may peace envelope all of you today and every day as we now remember the 86 officers whose lives were dedicated to the rule of law, the men whose world we share still in an unbroken compact born of sacrifice and solemnity, a commitment to be the best individuals we can be – the most protective, the most unselfish, the most civil in our common humanity and the most caring of our human community.

God bless those departed souls. And God bless all of you listening.

I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening today.

Education is key to Maine’s future and the future of our families. Nothing will have a greater impact on the economic prospects of all Maine people than investing in the education of our children.

Hi, I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

Monday marked the first day of National Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to recognize the significant contributions our teachers make to public education and to honor their commitment to the success of Maine’s students.

On behalf of all the people of Maine, I want to thank all of our teachers for dedicating their careers to providing our students the foundation for greater opportunity and life-long learning.

As the daughter of a longtime Maine public school teacher, I know firsthand how important your work is and I know the many challenges you have to overcome every day.

Your devotion builds confidence in our students and exposes them to new ideas and means of expression, inspires in them a passion for learning, and sets them on a path to a brighter and more productive future.

High-quality, committed teachers like you make sure that every child across our great state, no matter their circumstance or where they live, or whatever their zip code is, they get off to an immediate and solid start in life.

So, in classrooms from Kittery to Fort Kent, you are now building the foundation for a better, stronger Maine.

It is time for state government to treat you all with the respect and dignity you deserve and as governor I promise to honor your public service and commitment to Maine students by investing in public education and in you.

Thank you for all that you do for our children and for the State of Maine.

I hope that if you are not a teacher, you will join with me in thanking the teachers in your life – in your children’s life - every day, every week, not just today or not just this week.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Good morning.

In my Inaugural Address, I made a promise to the people of Maine.

I said “There is no higher priority than our children. And with so many young people at Long Creek, with children waiting for critical mental health services, and some even losing their lives to violence in their own homes, it is high time we put children’s health and safety first. I am starting with one simple step — calling together the Children’s Cabinet for the first time in years, to tackle these issues.”

This week I kept that promise and I officially reconvened the Maine Children’s Cabinet, with our new cabinet members of course, for the first time in almost a decade!

Good morning. I am Governor Janet Mills.

Governor Angus King founded the Children’s Cabinet in 1996 as a forum for government agencies to collaborate on good policy for Maine children and youth and the Legislature enacted in into Maine law in 2001.

In keeping with its lofty mission, the Children’s Cabinet was formed of the Commissioners of the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Public Safety, and Corrections, in addition to the Governor’s office and various staffs.

The Children’s Cabinet began its work with four measures of success in mind: one, that Maine children succeed in school, that our youth are prepared to enter the workforce, that families are living safe and healthy lives and that Maine communities are keeping children and families at the heart of all their decisions.

The last time the Cabinet met in 2010, it submitted a report summarizing its work to the transition team of the then-incoming administration.

Since its inception, the Cabinet had achieved remarkable success towards its goals.

In its report, the Cabinet also outlined areas where it had fallen short and where it hoped the next Children’s Cabinet would succeed.

In its goal of ensuring every Maine child succeeds in school, the Children’s Cabinet urged state government to focus on reducing youth drop out, recidivism and incarceration rates.

The Cabinet also recommended that future members would lead in expanding quality and accessible early child care and education. At the time, 46 percent of all Maine preschoolers were entering school not meeting school readiness standards.

That is not to mention the stark childhood poverty rates. Back in 2010, 37 towns of the top 50 with the highest poverty rates in New England were located in Maine.

So while we have made some progress, almost a decade since those challenges were issued by the former Children’s Cabinet has gone by with no focused, substantial state action to improve the life of children in Maine.

Now, one in six Maine children still lives in poverty.

Now, the number of children suffering substantiated child abuse is up 25 percent just from 2017 to 2018.

And - while all of this is alarming to me both as a mother and grandmother and your governor - I am deeply concerned about the 50 percent increase over the last five years in child and teen suicide in Maine. Those are kids ages 10 to 19.

We’ve got to act. We are recommitting our state government to making our children a top priority and we’ve set two key goals for the Children’s Cabinet to work on over the next few years.

First, creating a comprehensive early child care and early education system in Maine that targets kids before they enter school.

The goal there is to employ a two-generational strategy by addressing the needs of children and their parents. 

The Children’s Cabinet will consider how to expand quality home visiting, how to improve the quality of childcare and early childhood programs, how to align systems, including workforce opportunities across state agencies, maximize state and federal funds, and direct early funds toward children and families who need it the most.

Secondly, we are going to improve access to community based services and improve programming for vulnerable, at-risk older youth and their families, especially older youth at-risk of being involved in the juvenile justice system, or experiencing homelessness, or those in the child welfare system.

I know that our state is up to these challenges and our efforts to improve the lives of young children and youth who are struggling will pay enormous dividends for our state’s future and for these kids.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.