This week, I kept a promise that I made during my State of the State Address earlier this year to knock down the silos of state government and better serve every person in Maine as they age.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

From my first days in office, my Administration has focused on helping people in Maine age comfortably in the communities they love.

One of the first things we did was to release the voter-approved senior housing bonds that had been held up by my predecessor. These bonds, now issued, are building more than 200 new units for seniors and weatherizing 100 other units to make senior housing comfortable and affordable.

Then we reinstated the drugs for the elderly program, we enshrined access to health coverage for pre-existing conditions, and we expanded health insurance to tens of thousands more Maine people so they can afford high-quality healthcare as they age.

We’ve cut income taxes for retirees and we deferred property taxes for low-income Maine residents who are age 65 or older.

We’ve invested unprecedented funding to support nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

We stopped the closure of Maine Veterans’ Homes in Caribou and Machias.

We established the Elder Justice Coordinating Partnership to bring the public and private sectors together to prevent financial, emotional, and physical abuse and neglect of older Maine people.

Hey this is all progress, but the system of care for older Maine people still needs improvement.

This week, I took another step to enhance statewide coordination and serve older Maine people better. We created the Maine Cabinet on Aging.

Similar to our Children’s Cabinet, the Cabinet on Aging will mobilize several state government agencies to join forces and improve services for aging Maine people.

Chaired by Commissioner of Health and Human Services Jeanne Lambrew and Commissioner of Labor Laura Fortman, this new Cabinet will also include the commissioners of Economic and Community Development, Administrative and Financial Services, Professional and Financial Regulation, Public Safety, and Transportation, as well as the Director of the Maine State Housing Authority.

I have charged these individuals with meeting at least four times a year, beginning next month, to advance progress on issues such as affordable housing; long-term services and supports; financial security and protection against fraud; access to information, and broadband, and services; and engagement and employment in Maine’s growing economy. The Cabinet will reach out to older people, their families, their communities, and their support systems to gather input and ideas as it develops its action plan.

I’ve heard from so many seniors on my sixteen county tour lately – folks who want to be connected by broadband, who want to use telehealth from their homes, who want to stay connected to education and stay connected with their families elsewhere in this country and in this state. So connectivity is important, health care is important, being able to stay in your own home and access services is critical.

You know Maine people work hard their entire lives, and they deserve to be able to live safely and with dignity as they age right here in Maine and in the communities that they love.

By creating the Cabinet on Aging, I am mobilizing state government, cutting through the silos, making sure that that dream is a reality for older people all across Maine.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, Maine's median age makes it the oldest state in the country; and

WHEREAS, all Mainers should have the choice to remain in and contribute to their communities as they age, with access to the services and supports they need, including health care, home care, long-term care, modernized residential options, nutrition, energy, socialization, broadband connectivity, safety and transportation; and

WHEREAS, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, officially ending slavery in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the freedom of most slaves depended on the advancement of the Union Army led by General Gordon Granger, who enforced the President’s order in Texas on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; and

WHEREAS, throughout our nation’s history, women have served honorably and courageously both on and off the battlefield, though initially in limited and traditional gender roles such as nurses, cooks, and in other administrative support roles; and

WHEREAS, during World War I, women enlisted in the Navy as Yeoman (F) and the Marine Corps as Reservists (F) to serve on the home front as truck drivers, mechanics, radio operators, translators, and munitions workers, filling in for men who were deployed overseas; and

This week I was excited to announce the launch of a $50 million initiative to rebuild our state parks across Maine and to make them more accessible and more enjoyable for Maine people and visitors to Maine.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, led by our very able Commissioner Amanda Beal, maintains and operates 48 State Parks and Historic Sites across Maine – last year alone these public spaces welcomed more than 3.3 million visitors, that was a record breaking year.

On top of that, these visitors generated an estimated $100 million in economic activity for our economy, making our State Parks not only beautiful places to visit, and camp, and hike, but crucial economic engines for our communities and for our state as a whole.

Despite their growing popularity, state parks have not seen a meaningful investment in more than 15 years. That has forced the Department to defer so much-needed maintenance and upgrades on roads, and trail systems, and other vital infrastructure.

Well, this week, that all changes.

The $50 million I announced – using Federal American Rescue Plan funds from my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan approved by the Legislature – will allow the Department to undertake urgent capital infrastructure improvements to make the parks more accessible and much more enjoyable for Maine people and our visitors.

These investments are going to lead to a much more enjoyable experience in our parks and it’s going to bolster the recovery of Maine's tourism and outdoor recreation sectors from the pandemic. 

The improvements the Department plans to make include things like repairing restrooms and shower facilities at campgrounds, expanding Wi-Fi, and renovating visitor centers and renovating overnight shelters.

The improvements include structural upgrades like repairing bridges and roads, redesigning park entrance stations, making ADA accommodations, and modernizing equipment at park headquarters.

They also include environmental and public safety upgrades, like fixing boat launches, refurbishing playgrounds, making sure they’re safe, restoring masonry on historic sites, upgrading septic systems, and mitigating erosion on recreational trails.

And we will make upgrades like these at parks all across the state.

I know Maine people love the outdoors as I do, and our state parks are treasures. They are treasures that belong in perpetuity to the people of Maine for the enjoyment and benefit of all people.

With this funding, we are going to ensure that our parks are worthy of the good people they serve and we’re going to make sure that they remain important economic engines for their communities in perpetuity. 

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Last week, Central Maine Power Company announced that it intends to file for a rate increase. In its notice to the Public Utilities Commission, the utility says it will request a three-year rate increase that would result in an increase of roughly $10 a month for the average residential ratepayer in Maine to be phased in by late 2023.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Look, Maine people are already struggling with sky high costs from record inflation, high electricity rates that are the result of New England’s dependance on expensive, harmful fossil fuels.

For CMP to say now they want to heap on added costs onto the backs of Maine people … well that just adds insult to injury. It is simply wrong.

I am calling on CMP not to pursue this rate hike request.

If they choose to do so, unwisely, I will direct my Energy Office to intervene in the case and oppose it vigorously, and I call upon the Maine Public Utilities Commission to reject it so that Maine sends the clear message to our utilities that their focus needs to be on improving performance, reducing cost burdens, and restoring trust.

Maine’s Public Advocate, Bill Harwood, is also standing with Maine ratepayers and has said that his Office will challenge the size of CMP’s request as well. It’s unprecedented to ask for a rate increase to cover projected costs three years from now.   

There is simply no way that increasing folks’ electricity bills right now can be considered just and reasonable.

While I will fight this move by CMP, we will also continue to do everything we can to help Maine people grapple with inflation.

We’re sending more than half of the state surplus back to Maine people in the form of $850 checks. And these checks have started going out already this week, and we’ve secured a one-time utility bill credit for tens of thousands of low-income electricity customers. We’ve increased tax relief and heating cost relief for thousands of families.

We are also reducing our dependence on these volatile energy markets. We are investing in weatherization for our homes and businesses. We are leading the country in installing high efficiency heat pumps to reduce your energy costs. And, as a result of bipartisan legislation that I signed in 2019, Maine has also adopted competitive renewable energy procurements that have resulted in homegrown renewable energy projects intended to lower the costs for Maine ratepayers and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. 

I will keep doing everything I can to bring down energy costs, to fight these high electricity rates, and to hold our utility companies accountable.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.