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

In the depths of the Great Depression, about half of all elderly people in the United States fell into poverty. With no savings to cushion the blow, some of them were able to rely on family or friends to provide their most basic needs. Seniors without a support system were forced to wait in long bread lines at a soup kitchen, a symbol of hardship we still remember today. 

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act of 1935, he said “We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards…of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.” 

The Social Security Act was based on a simple promise: workers who paid into the program would receive their wages back in the form of retirement benefits. This is nothing more than a covenant between a government and its people. Now, 90 years later, I'm growing more concerned that this promise to the American people will be broken. 

Over the past few months, I've heard Elon Musk suggest that his Department of Government Efficiency should cut up to half of Social Security Administration staff, reduce services available over the phone, and shutter field offices that serve rural areas. 

Well, we know that Maine is the oldest state and the most rural state in the nation – so let's look at the facts. One out of four households in Maine rely on Social Security, and 95% of Maine people over the age of 65 are on Social Security benefits, and they rely on them to pay their bills. 

Many of those people live in rural communities: 43% of households in Aroostook County, 45% of households in Washington County, 43% in Piscataquis County, and 35% in Androscoggin County receive Social Security benefits today. So cuts to Social Security staff, services, and offices would force many Maine people to drive for hours to visit in person offices and fix problems with their benefits, and then stand in line outside those offices. 

To me, this is just plain wrong. The government should not be making it harder for seniors to access critical benefits they've earned over a lifetime of working. 

To justify these cuts, Elon Musk has claimed that there is “immense waste” in the Social Security Administration. Well, like most people, we can always do better, I think, making government programs run smoother – but rushed and reckless cuts only put at risk those earned benefits people have for food, and medicine, and housing. 

This doesn't make sense to me or to Maine people wondering what those proposed cuts to Social Security will mean for them. Kathy Davis, a 73-year-old woman from Lewiston, said that after paying into the system for 46 years, she is completely dependent on the less than $2,000 a month she receives from Social Security. That pays her bills, including medications. “I'm very nervous about it, very scared,” she said. “It's not just what my retirement year should be. I should be relaxing, enjoying myself, not sitting on pins and needles waiting for the axe to drop on my life." 

Seniors like Kathy should not be afraid of losing their Social Security benefits, or having to drive hours to talk to someone about them because there's nobody there to answer the phone. 

I urge the administration in Washington to keep the promise that America made to its seniors 90 years ago by protecting their earned benefits and ending this troubling uncertainty around Social Security. 

Maine seniors earned these benefits. We as a nation should stand by our commitments to them. 

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, there exists in the State of Maine an extraordinary occasion arising out of the need to resolve many legislative matters pending at the time of the adjournment of the First Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature of the State of Maine; and 

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

You know, the devastating storms we endured in December 2023, and January '24, and the spring of '24, demonstrated just how vulnerable our people, businesses, and communities are to serious flooding, storm surge, heavy winds, and lashing rains.

Recovering from that historic damage takes time, which is why this week, I announced the final measures of storm relief to support businesses and nonprofits as they rebuild still from those storms.

Last year I proposed, and the legislature approved, $60 million in state funds for storm relief. That's the largest single investment in storm recovery by any administration in Maine history. So far, we've used that funding to rebuild nearly 70 working waterfronts, and repair infrastructure in about 40 communities, and provide financial relief to 170 businesses and nonprofits.

This week, I announced that we're distributing the final $2 million of those funds to 40 businesses and nonprofits, the second and final round of our Business Recovery and Resilience Fund. This will allow them to rebuild and to be ready for the storms we know are coming.

Luke's Boatyard in East Boothbay has been providing repair services to boaters for more than 80 years. They said that this grant is helping them “literally rebuild our future.”

Our entire state has to prepare for the extreme weather events of the future which we can expect. That's why last year I created the Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission. I asked the experts who are on that commission to help develop a long-term preparedness plan for our state. And after talking directly with municipal leaders, and county emergency management folks, and engineers, and members of the public at large, the Commission released its Interim Report in November.

Based on those interim recommendations, I introduced major bipartisan legislation in January. That bill will strengthen the ability of Maine communities, homeowners, businesses, and emergency responders to be prepared for severe storms. And that bill does not use any General Fund dollars. We're not raising taxes. LD 1, An Act to Increase Storm Preparedness for Maine's Communities, Homes, and Infrastructure, is sponsored by Senate President Mattie Daughtry, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart, and House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham. I thank them for their support, and I urge the full legislature to advance and enact LD 1 as soon as possible so that I may sign it into law.

Look, we can't really predict the future. But as our businesses, nonprofits, and communities recover from past storms, we can make sure that they're ready for all the storms ahead.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, damage to underground facilities, such as pipes, mains, cables or conduits, can result in dangerous or costly leaks, fires, explosions and injuries, environmental mishaps, and the disruption of vital utility services, even though this damage and its consequences are often preventable; and

WHEREAS, all individuals, entities, corporations, and government bodies planning to dig, blast, or demolish need to first determine the location of underground utilities; and

WHEREAS, Maine law states that an employer may not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of sex by paying wages to any employee in any occupation in this State at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort and responsibility; and

WHEREAS, wage inequality remains an ongoing issue though requirements regarding equal pay have been part of Maine law since 1949; and

WHEREAS, in calendar year 2024, there were 3,055 cases of substantiated child maltreatment in Maine; and

WHEREAS, child abuse and neglect is a serious problem affecting every segment of our community, and finding solutions requires input and action from everyone; and

WHEREAS, our children are our most valuable resources and will shape the future of Maine; and

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

Well, this week on March 15th, Maine will celebrate Statehood Day. This year marks 205 years since Maine formally became an independent state separated from Massachusetts.

Of course, it's important to recognize our collective history actually began long before statehood when the Wabanaki people first hunted, farmed, fished, and occupied much of the land that we call our home.

Maine has a proud and storied history and Statehood Day offers us the opportunity to honor it and to recommit ourselves to the values that shape us as a state and as a people. Our little state, jutting out of the northeast corner of the country with a population of only 1.4 million, with four fulsome seasons of the year, with its secret waterfalls, its forests, hills, and table lands, its fields, shores, and mighty rivers. This unique place we call home offers so much to so many.

I mean, hey, what other state can boast of unusual place names and natural phenomena like Thunder Hole or Nonesuch River, the Useless Road, Pollywog Gorge, or Misery Gore, the Cataracts, Angel Falls, Swift River, Big Niagara Falls, Gulf Hagas, the Beehive, Merrymeeting Bay, the Whalesback, magnificent Moosehead Lake, Old Speck, Tumbledown, and Quoddy Head?

But Maine is not just places, it's also its people.

For more than 205 years, Maine people with courage in their souls and kindness in their hearts, steely grit, iron resolve and an unshakable independent spirit, have built this state and have led the nation.

There are so many in this state who are "the unsung" folks, as poet Wes McNair has called them. Those are the firefighters and teachers, the techies and hotel workers, farmers and fishermen, the servers, the loggers, the barbers, and the millworkers of our towns. They are our friends and our neighbors. They are immigrants, laborers, veterans, people with disabilities, people from away, people we rely on every day, and many who rely on us.

Our state was born out of a compromise that allowed slavery to endure during the darkest days of our nation in another state. But when it came to crafting our own constitution, Maine refused to bow to the demands of others. We chose to enshrine, originally, voting rights for all men at the time, regardless of race, and provided for absolute freedom of religion and suffrage in the guiding principles of our state.

As we gather to celebrate our 205th Statehood Day, and to reflect on the history of Maine, let us remember the values our state was founded on. Let us always commit to a future where every Maine person can live and work in the state they love with boundless opportunity for themselves and for their family.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you are with, tell them what a great place you come from. Tell them of the strength and spirit of the people who live and make their living here on the rocky coast, the rolling hills, the wide farms, and the clean rivers. Tell them about the fresh foods and the coolest of lagers, and the jobs, the excitement, and the friendships here in this state.

Wherever you roam, if roam you will, upon your return, as upon your first arrival, and even if you never leave, we will greet you with a hearty hug and a loud “Welcome home.”

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening. Happy Statehood Day, Maine.