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

Hey, earlier this week, I was really excited to be back in Farmington, my hometown, to cut the ribbon on the new Bjorn Center for Career and Technical Education.

This is one of only two centers in Maine that put CTEs in the middle school environment, and I'm so excited about it. This particular center is funded by a generous $2.8 million donation from our good friend Dick Bjorn and $250,000 in state funds and $130,000 in federal funds designated by the Franklin County Commissioners.

This center will expand job training opportunities for at least 300 middle school students each year in Franklin County. Well, this is just the latest way that the Bjorn family's philanthropy has improved the lives of people in Farmington and our area. And on behalf of all the students who are going to be learning invaluable skills in wood and metal manufacturing, in robotics and culinary arts at the Bjorn Center, I want to thank the Bjorn family and Dick Bjorn in particular. He's a self-made man who started working for his dad as a plumber in high school, and so he knows the value of work and early learning and exposure to the trades.

Like Dick Bjorn, I've always been a strong believer in the power of career and technical education centers to prepare Maine students for good paying jobs right here in our state. But despite the great role that CTE programs play in the lives of young people and in building a skilled workforce to strengthen our economy, for decades, our state government did not invest in modernizing or expanding CTEs. And we see the effects of that today – that neglect – as Maine faces a severe shortage of electricians, plumbers, welders, other skilled workers, even like teachers and law enforcement and firefighters and health care professionals.

And that's all why three years ago, my administration invested $20 million in federal funds for my Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan into Maine's CTEs to enhance and expand those programs and upgrade equipment and facilities – the first time in decades – so more young people can benefit from these programs and be exposed to trades of all sorts.

Thanks to that investment, now more than 10,000 students, the highest number ever, have enrolled in 85 different programs at the CTEs, ranging from plumbing and welding, early childhood education, and health care.

Along with our investments elsewhere in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, free community college, credentialing and other adult ed programs, the expansion of CTEs in Maine and our investment in their equipment is strengthening our workforce and supporting our growing economy.

The Bjorn Center for Career and Technical Education is a welcome addition to all those programs.

As a result of this new center, hundreds of students will learn the skills they need to go on to successful, good paying careers right here in Maine. Careers that our state desperately needs.

Have you tried to call a plumber lately, or an electrician? I mean, we need skilled workers and that's what we're doing by supporting the CTEs across Maine.

CTE programs work. Let's continue to invest in them, and in our students, and strengthen our workforce and our economy.

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

WHEREAS, Julia Gagnon, of Cumberland, put Maine on the national stage this spring as she rose through the ranks on “American Idol,” using her incredible voice and talent to become one of the final 7 contestants on the show; and

WHEREAS, Gagnon’s path to success has not come easy, and she has overcome bullying, shyness, and a fear of standing out; and

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

You know, three years ago, my administration created the Community Resilience Partnership. The idea is to help local communities across Maine to improve their ability to withstand intense storms and other impacts of climate change and to reduce carbon emissions and to boost energy efficiency.

Since that time, 226 towns, cities, and tribal governments, representing nearly 70% of Maine's entire population, have joined the effort to strengthen their communities. I'm proud of that progress; but new research from the Maine Climate Council confirms that in the coming years, Maine's weather will be more extreme, with more intense winter storms, for instance, like those we saw last winter.

We have to keep strengthening our vital infrastructure and the health of our communities. That's why we're investing another $5 million through the supplemental budget recently approved by the Legislature in the Community Resilience Partnership to allow another 100 communities to participate.

Earlier this week, I announced the first $2.4 million in resilience grants to 54 communities across Maine – including Auburn, Gardiner, and Gouldsboro, which each received a grant of $50,000.

The city of Gardiner will use that money to assess the vulnerability of its community and its waterfront infrastructure, focusing on the locations hardest hit during the winter storms.

The city of Auburn will use its grant to install six electric vehicle chargers in two priority locations: the Auburn Public Library and the Norway Savings Bank Arena.

And the town of Gouldsboro will use its grant to plan for the redesign of two roads that are essential to the working waterfront operations there and to access to Corea Harbor. Right now, those roads which were washed out last winter during the storms are highly vulnerable still to sea level rise and to storm surges.

When taken together with the historic $60 million in storm relief we also enacted this session, I hope this new funding provides some sense of security as communities across Maine work to rebuild stronger.

I will do all I can to preserve our working waterfronts and other critical infrastructure across the state for years to come, in the face of worsening weather, to keep our people, our communities and local businesses healthy and safe, and our economy strong.

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

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

You know, more and more drivers across Maine and across the nation are choosing electric vehicles because they're safe, reliable, and they're better for our environment.

But one of the drawbacks I've heard about is something called “range anxiety.” People are concerned they might run out of power in the middle of nowhere, or that it might take too long to charge up and be too far from a charging station. So, Maine and other states need to have a robust charging infrastructure to make sure that you can get there from here.

That's why this week I announced that Maine will open 17 high speed electric vehicle charging stations over the next year as part of my administration's commitment to build an accessible and reliable network of EV chargers. Using funds from my Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and funds from the New England Clean Energy Connect project and other funds from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Maine will be installing 52 new chargers on some of our most heavily traveled roads and highways.

New charging stations will be established in Bangor, Bridgton, Gorham, Greenville, Hermon, Millinocket, Newport, Orono, Rangeley, Portland, Rumford and Windham. These new charging stations along I-95 and Route 2 and 302, for instance, will help commuters feel comfortable switching to electric vehicles and those heavily trafficked roads and provide reliable charging access to visitors traveling across Maine as well, and provide support for outdoor recreation economy, and our university communities who often see visitors and constituents with electric vehicles.

These sites for the charging stations were selected through the Recharge Maine Initiative, and that's a partnership among various state departments – the DOT, the DEP, the Governor's Energy Office, and others. These new sites they selected will build on the extensive work my administration's already done to expand EV charging stations across the state. Since 2019 alone, the number of these public charging stations has more than doubled in Maine.

In January, my administration also announced that Maine had received a separate $15 million grant from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install 62 Level 3 – those are the fast charging ones, ports. Those can charge a car up to 80% in as little as 20 minutes.

And also, we're installing with that money, 520 Level 2 charging ports at more than 70 sites in Maine, cities and towns across the state. About 63 different communities. These investments will support the president's commitment to build 500,000 public charging stations nationwide by 2030. That will ensure fast, reliable access to EV chargers wherever you drive.

In April, some of the nation's first public charging stations funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law opened along U.S. Route one here in Rockland, Maine. Over the next several years, Maine is expected to receive even more funding from two other programs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build out our EV charging network, including 12 million from the National EV Infrastructure Formula Program and 15 million from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program.

Well, with these funds, the Recharge Maine Initiative hopes to establish fast charging stations every 50 miles or less along Maine's major corridors in urban areas and in rural service centers. This ought to diminish that “range anxiety” that many people have complained about, and having concerns about acquiring an electric vehicle. These stations will be physically accessible to the public any time of day, and year round, and in proper working condition.

I want to thank all four members of our Maine Congressional Delegation for supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That's the law that's making these exciting investments possible, as well as so many once-in-a-generation improvements in our roads and bridges.

For more about Maine's commitment to expand EV charging in our state, you can visit the Recharge Maine website at maine.gov/rechargemaine. That’s maine.gov/rechargemaine.

This administration will continue our work to make sure those who drive electric vehicles and those who would like to drive electric vehicles will be assured of reliable access to charging stations across the state and diminish that old “range anxiety.”

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

WHEREAS, An Act To Create a James Weldon Johnson Annual Observance Day and an Observance Task Force was enacted in Maine on June 20, 2021, to honor the life and perpetuate the legacy of one of our nation’s great Civil Rights leaders, that of the author, educator, journalist, lawyer, and diplomat James Weldon Johnson; and