Editor’s note: During the summer, the Penobscot Bay Pilot, Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper collectively sought interviews with the three candidates for governor. Eliot Cutler and Mike Michaud were quick to accommodate our request for an informal round table discussion with a group of editors and reporters.

For three months, we attempted to arrange an interview with Gov. LePage. From the start, we made it clear that we were willing to travel and to work around the governor’s schedule. Members of our panel had already traveled significant distances to meet with Cutler and Michaud. LePage’s spokesman repeatedly assured us a meeting could happen. When it didn’t, we were told to be patient or asked to agree to a different format than we had used with the other candidates. We did both. When the first week of October had passed with no movement, we submitted written questions.

On Oct. 29, we received the responses below, completed by campaign spokesman Alex Willette on behalf of the governor.

Legalizing Marijuana

You've expressed concerns in the past about legalizing marijuana. What is your position now?

The governor is against legalization, unless it is passed via citizen referendum.

A legal, regulated marijuana market would bring in significant new revenue stream for the state. Would you consider legalization if it meant you could fund a program you support (the practice of using lottery proceeds for education comes to mind)?

No.

Taxes

You list significant tax cuts among your accomplishments and have talked about eliminating income taxes altogether. A common complaint among municipal and school district officials is that cutting state revenue streams has simply shifted expenses to the local level and ultimately property taxes. Do you favor a system like New Hampshire's with higher property taxes and lower sales and income taxes, or do you have a plan that would fund additional tax cuts with new revenue or cuts to state departments/programs?

First, there has been no need for “cutting state revenue streams.” Over the three years since the tax cuts took effect, tax revenues to the state’s General Fund have increased by $345 million. Connecting the tax cuts to a need to cut spending is a fallacy. We have had substantially more money to spend since the cuts took effect.

Second, in every budget the governor proposed, we have added millions to the state aid to local schools. We are now spending more money per student than at any time in the state’s history.

The Economy

Which aspects of Maine's economy have the most potential right now? Are there untapped opportunities or resources that you would focus on in your second term?

All aspects of our economy have potential, and in the governor’s second term he will explore all of them that will create jobs to get Mainers working.

Is Maine doing enough to market itself as a tourist destination? What should we be doing better/differently?

We can never do enough to market Maine to the world and the governor will continue his efforts in his next term.

Job creation is something you highlight among your accomplishments (8,000 new jobs in the private sector). The Maine Department of Labor does not define what a "job" is. What is your definition of a job?

The private sector has created over 20,000 jobs since Gov. LePage took office. An additional 8,400 job openings are now listed on the Maine Job Bank.

Public assistance

Your decision to not seek the federal "work requirement" waiver for food stamps (SNAP) this year seems short-sighted. Do you believe that food stamps are keeping people from looking for work?

No, the governor is just following federal law.

The Environment

Mike Michaud has chosen to highlight weaknesses in your environmental policies, which he says threaten Maine's water quality. Do you have a retort for his claims, and what has your administration done to protect Maine's drinking water supplies?

A clean and healthy environment is critical to healthy people and especially important for our economy. Gov. LePage has made the environment a top concern, and has enforced our environmental laws to the fullest, levying the largest fine in decades on an oil company who tried to pollute Maine’s waterways. Actions speak louder than words, and the governor’s actions show that he takes protecting our environment seriously.

Citizens have raised concerns about a planned dredging of the channel at Mack Point in Searsport. The recent closure of a nearby area to commercial fishing and findings at the waterfront by GAC suggest these concerns have merit. Do you see Searsport expanding its deep-water commercial port capacity, and if so, at what cost to the local marine ecosystem, commercial fishing industry and tourism?

In order to expand the capacity of the port in Searsport to allow for larger ships, the channel needs to be dredged. This would open up the port to greater commerce and allow raw materials to be brought in and finished products to be shipped out. The closure of the area and the dredging project are not related.

At the moment, the Department of Environmental protection is awaiting the results of further study to determine what, if any, threats to the environment this dredging might involve. Until we have all of the information we need, we cannot make the proper, informed decision.

Transportation

How is the state going to rebuild its severely dilapidated secondary roads without straining the local taxpayer any more. If New Brunswick — with the same climate — can have good, safe roads, why can't Maine? Why can't Maine leverage more funds for infrastructure?

Gov. LePage has focused on taking the politics out of transportation spending in Augusta. This year we are starting the first in a three-year multi billion dollar transportation spending plan to rehab our roads, repair and replace bridges, along with investments in our ports. By taking the politics out of the equation, the governor has been able to allow the engineers at MDOT to determine which roads are in the worse repair and get those areas the necessary resources they need.

Do you see a Wiscasset bypass back on the table while you are governor?

The governor’s approach to transportation projects is to let the professionals at Maine DOT lead the way so that politics doesn’t interfere with the best possible solutions for our transportation infrastructure. 

Education 

Do you favor any supplemental aid to towns like Wiscasset that entered school districts during the state's wave of consolidation and now are shouldering the financial pains of pulling out of a district that didn't work out for them?

Gov. LePage has invested millions more than any other governor in Maine history in education spending, and he fully supports investments in the classroom. That being said, in Maine we have a very expensive administrative cost for schools compared to other states and other systems. The governor wants to work with our school systems to invest additional resources into the classroom for the students and the teachers, but we must work together to reduce administrative costs.

Hospitals

While serving as governor, you spearheaded the repayment of $490 million in MaineCare debt to 39 hospitals. Recently, Maine Hospital Association, which represents those same hospitals, projected losses of $900 million over the next 10 years if Maine doesn't sign on for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Why have you opposed Medicaid expansion?

The money that Gov. LePage recently repaid to Maine hospitals was a direct result of an early expansion of Medicaid. It is irresponsible to use Maine’s hospitals as a credit card for Medicaid costs as we did over the last decade. This summer because we did not expand Medicaid, the governor was able to put more money into our nursing homes, and in his second term the governor will work on eliminating our waiting lists for the mentally ill, disabled and elderly. These are the folks who need the most help, and we as a state need to be there for them. 

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com