FAILING MAINE

How Maine has suffered (and continues to suffer) under the administration of Governor Paul LePage
Maine's Majority Education Fund August 2012 www.FailingMaine.org

"I'm a good actor. I'll leave it at that."

Gov. Paul LePage January 4, 2012

Table of Contents
Summary About Maine's Majority Education Fund Jobs Special Interests Health Care Natural Resources Education Working Families Shaming Maine Conclusion References 4 5 7 8 9 11 14 16 18 20 21

Summary
On May 18, 2012, the Maine Governor's Ofce released a report titled Making Maine Prosperous: The First 500 Days of Governor Paul LePage. The administration touted the document as a compilation of Paul LePages achievements. But in reality, it amounted to little more than a political puff piece which neglected to address the real condition of Maine and its deteriorating economy under the LePage Administration. Since taking ofce on January 5, 2011, Governor LePage has repeatedly claimed that he is ghting to make Maine prosperous. But his policies and approach to government have done more harm than good to the people of Maine.

Under LePages leadership, the 125th Maine Legislature has pushed through an extreme agenda that benets corporations and bigmoniedoften outofstateinterests at the expense of hardworking Maine families. LePage and his allies have enacted massive tax cuts for the wealthy slashed programs for families, seniors and people with disabilities and created one of the worst economic climates in the nation. Despite promises to put Mainers back to work, the LePage agenda has resulted in a net loss of jobs. In this report, we examine the true legacy of LePages rst 500 days, and the real effect his policies have had on Maine's working and middleclass families.

About Maine's Majority Education Fund

Maine's Majority Education Fund is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that conducts independent research into the public policy issues affecting our state, and promotes just and sustainable solutions to pressing community problems. We believe government works best when it is transparent and accountable, and when its citizens are wellinformed. For more information about Maine's Majority Education Fund, visit www.MainesMajorityEducation.org.

LePages policies have not put Mainers back to work

Under LePage, Maine has lost jobs and lagged behind the rest of New England in economic growth: From January 2011 to April 2012, Maine ranked 45th in privatesector job growth and 46th in overall job growth.1 In 2011, Maine lost 1,300 jobs.2 In 2011, Maine's economy was the only in New Eng land to slow. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis blamed the decline on a lagging real estate market and publicsector job cuts.3

JOBS
Maine lost 1,300 jobs during Paul LePage's first year as governor

LePage gave away millions to the wealthiest Mainers and slashed state revenues. Many cities and towns will have to raise property taxes in order to make up for the decit caused by decreased state funding for municipalities.4

In May 2012, Moodys Investors Service lowered Maines outlook rating from stable to negative, in part because of the irresponsible economic policies the LePage Administration pushed through.5

In May 2012, LePage vetoed a researchanddevelopment bond supported by business leaders, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. The bond would have invested $20 million in hightech jobs throughout the state.6 In May 2012, LePage threatened not to issue 4 jobcreating bonds, even if they are approved by Maine voters. The bonds would provide $11.3 million for higher education, $51 mil lion for transportation and infrastructure, $8 million for clean wa ter projects and $5 million for conservation projects.7

LePage's budget will force many cities and towns to raise property taxes

SPECIAL INTERESTS

Under LePage, it is harder for everyday people to have a voice

LePage and his allies have granted unprecedented access to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which enables large corporations to write bigbusiness friendly bills and helps lawmakers advance this legislation on the state level. More than 20 corporatebacked ALEC bills were introduced during the 125th Maine Legislature.8

LePage abolished the state planning ofce, which historically worked with the executive and legislative branches to develop landmark public policy initiatives.9 LePage removed the matching funds provision from Maines timehonored Clean Election system, thereby giving bigmonied interests more inuence over Maine elections. His allies in the legislature sabotaged several bipartisan amend ments that would have mitigated the matchingfunds removal.10 LePage signed a bill destroying Maines tradition of same day voter registration. The bill was overturned by a citizens referendum in November 2011, with more than 60 percent of Mainers voting to restore sameday registration.11

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate lobby group, is behind some of the worst elements of the LePage agenda.

LePage allowed out ofstate corporations to write our laws

LePage attempted to shield his working papers from Maines Freedom of Access Act, claiming that the governor should be above public accountability and transparency laws.12 LePages legislative allies pushed through a bill making it harder for minorities, seniors, and lowincome Mainers to vote by requiring them to show photo identication at the polls. The legislature ultimately amended and replaced the costly bill with a resolve to study state election procedures.13

Citizens express concern about the influence of big money in Maine politics at a LePage town hall meeting in DoverFoxcroft, July 2011.

LePage's election campaign received $225,000 one of its largest contributions from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which represents business interests in the Midwest14

LePage's health care policies benefit insurance companies

LePage proposed eliminating Medicaid coverage for more than 65,000 lowincome Mainers in order to bridge a budget decit his administration created.15

HEALTH CARE
LePage charged all Mainers with health insurance a $4amonth tax to protect insurance company prots

LePage and his allies successfully pushed legislation allowing insurance companies to charge premiums up to 5 times as much as their lowest rate based on factors like geography, age and profession. This Rate Hike Bill" also repealed many of Maines basic health care consumer protections, and dis proportionately affected those who live in rural Maine.16 The legislature decided not to create a Mainebased health insurance exchange as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. In doing so, they gave away local decision making and local jobs in order to take a political stand against President Obama.17 Maines health insurance ratereview procedures have been weakened, making it easier for insurers to raise premiums with limited oversight or public comment.18

Starting in 2014, outofstate insurers will be able to market plans in Maine without direct oversight and consumer pro tections.19

Small business insurance premiums under the Rate Hike Bill

LePage created a reinsurance board that meets in secret and charges all Mainers with health insurance a $4amonth tax to help protect insurance company prots.20

The 2013 supplemental budget cut $401,430 from family plan ning care, the states largest provider of health services for lowincome women.21 LePage cut affordable health coverage or help with paying for prescription drugs for more than 40,000 seniors, people with disabilities, lowincome working parents and young adults.22

The Maine Center for Economic Policy found that small business health insurance premiums in northern and Downeast Maine would skyrocket as a result of LD 1333 the "Rate Hike Bill."

HEALTH CARE

LePage has made it harder for many to afford health care

On May 15th, 2012, the Legislature voted along party lines to pass a Health and Human Services Supplemental Budget, damaging programs for seniors, children and other vulner able Mainers. The budget took away health care for Maine people, including:

The Drugs for the Elderly Program (DEL), which for dec ades has helped seniors and people with disabilities af ford prescription drugs. Now a senior living alone with an annual income exceeding $19,548 will lose all help paying for medication.23

The Medicare Savings Program (MSP), which helps seni ors and people with disabilities pay for prescription drugs and health care costs. An individual living alone with an annual income of more than $19,548 a year will lose his or her benets.24
LePage's budget made it more difficult for Maine's seniors to afford the medications they need.

The budget also eliminated key services for working families:

Payments for Medicare Part A and B deductibles and coinsurance. An individual living alone with an in come between $15,638$16,755 a year will lose this assistance. The cuts will affect some 3,800 Mainers.25

The LePage budget cut essential assistance to children of low income parents

It took away MaineCare coverage for more than 14,500 working poor parents who have no other ac cess to affordable health care. This is on top of cuts from the prior budget denying coverage to an additional 14,000 hardworking parents.26 It cut $2 million in funding for Head Start, denying 216 lowincome children access to early care and education, as well as health, nutrition, mental health, and other supports.27

It slashed close to $2 million in funding for child care subsides, leaving more working parents without afford able child care.28

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LePage attacked environmental protections from day one

Within days of taking ofce, LePage launched an unpreceden ted attack on Maines environmental protections. His brazen assault on Maines water, land, and wildlife placed one of the states central economic drivers at risk. LePages plan sought to: Block the removal of toxic BPA (bisphenolA) from baby bottles, sippy cups, and other reusable food and beverage containers.29

NATURAL RESOURCES

Roll back a law that reduces sulfur dioxide pollution, which causes acid rain and smog, and exacerbates asthma.30

Get rid of Maines KidSafe Products Act a popular law that helps eliminate the most harmful toxic chemicals from everyday consumer products.31 Mandate the zoning of at least 3 million acres of Maines unspoiled North Maine Woods for develop ment, which would not only remove it from hunting and other recreational uses, but destroy prime forestland that supports our paper and logging industries.32 Do away with Maine's product stewardship laws, in cluding the ewaste recycling law that has saved taxpay ers more than $9.6 million and prevented more than 3.3 million pounds of lead and other toxic materials from en tering our environment.33

LePage attempted to repeal a 2010 law designed to improve Maine's air quality.

LePage and his allies in the legislature attempted to pass more than 50 anti environment bills

Thanks to public outcry, many of the worst rollbacks were aver ted. However, the Governor and his supporters in the legis lature submitted more than 50 antienvironment bills in the 201011 session.35

Weaken the strong sciencebased requirements for development permits, endangering wildlife habitat, threatened species, and traditional Maine recreation al activities (such as hunting and shing) that bring mil lions to our economy.34

LePage's environment plan would have mandated the zoning of at least 3 millions acreas of pristine wilderness for development.
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NATURAL RESOURCES

LePage's environmental agenda has threatened Maine's economy

LePages extreme environmental agenda continued in 2012 with more bills targeting Maine woods protections, renewable power, energy efciency and other proconservation laws and policies.

He introduced or supported the following bills that the legislature rejected: The radical takings bill, which would have created a "legal quagmire" by allowing landowners to sue the state for alleged lost value due to zoning changes and environmental regulations.36

Instead of investing in Maine's own energy economy, LePage wants Mainers to buy electricity from massive Canadian hydropower projects, like the gigantic Carillon Generating Station in Quebec.

A bill to require Maine ratepayers to subsidize massive Canadian hydropower dams at the expense of locallyproduced renewable energy like solar and wind. The governors bill would have allowed large hydro power projects to count as part of the states renewable energy standard.37

At a Maine Real Estate & Development Association conference on January 26, 2012, Governor LePage pointed to an incandescent chandelier and said that light bulbs give off heat and that energy efficient lighting makes heating a space more expensive.38
The health of Maine's environment is directly related to the health of its economy.

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LePage and his allies put special interests before the environment
LePage introduced or supported the following harmful anti environmental bills that passed the legislature and that he signed into law:

NATURAL RESOURCES

Weakening Maines uniform building and energy ef ciency code by exempting smalls towns, home to 40% of the states population. Now residents of new homes in small towns may live in lower quality construction and pay more for heating.39

Doing away with the commonsense pesticide notication registry, which allowed landowners to know when aerial pesticide spraying would occur near their property.40

Allowing polluters to get away with violating environ mental protection laws if they are not noticed or pro secuted by the state within six years.41

Mainers protest attacks on the environment at a LePage town hall meeting in Rockport, June 2011.

Weakening Maines openpit mining standards by re ducing the states protection against abandoned min ing sites, which affects groundwater. The law now will go through administrative rulemaking.42 Using $300,000 of taxpayers funds for a study to pro mote a forprot eastwest superhighway. The pro posed toll superhighway would cut through the Maine North Woods region, taking business away from com munities, increasing pollution, and destroying natural re sources. A 1999 study found that an eastwest superhighway would do little to spur job growth, and would likely damage local economies through the by pass effect.43 Politicizing and weakening the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), the agency charged with protecting Maines North Woods from inappropriate use and development, by allowing County Commissioners to appoint themselves to the commission.44

LePage made it easier for polluters to get away with breaking the law

LePage and his allies backed efforts to build a private toll highway through the heart of the Maine woods.

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EDUCATION

LePages policies hurt students and teachers

Many of the education bills introduced in the 125th Legis lature are tracable to the corporate lobby group ALEC, and to forprot education companies. LePage has used his posi tion to chip away at public schools, and held public education hostage in order to get his way: One bill would have given subsides to families with children enrolled in private schools, creating nancial incentives for parents to send their children to private schoolsincluding religious schoolsat the expense of Maines public schools.45 LePage threatened to close Maines schools unless the legislature made sweeping cuts to antipoverty programs.46

LePage said he would close Maine's schools unless he got his way during budget negotiations.

Several recent bills are similar to the ALEC model bill the Family Education Tax Credit Act, which seeks to provide tax breaks for people who can already afford to send their kids to private schools.47

A bill sought to create an income tax credit for individuals and corporations who donate to scholarshipgranting or ganizations. The program would have had limited oversight and created tax loopholes.48

LePage wants to outsource our children's educations to private corporations

Another bill would have allowed parents of children in failing schools to re teachers and principals, close schools or require public schools to become charter schools. Parents could force changes regard less of the potential nancial, emotional and personnel burden to the local district and with limited oversight.49

LePage ramrodded a bill through the Legislature intended to privatize public schools by allowing charter schools to open around the state. The bill did not have a proper hearing and was pushed through so quickly that the Education Committee had to spend more than a month trying to fix it.50

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LePage puts corporations ahead of our public schools

LePage and his allies have consistently supported using tax payer dollars to fund religious schools and forprot edu cation companies. In 2012, the LePage Administration unveiled its education agenda and four accompanying bills. Parts of the plan were written by the corporatelobby group ALEC:

EDUCATION

One of the bills created an unfair teacher evaluation sys tem, allowing administrators to dismiss teachers without a proper hearing after two poor evaluations and with no process to appeal the decision.51 LePage introduced a school voucher bill which would have established a new openenrollment program in tended to allow students to attend any school in the state at the expense of districts, undermining local public school systems.52 The LePage education agenda also attempted to force municipalities to subsidize tuition for students who attend private religious schools.53

LePage tried to make taxpayers fund religious schools

During a radio interview, LePage spoke in favor of public funding for religious schools and his own experience with harsh discipline at a religious school. Many believed LePage was advocating for corporal punishment.54

I went to a parochial school and the reason it was good for me is I needed enormous discipline when I was a kid... Look at my knuckles, they still show they were hit a few times. Gov. Paul LePage, March 30, 2012

Mainers rally in opposition to the LePage agenda at a town hall meeting at Oxford Hills Comprehensive School, March 2012.

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WORKING FAMILIES

LePage backed legislation that hurt Maine families

LePage pushed to roll back Maines protections against child labor. One bill would have eliminated the number of hours children between 16 and 18 are allowed to work during the school week, and also allowed children under 16 to work on school days. LePage also backed a subminimum "training wage" for minors.55 The governor vetoed a bill, passed with bipartisan support, protecting homeowners from foreclosure by banks that did not actually hold the mortgage. LePage said the legislation placed an undue burden on banks and would result in unneces sary paperwork.56 LePage has insinuated that he believes Maines workers are lazy. On at least one occasion called them corrupt, damaging the reputation of the states workforce. His com ments came even as he backed a highprofile campaign pro claiming Maine open for business.57 The administration backed a law that devastated Maines workers compensation laws to the benefit of insurance companies. The new law set a 10year cap on benets for those with partial injuries and reduces the window of time an employee has to report a workplace injury.58

LePage vetoed a bill that would have shielded homeowners from unjust forclosures

Even as qualified publicsector workers faced layoffs and pension cuts, LePage gave his daughter a recent college graduate a job in the governor's office.59

In 2011, LePage removed a mural depicting Maine's labor heritage from a state office building because he said he received "an anonymous fax" asking him to.

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LePage and his allies have attacked workers' rights

LePage has blamed Maine workers for everything from job loses to budget decits. The governor has made clear his in tent to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights and des troy Maines unions:

WORKING FAMILIES

One bill, which died in committee, would have limited collective bargaining rights for private sector em ployees.60 Another bill would have removed the fair share provision for state employees, meaning that workers who refused to pay union dues could still take advantage of union services. The bill was killed by the Legislature.61

In 2011, LePage and his allies sabotaged an attempt to raise Maines minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.00 an hour. The le gislature struck the bill down, delivering a major victory to big business lobbyists.62 The legislature reduced unemployment insurance for Maines workers. The new measure forces unemployed work ers to use earned vacation time before collecting unemployment and also shortens the time workers can collect benets.63 The legislature revoked Decoster Egg Farm employees right to collective bargaining, despite the companys track record of workers' rights abuses.64 The legislature also took away the collective bargaining rights of homebased child care providers with state con tracts.65

Bath Iron Works employees rally at the State House in opposition to the administration's attacks on public sector employees' right to organize, June 2011.

LePage believes Maine workers deserve fewer protections, and less of a voice on the job

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SHAMING MAINE
LePage's inflammatory rhetoric has earned Maine bad national press

LePage has embarrassed Maine and hurt our national reputation

LePage has made a series of embarrassing statements, which have in turn made Maine a national laughingstock, endangering our economy by injuring our reputation: In September 2010, weeks before he was elected gov ernor, LePage made national headlines when he told an audience that if elected he wouldnt be afraid to tell President Barack Obama to go to hell.66 Later that month, he stated that he was about to punch a journalist who gave him unfavorable cover age.67

Nine days after taking ofce, LePage again made nation al headlines when he declined to attend an NAACPs Martin Luther King Jr. Day event by saying, tell em to kiss my butt.68 In July 2012, LePage compared the IRS to the Gestapo, Adolph Hitler's secret police force. When a reporter asked him to clarify his comments several days later, he agreed that the IRS "was headed in the direction of killing a lot of people."69

Tell 'em to kiss my butt. Gov. Paul LePage, in response to an invitation from the Maine NAACP, January 2011

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LePage continues to tarnish Maines good name

LePage has been at the center of a number of embarrassing controversies caused by his lack of understanding about public policy: In February 2011, LePage insisted that there was no sci entic evidencedespite studies proving otherwisethat the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) was harmful to humans. He stated that the worst that could happen was that women could get "little beards."70

SHAMING MAINE

LePage removed a 36foot mural depicting Maine's labor heritage from the lobby of the Department of Labor in March 2011, sparking outrage in Maine and around the country. The story made headlines in major national news outlets such as the New York Times, Na tional Public Radio, the Washington Post and ABC News. LePages action was even mocked on The Colbert Re port.71 In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked Maine number 50 in its Best States for Business publication for the second straight year. LePage said a staff member had spoken to Forbes and was told that Maine needed to re form its welfare system in order to improve its ranking. The Forbes editor struck back, saying that welfare had nothing to do with their ranking system, and that LePage took one piece of information and made a giant leap to fit his particular agenda."72 At a July 2012 press conference, LePage said of Maine students, "I dont care where you go in this country. If you come from Maine youre looked down upon."73

LePage's decision to remove a mural depicting Maine's labor heritage ignited a national controversy.

Forbes magazine hardly known for its liberal views rebuked LePage for his suggestion that the publication backed his agenda

The only thing that Ive heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.

Gov. Paul LePage, February 2011

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Conclusion
We cannot gauge an economy by its tax rates, the size of its government or the growth of its corporate bottom lines. These are only ideological indicators. The true measure of any economy is how its people are faring, especially its hardworking families. Governor LePage and his allies must begin to take into consideration how their policies affect the lives of everyday Mainers, not just the bigmonied interests that fund their election campaigns. Until they do so, they will continue to fail the state we call home.

Maine's Majority Education Fund has compiled the sources materials found in this report at www.FailingMaine.org, which provides a searchable index of factbased information about the true effects of the LePage agenda. This resource will be updated for the remainer of the LePage Administration, or until conditions improve.

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References
http://blog.mecep.org/2012/05/faultyjobsnumbersfuelgovernorlepagesprematurevictorylap/ http://www.mecep.org/view.asp?news=2158 3 http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/news/economy/1206/gallery.shrinkingstateeconomies/3.html 4 http://www.kjonline.com/opinion/propertytaxbillsrisebecausestatecutrevenuesharingfunds_20120814.html 5 http://www.mecep.org/news_detail.asp?news=2234 6 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/05/30/opinion/legislatorsshouldoverridelepagevetoofrdbondbill/ 7 http://davidfarmer.bangordailynews.com/2012/05/30/legislation/lepagetellsvotersheplanstoignorethem/ 8 http://www.scribd.com/doc/85472333/WhoisWritingMainesLaws 9 http://maineaudubon.org/blog/2012/04/stateplanningofficeeliminated 10 http://www.pressherald.com/news/votecutscleanelectionmatchfunds_20120315.html 11 http://bangordailynews.com/2011/11/08/politics/earlyresultsindicateelectiondayvoterregistrationrestored/ 12 http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePagebilltolimitaccesstopapersfaceshearingtoday.html 13 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/03/politics/lawmakersrejectvoteridbillbutauthorizestudyofelectionsystem/ 14 http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/14987/Default.aspx 15 http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/06/politics/65000mainecarerecipientstolosehealthcoverageunderlepage plan/ 16 http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?ld=1333&PID=1456&snum=125 17 http://www.mecep.org/av.asp?na=357 18 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/04/05/health/mainesenatedelaysactiononhealthinsuranceexchange/ 19 http://www.sunjournal.com/state/story/1030515, http://www.mainecahc.org/briefs/110209_Out_of_State_Insurance.pdf 20 http://bangordailynews.com/2011/05/27/health/newinsurancelawwillaffectmaineconsumersinmanyways/ 21 http://www.mejp.org/DHHS_budgetcuts.htm 22 http://www.mecep.org/news_detail.asp?news=2145 23 http://www.mejp.org/DHHS_budgetcuts.htm 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 29 http://www.nrcm.org/documents/Laws_threatened_by_LePage_RR1.pdf 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 http://www.nrcm.org/documents/50_bad_bills.pdf 36 http://maine.sierraclub.org/Legislative/EPC%20Fact%20Sheet%202012%20Takings.pdf 37 http://www.pressherald.com/news/lepagesenergyproposalselicitsupportdoubt_20120315.html 38 http://www.pressherald.com/news/lepagerenewableenergyplanajobkiller_20120127.html 39 http://www.sunjournal.com/state/story/1045930 40 http://www.coastaljournal.com/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2601:mofgadenounces repealofpesticidespraynotificationregistry&catid=37&Itemid=100054 41 http://www.sunjournal.com/state/story/1010764 42 http://www.pressherald.com/news/billwouldeasewayforminingincounty_20120331.html 43 http://maine.sierraclub.org/Press%20Releases/Dover%20Foxcroft%20vigue%20mtg%20NR%20May%202012.pdf http://www.thestateofmaine.org/studysuperhighwaynotworthit/ 44 http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=4048 45 http://www.scribd.com/doc/85472333/WhoisWritingMainesLaws
1 2

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46 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ73eQcP4zY

47 http://www.scribd.com/doc/85472333/WhoisWritingMainesLaws 50 http://www.maine.nea.org/home/1051.htm 53 Ibid.

48 http://mainepolitics.net/content/863/churchschoolsseekpublicfunds

49 http://www.dirigoblue.com/2011/04/alecinspiredparentaltriggerbillintroducedbyamyvolk/ 51 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/14/politics/lepagesteacherevaluationbillhitslegislaturetomixedreviews/ 52 http://www.kjonline.com/news/lepageschoolchoiceproposalsdivisive_20120315.html 54 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/03/1080223/MaineGovernorLePageincludescorporalpunishmentinschool 55 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/25/paullepagemainechildlaborlaws_n_853503.html

choice

56 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/30/politics/lepagevetoesbillaimedatprotectinghomeownersduringforeclosures 57 http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePagerespondstocriticsaftercallingstateworkerscorrupt.html 59 http://bangordailynews.com/2010/12/22/politics/lepagechoosesdaughterforadministrationpost/ 60 http://www.pressherald.com/news/billstocurbuniondueslikelydead_20110518.html 61 http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/06/politics/lawmakersbackoffcontentiouslaborunionbill/ 58 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/04/09/opinion/contributors/workerscompensationchangenohelptohurtworkers

62 http://www.pressherald.com/news/houserejectsbilltoraisemainesminimumwage_20110525.html 63 http://www.mpbn.net/News/MPBNNews/tabid/1159/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3762/ItemId/21317/Default.aspx 64 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/23/politics/billtostripdecosterworkersrighttounionizegetssenate 65 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/04/10/politics/mainehousevotestoendchildcareprovidersunionrights/ 66 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42886.html 67 http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/13704/Default.aspx 68 http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePagetellsNAACPtokissmybutt.html 71 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/us/24lepage.html 69 http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePagerepeatsandelaboratesGestapocommentatVermontfundraiser.html 70 http://bangordailynews.com/2011/02/22/politics/govlepagedismissesdangersofbpa/

approval/?ref=relatedBox

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/03/23/134797920/mainegovernororderslaborhistorymuraloutofstate building http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/amuralinmainepitsgovpaullepageagainstlabor unions/2011/04/12/AFRhG9YD_story.html http://abcnews.go.com/Business/paullepagegovernormainepicks anniversaryfamouslabor/story?id=13223428 http://www.colbertnation.com/thecolbertreportvideos/379064/march 282011/mainesqueeze 72 http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/12/16/mainegovlepagestretchestruthonforbesranking/ 73 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/14/politics/collegesdisagreewithlepagethatstudentsfrommainearelooked downupon/

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www.FailingMaine.org

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P.O. Box 7674 Portland, Maine 04112 www.MainesMajorityEducation.org