LEWISTON – Saying it’s time for new leadership for Maine, Republican candidate Peter Cianchette came to Lewiston Tuesday and said that if elected governor in 2006, he’d junk Maine’s Dirigo Choice program. He’d lower income taxes. And he’d force municipalities to cut property taxes.
Cianchette, 44, made a three-city tour, stopping in Bangor, Lewiston and his hometown of South Portland.
A former state legislator, last year Cianchette was chairman of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign for Maine. In 2002 he ran for governor, losing to Democrat John Baldacci by seven percentage points.
With his wife, Carolyn, and two children by his side, Cianchette spoke about the 14-month campaign to a crowd of supporters at the Ramada Inn. He said he decided to run for governor again because he’s disappointed in Baldacci. Baldacci did not lower Maine’s tax burden or cut health costs, he said.
“This is not the same campaign as we had three years ago,” Cianchette said. Maine has had three years of Baldacci as governor, while Cianchette’s been in the private sector. Cianchette said he knows what it takes to create jobs. If elected, the eight-point plan he outlined Tuesday “would change the course of the direction of our state.”
Of the policies Cianchette outlined, one of the biggest changes would be getting rid of Dirigo Choice, which now provides health coverage to more than 8,000 Mainers. Most have coverage through Medicaid subsidies. “I don’t believe that is sustainable,” Cianchette said.
Cianchette said he supports and would keep the other two parts of Dirigo Health. One is designed to harness costs, the other to improve quality. There’s no evidence, Cianchette said, that the Dirigo insurance piece is working.
Of the 8,000-plus Mainers who would lose coverage, Cianchette said, “I still want them to have health insurance. We have to find ways for those people to have more affordable insurance.”
Cianchette said he would do what many Republicans want. He’d cut insurance regulation, and create a high-risk pool that would take the sick out of the market, lowering premiums for others. The way to lower insurance costs is through the private market, Cianchette said.
In state spending, Cianchette’s budget plans would be similar to what he proposed in 2002. State spending would grow, but slower than Mainers’ incomes.
“Broken political promises” of lower property taxes would be fixed in two ways, Cianchette said. Every dollar of new state education money that municipalities receive would have to be spent lowering property taxes. And, Cianchette said he’d regionalize local government services, “no matter how painful. … I’ll use state budget authority to ensure the consolidation of local and regional services.”
Baldacci started to do that, Cianchette said, but backed off when the regionalization proposals ran into opposition. Cianchette said he’d be more of a hard-liner, insisting it happen.
In education, Cianchette said he’d demand accountability in the classroom, but would simplify student tests that are now overwhelming students, teachers and administrators.
Cianchette is president of the Cianchette Group, a public affairs management and business consulting firm.
Others running for the Republican primary in June primary are Stephen Stimpson of Bangor, and Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville. Mills announced he’s running for governor on Aug. 2, unveiling his 12-point plan. Former Senate President Richard Bennett, a Republican now living in Oxford, was considering running, but said Tuesday he is not.
Bowdoin College professor and political pollster Christian Potholm said Tuesday that Mills “has made great progress in the countryside” with his campaign, prompting Cianchette to move up his formal announcement.
It points to a “vigorous primary with exciting and different points of view,” Potholm said. “Republicans are quite energized with a real primary. That’s good for the party. It’s good for the state.”
Cianchette’s 2006 campaign promises
1. Grow jobs and improve business climate
2. Make state government more efficient; audit all state agencies
3. Limit growth of state budget
4. Lower property taxes by mandating municipalities give every extra state dollar to taxpayers
5. Cut income taxes; restructure sales taxes
6. Junk Dirigo Choice; keep Dirigo Health to lower costs, improve quality
7. Demand more accountability in schools; simplify student tests
8. Force municipalities to regionalize to cut property taxes
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