AUGUSTA — Paul LePage launched his second term as Maine’s governor Wednesday with robust promises to create jobs and improve the state’s long-flagging economy.

He also vowed to tackle the state’s income tax, saying his vision was a Maine without an income tax.

“We want Mainers to know prosperity and not poverty,” LePage said. He gave a 40-minute speech after his swearing-in ceremony before a joint session of the Maine Legislature at the Augusta Civic Center. An estimated 3,400 attended.

LePage, a firebrand conservative Republican, won re-election in November with broad popular support, taking 48 percent of the vote in a three-way race and collecting more total votes than any governor in state history.

In his inaugural speech, he said income tax reform would be a big part of his next two-year budget proposal, which is due Friday in the Legislature.

LePage’s first term was highlighted by political success and controversy.

During his first two years, LePage ushered through the largest income tax cut in Maine history, but during the last two years of his first term he often found himself in a combative relationship with majority Democrats.

The straight-talking Lewiston native, with a hardscrabble background as a kid who left home at 11 to escape an abusive father, has been prone to impolitic comments and occasional outbursts against his rivals or the state’s print news media.

LePage was criticized for saying the NAACP of Maine could “kiss my butt,” and for saying former Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, “gave it to the people without providing Vaseline.”

But LePage’s supporters frequently praised the governor’s unvarnished approach to politics and hailed his common-sense, business-style leadership.

On Wednesday, LePage took only one cursory shot at the media in Maine and the nation, noting many had wrongly predicted his defeat in November.

“The national media and our local experts said we wouldn’t be here today,” LePage said. “But they forgot to ask the people who count. Thank you, Maine people. Pundits and pollsters do not determine who should be governor. The people do.”

LePage spent much of his speech reiterating themes he focused on in his first four years as governor, including an ongoing focus on reducing domestic violence in Maine, working to slash the state’s notoriously high energy costs and further streamlining state and local government.

He urged lawmakers to accept his proposal to eliminate the state’s 100-megawatt cap in its renewable energy portfolio that prohibits big Canadian hydropower plants from selling into the state’s electric grid. It’s an idea that’s been previously rejected by lawmakers, including the 125th Legislature, which was controlled by Republican majorities.

LePage also promised ongoing welfare reform and mentioned his administration’s controversial efforts to put photo identification on electronic benefit cards.

While he touted his administration’s overall success, he took a realistic view in acknowledging the state still has a way to go.

“We said we were going to help private business create jobs and we did,” LePage said, “not as many as we should have, but we are ongoing. It’s a job in process.”

He took credit for changing the culture in state government to focus on serving the people. “The employees understand who the public servants are: We are and they are,” LePage said.

The governor also paid homage to his Franco-American roots, with French music and prayers in French as well as English. LePage made brief remarks in French, which he interpreted later for non-French speakers in the audience.  

“What I said is, ‘I have never forgotten my roots,'” LePage said.

His political rival, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, issued a congratulatory statement saying Democrats were ready to work with LePage.

“I hope we can hit reset after a contentious campaign and legislative session,” Eves said. “While we may not agree on everything, we must come together to grow good jobs and improve wages for workers.”

But Eves also took the opportunity to point out that according to the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a nonprofit think tank on the state’s economy, Maine’s job recovery ranks 44th in the country.

“New England has recovered 132 percent of jobs and the United States has recovered 123 percent since the recession,” Eves’ statement noted. “If Maine had kept pace with New England job-recovery levels, the state would have 19,200 more jobs than we do today.”

sthistle@sunjournal.com

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