STATE — Republicans have selected Representative Sawin Millett of Waterford as their pick to represent House District 71 – Norway, Sweden, Waterford and West Paris – in what many believe will be the most challenging legislature in a generation. Millett, a veteran lawmaker and commissioner under two Republican governors, currently serves on the influential Appropriations and Financial Affairs committee.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated our state budget,” Millett, who served as commissioner of the department that oversees it, said, “While we are OK right now, the next year or two will feature huge budget deficits that could range from $500 million to over $1 billion in shortfalls. Addressing that gap is going to take a deep understanding of how our state budget works, a steady hand at the helm, and a willingness to negotiate in good faith with Republicans and Democrats so that we do not risk doing further harm to our state financially or economically.”

Millett, who oversaw the budget writing process under former Governor Paul LePage, and who has been involved with the intricacies of state fiscal policy for nearly five decades, added that he sees the current budget, passed during more favorable economic times, as unsustainable, and that legislators are either going to have to make difficult cuts or equally unpopular tax increases.

“We just don’t have the ability to continue to increase Maine’s budget by $800 million every year or two,” he said. “Mainers can’t afford that, our businesses, which are already struggling to bounce back from the pandemic, can’t afford it, and our state can’t do that without going into a death spiral. We need to stretch every dollar further, identify places where the budget can be reduced, and hold the administration to its pledge of no new taxes for the next two years. We have to acknowledge that even if some of our budgetary woes can be solved with one-time federal money, the issues we face go much deeper than one or two quick infusions of cash. We have to think about sustainability, and right now, this state’s finances are not sustainable.”

Millett also said that with various interest groups jockeying for a slice of federal money that has been promised, Maine will run out very quickly.

“Tourism wants $800 million, the hospitals want $120 million, municipalities have lost a lot of revenue sharing, schools are going to take a hit in General Purpose Aid flowing through the funding formula,” he said. “We need to be thinking about our priorities and making sure that the money we have is going right back into Maine, and setting us up for future success. We need to rebuild the state’s budget, and just as importantly, we need to rebuild our economy if we are going to continue to provide the services Mainers have come to expect of their government. As Republicans, we have to both challenge and be partners with the Administration, and make sure that we deliver the best outcome for the entire state.”

For more information about Millett or to get involved with his campaign, contact him at 583-4842 or by email at sawin.millett@gmail.com

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