Maine's
Speaker of the House —
Glenn Cummings speaks out
by Ramona du
Houx
"Let us
reflect and embody these values of compassion, community, and self-determination —
not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Mainers, as people committed to our great state,
who know that each cannot exist without the other," said Cummings in his opening
remarks as Maine’s new House speaker. With 89 Democrats and 60 Republicans in the
House, reaching across the aisle to work with the opposition was more than a gesture.
Cummings believes in working with everyone. He’s determined to make positive change
for Maine and is focused on bringing legislators together to help Maine transition further
into the global economy.
Thoughtful,
insightful, and well spoken, Cummings is a pragmatist who believes that common-sense
solutions will help solve Maine’s problems. He’s enthusiastic, realistic, and
inspires confidence. Most importantly, he understands what the state needs to progress in
a balanced, sustainable way.
"Prosperity
in Maine starts with three things: affordability and access to higher education, a
reasonable and competitive tax-and-spending structure, and keeping Maine the niche it is
— keeping Maine, Maine — because that’s what is going to draw people here.
"If we do
these things as the center of what I call ‘a prosperity plan’, we will be able
to compete better on the international level in the global economy.
"My mother
worked in a shoe company from 1961–1963. By the time I was in grade school, that
business had closed. My grandfather was a lobsterman who worked off Georges Bank, but the
fishing there dried up. In the new economy, occupations that used to last a lifetime are
hard to come by. We are in an economy where knowledge is the single greatest resource and
the most valuable asset a worker can gain.
"We’ve
got to have more skilled people, a reasonable tax structure, and we have to take advantage
of our niches. The biggest niche Maine has is that people want to come here."
Education —
Cummings works
as the director of the Entrepreneurial Center at Southern Maine Community College and
teaches business, economics, and leadership management. At SMCC he helped established the
Entrepreneurial Center in a successful effort to provide Maine students with the training
and the confidence they need to bring their ideas to the marketplace.
He is
passionate about education. "The quality of people’s lives dramatically changes
with a college degree; it’s the road to prosperity," Cummings said.
"In order
to reach the amount of people we need to, we have to make a higher education more
affordable. People who traditionally would not be going to college need to be recruited.
Adult-ed and community colleges build people’s confidence and get them to understand
that they can achieve higher education goals. Then they can move to the university system.
Affordability is a key point to whether or not someone will attend college and stay in
college.
"My goal,
on top of the governor’s budget, will be to add money to the adult-ed Community
College System in order to bring the tuition of community colleges down to the national
average. If we bring costs down from around $2,300, down to $1,900, which is closer to the
national average, it will make a significant difference. For students where I teach, at
SMCC, that $400 means a lot.
"There
have to be more options for learning as well. When we think about expanding community
colleges, we need to build upon campuses that exist right now, and really look at
‘expanding’ in a different way. Maine is a very rural state, and in many areas
it’s hard to get to the community colleges. I’m thinking of a single mom who
lives in Jackman and wants to earn a degree — the expense of child care and
transportation just to get to Bangor ads up pretty quickly. If she could put the kids to
bed by 8 and go downstairs and turn on her computer, it would make her goals easier to
obtain. We need to do more with the technology that exists, so more people in the state
can earn degrees."
Prosperity —
"We must
recognize that we live in a state which has among the highest in administrative overhead
costs, and among the lowest in economic development investments. As policy makers, we must
restore a better balance. Allowing us to make the crucial investments in infrastructure
and in growing economic industries like biotech and bio-med," said Cummings in his
address to legislators. He also stressed Maine needs to get taxes in line, in order to
grow the economy.
"I feel
very confident. There are lots of people elected to the Legislature that want to grow
Maine. Some people will want to say we should just have tax cuts, or more research and
development funding or less of this . . . Most people know that we need a combination of
measures, like the Brookings report suggested, to move Maine forward. If we focus on
prosperity for all the people of Maine, I believe we will be able to find common ground to
move forward together."
The Brooking
report also stated Maine has a brand name that is known around the world. Cummings
believes we can enhance it by keeping Maine — Maine.
"There is
a close connection between the land we have and the character of the people. Part of what
we need to do is preserve our land. A quarter of an acre an hour in southern Maine is
being destroyed by subdivisions, while we speak, every business day. In the last 20 years,
development and sprawl have changed the face of an area the size of Rhode Island.
Commercial and residential construction has helped the economy in the early 90s, but now
we need to look at preserving and enhancing what we have.
"If we
become like suburban Boston, we will lose some of the qualities that bring people to
Maine. That’s why Land for Maine’s Future is so important, and why we need
better urban growth policies and more affordable housing. We have to preserve the
environment and keep our open spaces. Instead of watching suburbs springing up, we can
work with communities, revitalize downtowns, and renovate apartment buildings. We can
create development policies to make those kinds of things happen. These measures should
help keep some of the pieces of Maine that we love alive. We also need to look more at
biotech, bio-med and financial service sectors, which all have great growth
potential."
During his
speech to the Legislature, Cummings announced his intention to create a Joint Select
Committee on Prosperity, which would be charged with crafting a sustainable economic plan
for the state. Cummings intends to work with the governor and the governor’s Council
on Jobs, Innovation and the Economy, created to address the same issues.
"The
president of the senate and I will work together to create a Special Select Committee on
Prosperity. It will be a broad committee where standing committees of expertise will
report," said Cummings, as he stressed that everything is interrelated, but in
committees they get divided from the whole. "For example, decisions you make on
education affect your taxes, which affect research and development capacity, and so on
— there’s a tight link. Appropriations isn’t the right place for this,
because they are basically a means committee, not a ways committee. The Prosperity
Committee will be charged with keeping the entire economic picture in focus when making
decisions. It’s a broader select committee that says, here are all the ideas that are
related to Brookings and Maine prosperity; here’s how we put them into a whole
package."
Although Democrats are now
enjoying a substantial majority in the House, the Senate only has a one-vote Democratic
margin. "There are some liberal Republicans and some conservative Democrats in the
Maine Senate, which should prove for an interesting session. We have to ensure that we
send the Senate bills that they will vote on," said Cummings. "Good
communication is essential. Politics is principled compromise. We must work together to
make policies that will shape a more sustainable future, a future that I’m optimistic
about."
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