Angus King in 2001 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Environment:
Maine is clean & getting cleaner
Our environment-already one of the best in the world-is getting better.- We have cleaner air: In the mid-80s, Maine averaged 9 days of unhealthy air a year. In 1999, we had 1.
- We have a cleaner marine environment:Over 100,000 acres of clam flats
have been opened in the last 5 years and the value of the lobster catch is at an all-time high.
- We have cleaner workplaces: As a result of the Toxic Use Reduction Act, we have seen a 57% reduction in toxic materials released.
- We have cleaner rivers
Dioxin levels in river fish have steadily declined as the nation’s most stringent dioxin standards have been implemented ahead of schedule.
- We’re improving our forests: The Forest Practices Act has been strengthened, and most of Maine’s large
landowners-including the state itself-are voluntarily going through an outside audit of their forest practices.
- We are preserving our natural heritage: Last year, the state acquired Scarborough Beach and 29 miles of shorefront on Moosehead Lake.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Environment:
Promote Smart Growth via tax breaks
The Smart Growth initiatives include promoting investments in our downtowns and service center communities, and helping communities restore traditional neighborhoods. It also includes preserving our open rural spaces and promoting agriculture by reducing
penalties on farmland under the Farm and Open Space Tax Act, eliminating the sales tax on electricity use in agriculture and aquaculture, and strengthening our Right to Farm law. I strongly support this package, and will work hard to implement it.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Families & Children:
Best state to raise children; model for America’s Promise
Maine is now generally considered one of the best states in the country in which to raise a child. Just today, I received a letter from Colin Powell informing us that we have been chosen by America’s Promise as one of three model states in the nation for
our work on behalf of children. Powell stated that “a great deal of your work represents best practices” that other states can follow. I am tonight accepting Powell’s offer - and Maine will be among the first states to make manifest America’s Promise.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Gun Control:
No gun permits for men under restraining orders
For too many of our citizens, day to day life is a living hell of fear of the monstrous violence that takes place behind closed doors. We can pass laws, add judges and DAs-and we will-but this scourge will not pass until we decide once and for all as a
people that it is not acceptable, cool, cute, or a symbol of macho power to beat up on women or children. I can’t imagine anything less macho than a grown man hitting a kid. If you think back 20 years, we came to a similar point with driving drunk and we
toughened the laws, but we also just plain stopped tolerating it. And so tonight, let’s start that process of change-first by committing ourselves to enforce the law-in my view, the rule should be zero tolerance-abuse of women and children in Maine
will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted. Let’s send this message by preventing someone under a protective order as a result of domestic violence from getting a permit to carry a concealed weapon. This isn’t gun control, it’s common sense.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Health Care:
Fund prevention programs “Campaign for a Healthy Maine”
A substantial portion of the health care bill in Maine is avoidable, because it relates to health care costs we bring on ourselves - through choices about the way we live. Four chronic diseases - cardiovascular and lung disease, cancer, and diabetes-
all related to smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet- kill 75% of Maine people. I propose that we use the money received from the national tobacco settlement primarily for a Campaign for a Healthy Maine, an initiative which empowers state agencies,
communities, schools, and health care providers to effectively address this chronic disease epidemic [focusing on]:- Prevention and cessation of smoking in Maine, especially among our young people.
- Promoting prevention measures within our
schools and our communities.
- Alcohol and substance abuse prevention.
- A new psychiatric treatment center and investments in community mental health that will improve the delivery of these critical services.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Jobs:
Worker training for transition from loom to mouse
If we’re going to prepare our people for this century, we’ve got to establish a path for our existing workers to upgrade their skills-or develop entirely new ones-in mid or late career as well as early on. This move began last year with the inauguration
of Maine’s first ever Community College Partnerships-not new bricks and mortar, but an unprecedented collaboration between the Technical Colleges and the University. This new system-aimed at making higher ed accessible and affordable-is off to a rousing
start with 400 new students before it was even announced. But now we have to invite another player-Adult Ed-to the table and take the next step in a pilot project I call “Transition U.,” an initiative designed specifically for mid-career workers who
are in transition and who are ready to trade the shuttle of the loom for the mouse of the computer. Transition U. [will be] light on the bricks and mortar, and no new bureaucracy, but a practical collaborative partnership with real results.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
On Technology:
High-speed Internet connection for rural parts of Maine
I am announcing tonight that this winter, Maine really goes on-line. To anyone who has waited for an Internet site to open or a file to download, the key is speed and the key to speed is something called bandwidth-the size of the “pipe” that carries the
phenomenal resources of the Internet to our homes and businesses. In the age of e-commerce, bandwidth is the essential commodity. Just as the roads and railroads defined economic opportunity a century ago, these wires or the lack of them - will spell the
economic difference between businesses, towns, and states in the new century. And tonight, we’re hitting the bandwidth jackpot. First, Time Warner is extending their cable-based high speed internet service, called Roadrunner to northern Maine, the
first time Roadrunner has been deployed outside an urban area anywhere in the country. For the rest of the state, Bell Atlantic will be bringing to Maine their own high speed Internet service over ordinary phone wires-called DSL-within the next month.
Source: 2001 State of the State address to the Me. legislature
Jan 24, 2001
Page last updated: Mar 14, 2021