Earlier this week I joined the families and friends of Maine's fallen officers at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Augusta to pay tribute to those who lost their lives protecting and serving communities across our great state.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Among the names on that stone wall are those of Gil Landry and David Payne. David Payne was an officer with the Lewiston Police Department who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1988. Barely a year after that, Gil Landry, a State Police detective assigned to my District Attorney's office, was also shot and killed in the line of duty. And because of their deaths, law enforcement people and families around the state raised $125,000 to create this Law Enforcement Memorial, and I have been pleased to speak on this occasion many times in the past.

The 90 individuals whose names are carved on the Law Enforcement Memorial wall in Augusta, were sheriffs and deputies, chiefs of police and patrolmen, park rangers, game wardens, troopers, and detectives. Many of them had served this country in various wars and in branches of the military. They were from Androscoggin County and Auburn, Bath and Baxter State Park, Cumberland and Calais, Oxford and Orono, Paris and Penobscot, Lebanon and Lincoln, Westbrook, Washington, and nearly every town and territory in between. Young and old, veteran or rookie, these men sacrificed their own lives to protect life and property and peace in the State of Maine.

This week, we added the names of two men to the memorial.

Officer Herbert Tarbox of the Falmouth Police Department, a Navy veteran who served in World War II and in the Korean War. Officer Tarbox died in 1959 of a heart attack while administering first aid to a man who had lost consciousness in his vehicle.

And Sergeant Richard Betters of the Portland Police Department, a very popular sergeant who died in 2009 from a heart attack he'd suffered after evacuating people from a burning building. And last year, Sergeant Betters’ colleagues from the Portland Police Department attended the high school graduation of his daughter, Fiona, who has gone on to study criminal justice at the University of Arizona. Well, that's the way Maine's law enforcement community shows up for each other. And that is how we honor these men whose names are carved into the Law Enforcement Memorial. By being the best citizens we can be, the most protective, the most unselfish, the most civil in our common humanity, and the most caring of our human community.

To the men and women in uniform who are today upholding the rule of law, that rule of law which those officers gave their lives for, I say this: please know that I acknowledge the risks that you take when you show up for work every day. I see the sacrifice of your loved ones who are waiting to know if you'll come home safe. I see the spirit of our fallen officers embodied in your commitment to keep our state the safest place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.

I thank members of law enforcement across the state for their integrity, fairness, compassion, and their sense of duty in the thousand daily acts of service they perform every day on behalf of Maine people.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, forest trees cover eighty-nine percent of Maine's land, making the state the most heavily forested in the United States; and

WHEREAS, city and town shade trees provide natural beauty, shade, and refreshing health for urban environments; and

WHEREAS, trees can reduce erosion of topsoil by wind and water, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; and

WHEREAS, the safe operation of a motorcycle requires training, use of good judgment, and thorough knowledge of traffic laws and licensing requirements; and

WHEREAS, most motorists are unaware that the majority of motorcycle crashes with another motor vehicle take place on local roads with speed limits between 35 mph and 55 mph; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Well, earlier this week, the federal government -- the Department of Education -- announced that it will be restarting collections on overdue student loan payments, which had been paused for the last five years.

If you have student loan debt, you might be kind of worried about your ability to pay it off. You may also not know that there's a simple state tax credit here in Maine that could save you thousands of dollars on your loans. So let's talk about it.

When I took office, Maine was projected to lose 65,000 workers by the year 2030 as older people retired and too few young people entered the labor market. Well, to encourage more young people to start careers in our state after they graduate from school, we made Maine's student loan relief programs less complicated and more generous. In fact, it's the most generous one in the country.

For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, graduates can receive an income tax credit for their student loan payments of up to $2,500 a year or up to $25,000 over their lifetime. Unlike our old tax credit that had a lot of complicated criteria, our new student loan repayment tax credit is simple and straightforward. Basically, if you graduated from school any time after 2007 with a degree in any subject, from any accredited community college, college, or university anywhere, and you now live in Maine and pay income taxes in Maine, then you'll qualify.

I've read that about 190,000 people in Maine owe a collective $6.5 billion all told in student loan debt. That's about an average of $34,000 each. Well, if you're one of those graduates and if you're paying down your student loan, you could claim this student loan repayment tax credit on your state taxes and you could knock out as much as $25,000 of that debt over time.

Student loan debt is a real burden that could hold people back from living here in Maine. If graduates keep leaving for jobs in other states, our economy just won't grow. With the federal government restarting collections on overdue student loans, I strongly encourage you to consider claiming Maine's student loan repayment tax credit. If you didn't take it in previous tax years or if you forgot to take it when you filed your 2024 return and you were paying on a student loan, you can still file an amended return.

The strength of our economy here in Maine depends on keeping talented people working in our state. There's a simple, generous, and clear tax credit to help you pay down your student debt and start or continue a career in Maine. Take advantage of it today, won't you?

For more information about the Student Loan Repayment Tax Credit, please visit maine.gov/revenue. That's maine.gov/revenue.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you again for listening.

WHEREAS, registered nurses in the United States constitute our nation’s largest health care profession; and

WHEREAS, the depth and breadth of the registered nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of the American population in a wide range of settings, such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, in-patient clinics, and more; and

WHEREAS, professional nursing is an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Well, last Sunday I joined hundreds of Maine people at the Army National Guard Reserve Base in Bangor to welcome 78 veterans who were coming home from Washington, D.C. It was the largest group ever to travel with Honor Flight Maine, an organization that brings veterans to our nation's capital to visit the memorials that are dedicated to their service.

Many of the veterans I met that day served in Vietnam. That's no surprise -- 48,000 men and women from Maine, including members of my own family, served our country with honor and distinction in the Vietnam War.

After the Honor Flight landed, U.S. Navy veteran George Mathis said, "I wish I could do this every month. This was beautiful," he said.

U.S. Army veteran Earl Williams said, "We didn't get the coming home before. Now I've come home. Everybody made me so proud to be an American."

Since its first mission in April 2014, Honor Flight Maine has transported nearly 1,300 veterans to Washington, D.C., free of charge. I'm grateful to Honor Flight Maine and the Maine National Guard for giving our veterans a chance to honor their fellow soldiers, and to reflect on their own service and sacrifice, and to receive a hero's welcome that they deserve here in Maine.

Our veterans are the inspiration for our freedoms. They're the driving force behind the character of our country, and they're the soul of our community.

Think of the person who fixes your furnace, who plows your road, who greets you in the local store, helps you with the hospital. Think of a neighbor, a fellow hunter, a nurse, or a teacher. We're surrounded by veterans and by the survivors of these wars. They fought to preserve our country and our Constitution. They fought for the rights that too often we take for granted every day. And I was proud of the many people who gathered in Bangor last week to show our gratitude to our veterans. It meant the world to them.

As Vietnam veteran Skip Brown put it, "Where'd they get all these people? They must have emptied every home in Maine. This is unbelievable," he said.

While the Honor Flight Ceremony in Bangor was important, the best way we can show our gratitude to veterans is by protecting the services that they've earned -- services at the Veterans Administration and at the Maine Bureau of Veterans Services. Brigadier General Diane Dunn, our Commissioner of the Department of Veterans and Emergency Management, spoke about some of those services in her annual State of the DVEM address delivered to a Joint Session of the Legislature this week.

General Dunn highlighted the fact that the Bureau of Veterans Services laid 998 veterans and spouses to rest across Maine's Veterans Memorial Cemetery System last year. They helped veterans file more than 2,500 claims for health care and disability benefits. And they approved more than $13 million in education benefits so veterans could go on to college and universities in Maine.

I thank General Dunn and I thank the Department of Veterans and Emergency Management staff for their dedication, which allows us to deliver these and other exceptional services to veterans across the State of Maine every year. As General Dunn said in her address, that department is "An organization of passionate professionals, citizen soldiers and airmen, emergency managers, and veterans advocates, all working tirelessly towards a shared mission to protect, serve, and honor the people of Maine."

So I want to add my thanks to the staff of the Bureau of Veteran Services and to the Maine National Guard for their commitment to Maine people. And thank you especially to all of our veterans. I say to them: we're so very proud of you. We will always honor you. We'll always be here to welcome you home.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, Law Day is a “day of national dedication to the principles of government under law,” as stated by President Dwight Eisenhower, who established the first nationwide commemoration in 1958; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution has established a framework for government that strengthens and unites our nation under the rule of law; and

WHEREAS, upholding the rule of law is vital for protecting rights enshrined in the Constitution and ensuring a foundation for freedom and liberty for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, emergency medical services is a vital public service; and

WHEREAS, the members of emergency medical services teams are ready to provide lifesaving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and

WHEREAS, access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury; and

WHEREAS, about every two minutes, a person in the United States is diagnosed with lung cancer; and

WHEREAS, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for women and men; and

WHEREAS, although new case rates have dropped significantly in recent years, Maine still has the 5th highest lung cancer incidence rate in the country and an estimated 1,460 Mainers will be diagnosed this year alone; and

WHEREAS, Maine is fortunate to have over 400,000 people aged 60 and over who contribute skills, talent, wisdom, and experience to our great state; and

WHEREAS, our communities benefit when people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can participate fully with the highest level of independence; and

WHEREAS, older Mainers improve our communities through intergenerational relationships, community service, civic engagement, and many other activities; and