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

A 21-year-old woman threatens to kill herself with a gun. A 37-year-old man threatens to kill his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend and himself and any responding police officers. Well, these are just a couple of real-life examples of the more than 1,100 times that Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order law has been used to remove weapons and protect individuals and the public. But this successful law is at risk from a question on the November 4th ballot.

Question 2, the so-called "red flag" measure, has been billed as strengthening gun safety measures—but in reality, it will undermine the safety of the public, and here's why.

Look, in my first year in office, we brought together law enforcement, behavioral health people, advocates from all sides to draft a powerful measure that allows a court to order the removal of dangerous weapons from someone who poses a risk to themselves or others, and it got a widely bipartisan vote in the Maine Legislature. So, look, our law is not some cookie-cutter measure copied and pasted from another state. It was written by and for Maine people, carefully crafted to include important due process safeguards that protect both the public safety and the rights of the individual. Now, police are using that law at a rate far more than once a day, and far exceeding the use of other so-called "red flag" laws in other states. That's because police are accustomed to the law and they understand their obligations to use it, especially after the tragedy in Lewiston and the Independent Commission's conclusion that the law could have and should have been used to prevent it.

So how does it work?

Suppose someone you know is talking suicide, or your neighbor is threatening people, or a cousin borrowed your gun but is acting strange. Well, you call the police and you report it. The police investigate and take the person into protective custody, and have the person speak to a mental health professional. The police then take all the information they have from whatever source, and request a judge order the person to give up their weapons. Simple as that. But Question 2 would create a new, separate and confusing process that will undermine the effectiveness of the law and endanger public safety along with it.

So how are the two different?

Our current law requires police to initiate the process to remove weapons based on all the information available to them, while Question 2 would allow a family or household member to initiate it on their own without further investigation. Well, on its face, I guess I understand why that seems appealing. Why not provide another avenue to remove a weapon?

Well, first, because involving law enforcement, as our law does, takes the burden off of you as a family member for turning someone in who is close to you. Question 2, on the other hand, as a practical matter, would shift the responsibility of pursuing a court order on your shoulders and put you on the front lines of a dangerous situation which risks your safety.

Second, law enforcement have access to much more information, and they know the court system, so they can navigate it more easily and successfully remove weapons. Question 2 would have civilians navigate that system on their own. I don't want to see anyone walk away from the process because they're overwhelmed, or can't figure it out, or feel intimidated. That just means that weapons might remain in the hands of dangerous people.

Third, involving law enforcement provides another important level of due process, and that strengthens the current law's constitutionality. Question 2 would lower that legal standard and diminish the protective buffer of the police, which puts the law at much greater risk of being struck down.

Here's the bottom line for me -- and I say this as someone with decades of experience as a former private attorney, a district attorney, attorney general, and now as governor -- if there is a potentially dangerous situation, I want the police involved as soon as possible because it's their responsibility, not yours, to deal with dangerous people.

Look, if I thought Question 2 were good public policy, I'd be the first to support it -- but Maine's current gun safety law is one of the most effective laws of its kind in the nation, carefully drafted to be constitutional. It has resulted in more than 1,100 court orders to remove weapons, far more compared to most other states that have so-called red flag laws.

Our Maine law is successfully saving lives every day, and that's why I ask people to reject Question 2 at the ballot box on November 4th.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, Maine’s growing life science sector represents a vital component of the State’s economy, with emerging opportunities across biomedical research, marine biology, agriculture, forestry, and data science; and

WHEREAS, the life sciences sector is one of the fastest-growing sectors of Maine’s economy, employing nearly 10,000 people, contributing $2.3 billion annually to state GDP, and providing wages that are 1.7 times higher than the state average; and

WHEREAS, emergency preparedness planning for all potential hazards – whether natural, technological, or human-caused – is essential to protect the public health, safety and welfare;

WHEREAS, effective emergency preparedness requires a coordinated, collaborative effort across State agencies to respond, mitigate damage and coordinate recovery;

WHEREAS, October 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month; and 

WHEREAS, workplaces across our state that are welcoming of the talents of all people, including people with disabilities, are critical to healthy communities and a strong economy; and

WHEREAS, while the employment of persons with disabilities ages 16 to 64 in Maine has seen significant gains, it is still far less than the percentage of Maine people without disabilities; and

WHEREAS, blindness and low vision affect millions of Americans, including an estimated 35,000 Maine people; and

WHEREAS, the white cane and guide dog serve as essential tools of independence, mobility, and safety for blind and low vision individuals, and their use is legally protected under Maine law as a signal to motorists to yield the right of way; and

WHEREAS, the logging industry has served as an economic driver and cultural tradition in Maine for centuries; and

WHEREAS, the logging industry creates rural jobs and provides revenue for local communities, contributing $582 million to the state’s economy annually; and

WHEREAS, loggers provide renewable material for products used by people in Maine every day; and

WHEREAS, loggers are the root of Maine’s $8.1 billion forest economy; and

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

I truly understand how important it is to have affordable and accessible childcare for Maine parents. You know, when I met and married my husband, Stan, he was a widower with five daughters, ages 4 to 16. So overnight, I became the stepmother to five girls, while at the same time serving as the elected District Attorney -- for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties -- a full-time job.

Parents across the state of Maine need consistent, affordable care for their children, not just so they can go to work, but so their children can learn and grow in a safe place, especially in the early years before they're old enough to go to school.

Research shows how very important those earliest years are -- they tell us that a child's brain forms over a million new neural connections every second during their earliest years of life. Early childhood education is critical to teach those early skills like recognizing letters and sounds, and understanding and managing emotions, and building relationships with others -- socialization that children need as they grow. That's why my administration has invested more than $145 million in state and federal funding to strengthen the child care system in Maine and start and expand Pre-K programs in Maine for all who want it.

Recently, I visited child care facilities and early childhood programs in Sanford, and East Millinocket, and Windham. I visited the new child care center in Windham with infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms and outdoor spaces for kids to explore. That was built with $250,000 in federal funding from my administration. This project in Windham is just one of nearly 300 child care facilities and family child care providers who received grants through my Jobs Plan.

RSU 14, serving students in Raymond and Windham, also got a grant of more than $110,000 through my jobs plan to expand Pre-K at two local child care programs. And the district got another $50,000 through the American Rescue Plan from the Maine Department of Education to open and furnish a brand new Pre-K classroom at Raymond Elementary School.

Creating safe places where kids can learn and grow does more than just support kids. It ensures that parents can go to work, that they can earn a living, that they can contribute to a strong economy. So I am proud of the high quality child care and early childhood education programs that my administration has helped create over the past several years, more than more than 6,000 child care slots across the State of Maine.

That's a lot. But I also know that child care providers have challenges. As someone who helped raise five daughters, and as someone who is now a grandmother to five kids, I deeply appreciate the work that childcare providers do every day. I know it's not easy.

But to all of our childcare workers statewide: I thank you for all you're doing to support our workforce, to strengthen our economy, and to set our kids on a path to lifelong success.

Our children are our most precious assets and our highest priority. My administration will continue to support high quality care to Maine's children and families for as long as I am Governor.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, falls are a serious and growing public health concern and are the leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths among older adults; and

WHEREAS, falls often result in serious injuries such as hip fractures and head trauma and cause a loss of independence, significantly impacting the quality of life for older adults and their families; and

WHEREAS 1,566 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, as well as 7,399 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, and 71,853 from World War II, though thousands from World War II are assessed as unrecoverable deep-sea losses; and

WHEREAS, the families and friends of unaccounted for Vietnam War Veterans, as well as countless fellow Veterans and other Americans, still await recovery and identification of their remains or clarity regarding their fates; and

WHEREAS, domestic abuse and violence is a serious injustice and public health crisis that affects people and families of all races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and income levels; and

WHEREAS, each year nearly half of all homicides in Maine are related to domestic abuse and violence; and

WHEREAS, support and help are available 24/7/365 to anyone affected by domestic abuse, through the programs of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and the statewide domestic violence helpline; and