Radio Address: We must all work together to create jobs
January 28, 2015
(MP3 Audio)We are pleased that liberal lawmakers are now supporting efforts to grow jobs and wages in Maine. This is good news, but their ideas are not new.
Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.
The ideas being touted by Speaker of the House Mark Eves are initiatives that our administration has already put in place.
These initiatives are strengthening our economy and getting more Mainers back to work. 20,000 Mainers have found jobs since we took office.
The unemployment rate in December went down to 5.5 percent. The rate is down from 5.7 percent in November and down from 6.4 percent one year ago.
A better indicator of how many Mainers are working is the employment-to-population ratio. Our ratio is nearly 61 percent. It is above the national average for the 87th consecutive month. This is progress, but we all want the economy to grow faster. Unfortunately, some legislators are already trying to stifle job growth.
Democrats are now pushing a bill called ?An Act to Retain Call Centers,? which would force businesses and jobs out of our state. This anti-business law does not help attract jobs to Maine.
Instead of working against us or duplicating efforts, legislators should join us in moving Maine forward. We have several initiatives under way to grow jobs and train a highly skilled workforce.
The Maine Department of Labor is expanding on successful industry partnerships to get the long-term unemployed and New Mainers into jobs.
The Maine Departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services are partnering in our ?Welfare-to-Work? program, which helps people who have been on welfare get back into the workforce.
Our administration has also streamlined the youth work-permit process and opened up more types of jobs to teen employment. Getting more young people into the work force is key to teaching them good work habits that will last a lifetime.
We are working to attract highly skilled, young people to the state by partnering with the private sector to provide scholarships and alleviate student debt.
My tax reform plan is the first step to eliminating the income tax and making Maine more competitive nationally and around the globe. This will attract job creators and good-paying careers to our state.
If we really want Maine to be competitive and attract new businesses, families and young people to our state, we must put politics aside and work together to grow jobs.
Thank you for listening.