From lowering the cost of health care and health insurance to addressing our workforce shortage, there are many challenges facing our state – but with these challenges also comes the opportunity to chart a new and better course.

I have presented in the last several weeks 15 people nominated for cabinet positions and as of the other day, those 15 people have now been confirmed by the committees and by the state Senate.

I presented those cabinet nominees only after a long search and review of nearly 1,000 resumes by a strongly bipartisan committee put together by my team back in November.

I am very pleased with the results.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

The new 15-member cabinet includes eight women and seven men, three distinguished veterans - one Air Force, one Marine and one Army veteran - and four commissioners who have resumed their former cabinet positions. The cabinet is the most gender-diverse in Maine history.

And together, they are experienced individuals who will help usher in an era of new leadership in Maine.

You know, people like Judy Camuso, Amanda Beal, Jerry Reid - they’ll marshal a team of committed public servants who have a lot of common sense and a little bit of dirt under their nails to defend Maine’s natural resources at the Departments of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and Environmental Protection.

Individuals like distinguished veterans Michael Sauschuck, Randy Liberty, and Major General Douglas Farnham who have served their country well and who will continue to serve our state as leaders of the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Veterans and Emergency Management.

Well-respected and experienced individuals like Laura Fortman, Anne Head, and Patrick Keliher who have served under previous administrations and who now resume their cabinet positions.

And individuals like Jeanne Lambrew, Pender Makin, Heather Johnson, Bruce Van Note, John Rohde and Kirsten Figueroa who are experts in their fields and who will lead Maine in addressing the top challenges facing our state in the areas of health care, education, and transportation among other issues.

The people of Maine I know will be well served by the diverse experiences of these individuals in this new cabinet, with its wealth of knowledge and its commitment to our state.

And, these cabinet members will be freely sharing information with those people you elected to come to the State Capitol to serve in the Legislature and develop good public policy together.

So with that cabinet now in place, I really look forward to working with them on behalf of you, the people of Maine.

I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, and I thank you for listening.

Earlier this week, I spoke to the Maine state Legislature to deliver my first biennial budget proposal.

It was a powerful moment in the presence of the three branches of government and our administration took the first step in planning for a new, and better future for our state.

We did this without raising taxes and with preserving the Rainy Day fund for state government, but at the same time preserving the sources of revenues that Mainers have come to expect for education and health care.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

The budget I presented – it’s about Health. It is about Opportunity. It is about Prosperity. And it is about Education.

It is, in sum, about HOPE.

The first major focus of this budget is health care.

You know that expanding MaineCare will help up to 70,000 people who now lack affordable health insurance and it will support our rural hospitals.

And it will reduce the cost of health insurance to small businesses, self-employed individuals and employees whose insurance rates are essentially making up the difference for hospitals’ uncompensated care now.

To support MaineCare expansion, we have included $147 million in the state budget over the next two years. We are also budgeting $29 million for a Medicaid Reserve Account to cover any contingencies.

And, we are looking at controlling costs as well of course.

This budget also addresses other public health challenges in our state.

Among the most critical of these is the opioid epidemic.

This week the Attorney General, Aaron Frey, released statistics showing that 282 people died of drug overdose the first nine months of last year. That is one overdose death per day.

The budget I have presented invests in robust prevention, treatment, and education efforts, much of which uses federal money already in existence, to stem the tide of this epidemic. These initiatives are in addition to the vigorous efforts of law enforcement at all levels to combat drug trafficking into Maine, efforts by law enforcement that we wholeheartedly support.

In these ways and others, we are rebuilding our public health infrastructure.

Hey, we are also rebuilding our education infrastructure.

You know the Maine Department of Education is going to once again be a place that leads, inspires and supports our schools, teachers, and students.

For kindergarten through high school, this budget provides another $126 million in state funds over the biennium.

The budget ensures that no teacher in Maine will make less than $40,000 a year.

And, this budget increases funding for adult education and career technical high schools so every Mainer can compete for skilled jobs in a changing economy no matter their age or their background.

Our investments in K-12 education will help local schools and help local property taxpayers.

But we hope to do more.

The budget provides more local school aid, more revenue sharing, more homestead reimbursements, more disaster assistance for the towns – which all together will result in relief for property taxpayers.

We are also investing in infrastructure and Maine public safety.

We will be able to pave around 2,000 miles of roadway with this budget, and fix 135 bridges, and invest in rail, public transit, and seaports.

The budget authorizes fifteen additional state troopers and sergeants so we can cover all areas of Maine with a 24-hour police presence, including the rural areas.

The budget also fulfils our promise to the good people of Washington County to fund a correctional facility there again.

So this is our budget.

Maine people I heard from want better health care. They want better schools. They want better jobs and greater economic opportunity. And they do not want a tax increase.

So what I have presented is a pragmatic, common-sense budget that lives within our means and that delivers what Maine people want.

The budget is based on the projections of independent experts who say that revenue beyond this biennium is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars more than what this budget proposes.

So, I think I am being pretty pragmatic and fairly conservative in presenting this budget.

When taken in combination with the Rainy Day fund of $273 million that we protect, Maine is well-positioned in the years to come I believe.

You know I have predicted that there would be those who said this budget is government spending run amuck, and that there would be others who say we ought to spend more, more, more. With those people, I respectfully disagree.

This budget is for the small business struggling with health care costs and for employers seeking a skilled workforce.

It is for the parents who have lost their children to overdose and are now raising their own grandchildren.

It is for the families, children and seniors living without basic health care.

It is for the teachers who are now paying for school supplies and food for their students out of their own pockets, while earning salaries that are not commensurate to the value of their work.

It is for the Maine towns and property taxpayers who have had to pick up the tab for services state government should have been supporting.

This budget is about health, opportunity, prosperity, and education.

It is about HOPE.

I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine.

Thank you for listening.

Good morning. When I took office, I gave my word to Mainers suffering from substance use disorder.

I told them that they are not alone.

I told them that, together, we will do everything in our power to bring them back, to make our communities, our families, and our state whole once again.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Since I took office, the Director of Opioid Response Gordon Smith and my cabinet have identified immediate steps we will take to address the opioid epidemic.

This last week, I directed my Administration to implement specific actions to address the crisis. I signed my second Executive Order: AN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT IMMEDIATE RESPONSES TO MAINE’S OPIOID EPIDEMIC.

This Executive Order, effective immediately, defines a number of separate but related actions that will be taken by my Administration, right now.

These actions will save lives, they will help protect our children and young adults from the appeal of dangerous drugs, they will ensure that Mainers suffering from substance use disorder in our emergency rooms, our jails, and on our streets will find the resources they need to recover and rebuild their lives and become productive citizens of Maine again.

These actions will supplement the vigorous efforts of law enforcement at all levels who are stemming the tide of drug trafficking into Maine that is fueling this epidemic.

And, as noted explicitly in this Executive Order, the actions undertaken by the Administration will be done with a view towards reducing the stigma associated with substance use disorders.

You know, in the past five years, more than one thousand six hundred thirty people in Maine have died from drug overdose – more than the population of Chesterville, or Eastport or North Berwick. 418 people in 2017 alone – more than one a day.

And just last year, 908 babies were born in Maine affected by drugs.

The time for action is now.

We will put the full force of this Administration behind those families who have lost loved ones, businesses who have lost valued employees, and all communities diminished by this public health crisis.

In addition to the Executive Order, I’m signing a financial order authorizing the purchase of 35,000 doses of Naloxone for distribution to locations determined by our Department of Health and Human Services.

This life-saving drug will go to hospital emergency rooms, needle exchange programs, public health units, peer recovery centers, emergency responders and many other appropriate locations.

Federal funds to pay for this purchase are already available in the office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.

Mainers with substance use disorder, their families and friends, should have access to the training to safely administer this life-saving drug while we work to address the opioid epidemic.

Now, it is not enough to prevent Mainers from dying of a drug overdose. We also have to help people turn their lives arounds after they’ve been saved.

So across the country and in Maine, the use of recovery coaches has had a positive impact on addressing the opioid epidemic and helping in long-term recovery.

I have directed the DHHS staff to recruit and train two hundred and fifty qualified recovery coaches.

I’ve also directed them to fund a full-time recovery coach in up to ten emergency departments in the state.

And these initiatives will be paid for with existing funds-federal funds- available through the Department.

We will also reinforce programs for Medication Assisted Treatment in the jails. Commissioner Randy Liberty is committed to piloting a Medication Assisted Treatment project in the prisons.

Mainers working to rebuild their lives after incarceration should not have to face the additional battle of combating addiction alone.

So this Executive Order I have signed is just the start of a series of actions that my Administration – in partnership with the Legislature, with public health community members, with law enforcement and many others – will take in the coming months.

It is time for our state to recover and become whole once again.

I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine.

Thank you for listening.

This past December a federal district court judge in Texas issued a decision that would strike down the Affordable Care Act.

If that decision is upheld, nearly twelve million Americans - including more than 75,000 people in Maine - will lose life-saving health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits like mental health coverage, maternity and newborn care.

I cannot stand idly by while Maine children and families once again may be forced to go without health care they need.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

My Administration is moving swiftly, in concert with the Legislature, to help protect Mainers with pre-existing conditions, regardless of what happens to the Affordable Care Act in the courts or in Congress.

Before the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2008, the number of uninsured Americans and the cost of health care skyrocketed. Insurance companies would refuse to cover anyone with a pre-existing condition- so many people- or anyone they deemed to be “high risk” or too costly to cover.

As a result, too many of our loved ones, neighbors and friends went without care.

People like my friend Patty.

Patty was a vibrant, intelligent and charitable woman, an athlete, a mother of three wise children, loved by all… and uninsured.

She died needlessly from breast cancer, a disease that could have been diagnosed earlier and treated and cured.

Patty’s story is not unique. Many of you have friends like Patty. Their fate is unacceptable.

By 2016, because of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of Americans who had health insurance had reached an all-time high of 91 percent and our national spending on health care decreased to historic lows.

We cannot afford to go back.

That is why I have joined Senate President Troy Jackson and Speaker of the House Sara Gideon is support of LD 1, "An Act To Protect Health Care Coverage for Maine Families."

In Maine, an estimated 230,000 adults are living with pre-existing conditions.

In addition to ensuring that no Mainer living with pre-existing conditions is denied coverage, the legislation prohibits charging seniors substantially higher rates because of their age.

LD 1 will ban lifetime and annual caps on coverage.

LD 1 will allow young adults up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance, and it will require ten essential health benefits, such as ambulance service, prescription drug coverage and pediatric care.

You know, health care is for everyone, not just for the well to do.

It is for the small businesses struggling to pay high health insurance bills.

It is for the family on the brink of bankruptcy because of one illness, or accident or medical mishap.

It is for the community that takes up collections in a jar at the corner store to pay for a neighbor’s medical costs.

It is for Patty. It is for you.

So I am proud to stand with President Troy Jackson and Speaker Sara Gideon on this very first bill of the Legislative session to continue the important work of ensuring affordable health care coverage for all.

I am Janet Mills, Governor of Maine. I thank you for listening.

For one thousand, one hundred and sixty-nine days, Mainers who voted in support of affordable senior housing have waited for their voice to matter.

That is almost 70 percent of people who went to the polls three years ago who voted for the senior housing bond.

No longer will we wait.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Earlier this week I was honored to sign a Financial Order to internally transfer some of the voter-approved $15 million senior housing bond in order to immediately pay for weatherization and home improvement projects so Maine seniors can live safely in their own homes.

I also notified Treasurer Henry Beck that I will authorize the sale of the bond when Maine goes to market in June to fund projects that are ready to be completed.

It is time to build more affordable housing for Maine seniors just as the voters intended.

While the people of Maine authorized this bond nearly three years ago, now we can move proudly forward in our goal of ensuring all Maine seniors can live safely, and with dignity and comfort in the communities they love.

The release of the senior housing bonds would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, the Maine Council on Aging, the AARP and countless others who have never stopped believing in the power of advocacy to create change.

While the release of the senior housing bonds is an important step, we still need your voices.

These bonds will help build more than 200 affordable units and will fund weatherization improvements for another 100 homes, but we still have more work to do to ensure affordable housing for our seniors.

More than 9,000 Maine seniors remain on a waitlist for safe, affordable housing. Let’s get going.

I look forward to continuing this work with Maine’s advocates, with seniors, and all of you in the coming years.

I am Janet Mills, governor of the State of Maine.

Thank you for listening.

More than a year ago Maine voters, including many of you listening right now, voted overwhelmingly to expand Medicaid at the ballot box.

Maine people have waited long enough. My Administration is implementing the will of the people.

Good morning, I’m Janet Mills, governor of the State of Maine and thank you for listening.

Medicaid expansion is the law of the land in Maine, and that is why on my first day in office I issued Executive Order Number One which directs the Department of Health and Human Services to implement Medicaid expansion as swiftly and aggressively as possible.

That was just over a week ago. Since then already we’ve enrolled 529 Mainers in health care coverage under the Medicaid expansion program.

For many of these people, this has the power to change their lives for the better and, even save their lives.

Now they can see a doctor, receive preventive care, afford critical prescription medications, and much more. Now they can stay healthy, work, and care for their families.

And we’re just getting started.

My Administration will review the applications that were previously denied to ensure that every eligible Mainer is able to access the health care coverage they need.

We will team up with health care providers, advocates, patients, the business community and others to help enroll more eligible Mainers.

And, my Administration will work with the Legislature to craft a biennial budget that ensures that Maine people can receive appropriate health care coverage.

I hope that if you or your family are struggling with medical bills in our complicated health care system, you might explore whether you qualify for expanded Medicaid (MaineCare) so that you can receive the coverage you need and are entitled to.

You can apply to enroll in MaineCare today by visiting www.maine.gov/mymaineconnection

That’s www.maine.gov backslash my M-A-I-N-E connection.

Look, when my husband Stan had his medical challenges five years ago and passed away four years ago I learned an awful lot about the health care system in Maine.

And we were lucky, we had insurance.

But boy dealing with copays and deductibles and the high cost of prescription drugs is a challenge for all of us, an even greater challenge of course if you’re not fortunate enough to have health insurance.

Health care coverage should not be a luxury or a privilege reserved for well to do people.

It is a human right.

So my top priority as governor is to ensure affordable, accessible health care for every Mainer, every small business, every entrepreneur and family across the state.

Medicaid Expansion is the first, necessary step in reaching that goal and I will not rest until it has been implemented according to the will of the people of Maine. I’m Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

In the past five years at least one thousand six hundred thirty people in Maine have died from drug overdose – more than the population of Chesterville, or Eastport or North Berwick.

418 in 2017 alone – more than one a day.

You know, these people are not “junkies.” They are our neighbors, our co-workers, family members, school mates, graduates of our high schools, our CTEs, our universities and colleges.

They are our sons and daughters. They are people without labels, citizens without stereotype.

History will note that we have lost an entire generation of people to the opioid epidemic and that we have simply failed to address this preventable disease.

It is time to mobilize Maine state government to stem the tide of this deadly epidemic.

As Attorney General, and as a candidate for this Office, and now as a newly sworn Governor, I promised to take action to address the opiate problem.

I’ve said before that as Governor I would make sure there was one person whose sole responsibility would be to flesh out what is working and what is not, to draft a blueprint for change and to report to me every day, every week about our progress.

So I have appointed Gordon Smith to be that person.

Gordon Smith has been Executive Vice President of the Maine Medical Association, he is former Chair of the American Society of Medical Association Council. He has held many other high-ranking positions.

He is an experienced, well-respected, and highly qualified public health expert.

As the Director of Opioid Response, I have complete confidence in his ability to work across departments and to knock down the silos that have prevented us from combating this crisis and protecting Maine families.

Gordon Smith will work closely with medical providers, treatment experts, law enforcement, educators and community members to figure out what is working, and what is not, and determine the concrete steps we can take to change things around.

I think it is time for action. And that that action should begin right now.

Gordon will convene a Prevention and Recovery Cabinet to include all of our commissioners and the Attorney General, in consultation with legislative leaders and will determine our needs and coordinate an effective and prompt response.

And within the next two weeks, with input from Gordon Smith, and our new commissioners Jeanne Lambrew, Michael Sauschuck, Randall Liberty and others, I will issue an Executive Order to direct the specific steps we will take to address this crisis.

Among other things, we will be partnering with hospitals and treatment providers, with jails and community members to increase access to Medication Assisted Treatment, increase availability of life-saving naloxone, to promote effective education and prevention measures, to establish a robust hotline that works and take traffickers off our streets.

In my Inaugural Address, I spoke directly to Mainers suffering from substance use disorder.

I speak to them again and to their loved ones when I say, you are not alone.

You have my word. Wherever you are, we will do everything in our power to bring you back to make our communities, our families and our state whole once again.

We will confront this epidemic together.

I am Janet Mills, governor of the state of Maine.

Thank you for listening.

Good morning, I’m Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

It was the highest honor of my life to take the oath of office to become Maine’s 75th governor.

I am so proud to have joined with thousands of you in reaffirming our shared love for our great state and our commitment to building a brighter future together.

There are many in this state who are “the unsung” as poet Wes McNair has called them.

They are the firefighters and teachers, the techies and hotel workers, the farmers and fishermen, the waiters and loggers, and the barbers and millworkers of our towns.

They are our friends, our neighbors. They are immigrants. Laborers. Veterans. People with disabilities. People from away. People we rely on every day. And many who rely on us.

This governorship is about them, it is about you - the men and women of Maine.

Many days I awake you know to see the mist rising from the Sandy River as it steers its course to the Kennebec, the winter’s breath unveiling a new day in my hometown, a new day in this state.

Then I hear the familiar sounds of chickadees, church chimes and Jake brakes.

This is home in Maine.

We are all in this together.

We all want Maine to have a beautiful environment; happy people; and prosperous communities.

And though we all agree on the goal, we differ about how to get there.

We are Republicans, Greens, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, and many more besides.

Our diversity is a virtue – one that we should harness to advance good public debate and good public policy.

We welcome the voices of newcomers as well to the public conversation — the young as well as the old, immigrants as well as Native Americans and people who have been here a while, people of color, people of different cultures, people of different orientations.

All are important members of the Maine family.

Now our state must find its own common ground, expand our horizons and become one Maine again.

From the tree streets of Lewiston to the rolling fields of the County, from the Bold Coast to the Height of Land, from Cross Rock in Allagash to Portland’s Promenades, our people will once again find unity of purpose.

It is the bond we all share for our state, for our children longing for security, for newcomers seeking to belong, for all of those who feel left behind and who long for respect and dignity.

One thing we all love is our great state.

And when a family, a community, a state believe in each other, help each other, love each other, great things can happen.

Maine people have greatness within them.  Maine is our home.

We are connected by the rivers and the land, the forests and the mountains.

We are connected by love.

We are one Maine, undivided, one family from Calais to Bethel, from York to Fort Kent.

So now we rise— like the mist over the Sandy River — to seek adventure, with hope in our hearts and love in our souls for the brand-new day.

To you, the people of Maine, I say, welcome home.

Welcome Home.

I’m Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.