WHEREAS, forests cover over eighty-nine percent of Maine's land, defining our environment and contributing to our high quality of life; and

WHEREAS, these healthy, productive forests provide employment and sustain the state's two leading industries, forest products and tourism; and

WHEREAS, for more than a century, the State of Maine has been a national leader in forest fire control and prevention, and in 1891 established the Maine Forest Service to combat forest fires; and

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

In the depths of the Great Depression, about half of all elderly people in the United States fell into poverty. With no savings to cushion the blow, some of them were able to rely on family or friends to provide their most basic needs. Seniors without a support system were forced to wait in long bread lines at a soup kitchen, a symbol of hardship we still remember today. 

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act of 1935, he said “We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards…of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.” 

The Social Security Act was based on a simple promise: workers who paid into the program would receive their wages back in the form of retirement benefits. This is nothing more than a covenant between a government and its people. Now, 90 years later, I'm growing more concerned that this promise to the American people will be broken. 

Over the past few months, I've heard Elon Musk suggest that his Department of Government Efficiency should cut up to half of Social Security Administration staff, reduce services available over the phone, and shutter field offices that serve rural areas. 

Well, we know that Maine is the oldest state and the most rural state in the nation – so let's look at the facts. One out of four households in Maine rely on Social Security, and 95% of Maine people over the age of 65 are on Social Security benefits, and they rely on them to pay their bills. 

Many of those people live in rural communities: 43% of households in Aroostook County, 45% of households in Washington County, 43% in Piscataquis County, and 35% in Androscoggin County receive Social Security benefits today. So cuts to Social Security staff, services, and offices would force many Maine people to drive for hours to visit in person offices and fix problems with their benefits, and then stand in line outside those offices. 

To me, this is just plain wrong. The government should not be making it harder for seniors to access critical benefits they've earned over a lifetime of working. 

To justify these cuts, Elon Musk has claimed that there is “immense waste” in the Social Security Administration. Well, like most people, we can always do better, I think, making government programs run smoother – but rushed and reckless cuts only put at risk those earned benefits people have for food, and medicine, and housing. 

This doesn't make sense to me or to Maine people wondering what those proposed cuts to Social Security will mean for them. Kathy Davis, a 73-year-old woman from Lewiston, said that after paying into the system for 46 years, she is completely dependent on the less than $2,000 a month she receives from Social Security. That pays her bills, including medications. “I'm very nervous about it, very scared,” she said. “It's not just what my retirement year should be. I should be relaxing, enjoying myself, not sitting on pins and needles waiting for the axe to drop on my life." 

Seniors like Kathy should not be afraid of losing their Social Security benefits, or having to drive hours to talk to someone about them because there's nobody there to answer the phone. 

I urge the administration in Washington to keep the promise that America made to its seniors 90 years ago by protecting their earned benefits and ending this troubling uncertainty around Social Security. 

Maine seniors earned these benefits. We as a nation should stand by our commitments to them. 

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, there exists in the State of Maine an extraordinary occasion arising out of the need to resolve many legislative matters pending at the time of the adjournment of the First Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature of the State of Maine; and 

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

You know, the devastating storms we endured in December 2023, and January '24, and the spring of '24, demonstrated just how vulnerable our people, businesses, and communities are to serious flooding, storm surge, heavy winds, and lashing rains.

Recovering from that historic damage takes time, which is why this week, I announced the final measures of storm relief to support businesses and nonprofits as they rebuild still from those storms.

Last year I proposed, and the legislature approved, $60 million in state funds for storm relief. That's the largest single investment in storm recovery by any administration in Maine history. So far, we've used that funding to rebuild nearly 70 working waterfronts, and repair infrastructure in about 40 communities, and provide financial relief to 170 businesses and nonprofits.

This week, I announced that we're distributing the final $2 million of those funds to 40 businesses and nonprofits, the second and final round of our Business Recovery and Resilience Fund. This will allow them to rebuild and to be ready for the storms we know are coming.

Luke's Boatyard in East Boothbay has been providing repair services to boaters for more than 80 years. They said that this grant is helping them “literally rebuild our future.”

Our entire state has to prepare for the extreme weather events of the future which we can expect. That's why last year I created the Maine Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission. I asked the experts who are on that commission to help develop a long-term preparedness plan for our state. And after talking directly with municipal leaders, and county emergency management folks, and engineers, and members of the public at large, the Commission released its Interim Report in November.

Based on those interim recommendations, I introduced major bipartisan legislation in January. That bill will strengthen the ability of Maine communities, homeowners, businesses, and emergency responders to be prepared for severe storms. And that bill does not use any General Fund dollars. We're not raising taxes. LD 1, An Act to Increase Storm Preparedness for Maine's Communities, Homes, and Infrastructure, is sponsored by Senate President Mattie Daughtry, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart, and House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham. I thank them for their support, and I urge the full legislature to advance and enact LD 1 as soon as possible so that I may sign it into law.

Look, we can't really predict the future. But as our businesses, nonprofits, and communities recover from past storms, we can make sure that they're ready for all the storms ahead.

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

WHEREAS, damage to underground facilities, such as pipes, mains, cables or conduits, can result in dangerous or costly leaks, fires, explosions and injuries, environmental mishaps, and the disruption of vital utility services, even though this damage and its consequences are often preventable; and

WHEREAS, all individuals, entities, corporations, and government bodies planning to dig, blast, or demolish need to first determine the location of underground utilities; and

WHEREAS, Maine law states that an employer may not discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of sex by paying wages to any employee in any occupation in this State at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort and responsibility; and

WHEREAS, wage inequality remains an ongoing issue though requirements regarding equal pay have been part of Maine law since 1949; and

WHEREAS, in calendar year 2024, there were 3,055 cases of substantiated child maltreatment in Maine; and

WHEREAS, child abuse and neglect is a serious problem affecting every segment of our community, and finding solutions requires input and action from everyone; and

WHEREAS, our children are our most valuable resources and will shape the future of Maine; and