AUGUSTA - A bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Sylvester, D-Portland, to foster the development of a new green energy economy in Maine by promoting manufacturing education and employment was signed into law this month by Gov. Janet Mills.
"My son and I thought up the bill one day while he was hanging out with me at work," said Sylvester. "He was studying wind and solar power at school and asked me why we couldn't make these products in Maine. We decided that Maine should make and develop the tools of a green economy and be the seller rather than the buyer."
"We wrote down how the bill would work on the back of a piece of scrap of paper," said Sylvester. "We'd need to educate people on the science, on how to run a company, on how to build things and open the door to this new economy to everyone from those with advanced degrees to adult education students. We wanted to call it An Act to Save the World."
LD 515 facilitates the collaboration between the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, adult education programs, the Finance Authority of Maine, the Loring Development Authority of Maine and private sector stakeholders in developing proposals for a series of programs and initiatives to promote socially and environmentally responsible models of manufacturing education and employment.
The bill directs the Council on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to issue a report no later than December 1, 2021 to the Legislatures Joint Standing Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business with a variety of educational, career and infrastructure related proposals aimed at promoting new and efficient models of manufacturing education and employment in Maine. The proposals within the report must include, but are not limited to:
- A five-year dual degree program through the University of Maine System in green technology and entrepreneurship
- A five-year dual degree program through the University of Maine System in educational communication and digital technology
- A dual degree program through the University of Maine System in accounting and green technology
- A platform for occupational licensing in educational communication and digital technology to address the needs of new residents
- An associate degree program through the University of Maine System, supported by public-private funding, to train students in green engineering and technology
- An apprenticeship program in green technology and employment
- Financing options for graduates of the aforementioned educational and apprenticeship programs
- A solar steam train facility based at the Loring Development Authority of Maine
- A committee to examine the transition to electric transportation infrastructure
"Without costing us any more money, this bill will allow Maine to expand upon and create a new climate of innovation around emerging technology sectors," said Sylvester. "Like MIT has done for the biotech industry in Cambridge, Maine can establish an intergenerational, interconnected network of businesses creating products for each other and for the world."
Sylvester is serving his third term in the Maine House and represents part of Portland. He serves as House chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and Housing.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Sylvester], c. 812-1111