Legislators who can understand Aroostook needs

To the editor:
    Two years ago, I attended a legislative committee hearing on the Maine AllCare bill for universal single-payer health care. The room was full of consumers and providers of health care who testified for the bill. The only testimony opposed to the bill was offered by one insurance representative. The Republican-controlled committee voted “ought not to pass,” and the bill died.
    In a public forum, I asked Aroostook legislators if they had read the bill. Not only had our Republican legislators in Aroostook not read it, they didn’t even know of its existence. They explained that there are just too many bills, thousands, for them to read all.
    Soon after, those same Aroostook Republicans voted with their majority in the legislature to pass their own health care law. At one of the Governor’s town hall-style meetings, I asked if there had been any cost-benefit analysis done to compare the two bills. The governor’s response was to tout his opinion about the benefits of the bill and about the evils of the Canadian system. He didn’t show any indication that he had actually read either bill or understood the unfortunate costs and other consequences of the law on rural residents, seniors, and many others. I learned later that many legislators did not even read the bill they voted for.
    There were people who did read that bill, understood the detrimental effects, and warned legislators about them. They were not listened to. Who were legislators listening to? At a recent forum in Houlton, Rep. Joyce Fitzpatrick defended the bill by referring to her own experience in the insurance industry, and Sen. Roger Sherman defended it and the recent “fix” with references to Craig Green, a local insurance agent.
    Health care is only one example of problematic legislation passed in this legislature that is, I fear, not clearly understood by the legislators passing them. Should our government even be considering bills that legislators have no time to read or research enough to understand?
    I have attended several forums in this election cycle which focused on various issues of concern to Aroostook residents. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LOWV) attempted to sponsor three public forums focused on health, education, and the Aroostook economy. All Aroostook County candidates for the state legislature except those involved in the Presque Isle forum at City Hall were invited. Because of their nonpartisan policy, the LOWV could not continue with their sponsorship when all Republicans declined to participate by the deadline date for response.
    As the local organizer, I decided to go through with the forums on my own and kept the invitation open to all Republicans. None came. The chair of the Aroostook County Republican Committee (ACRC) explained in an e-mail to me why they weren’t coming: “We had an ACRC meeting today; it appears that our candidates are committed and concentrating on their own districts and door-to-door contacts with the voters.” He told a reporter from Fiddlehead Focus the lack of Republican participation was “unintended.”
    Republicans are not too committed to participate in forums sponsored by Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD) for which candidates were given a much shorter notice. Why would all of them refuse to participate in a forum sponsored by the LOWV? Think about it before you vote, and consider carefully who would best represent your needs in Augusta.
    A special “thank you” to all Aroostook County Democratic candidates who are showing up for all of these forums, regardless of the sponsor; for being prepared, thoughtful, and knowledgeable about the issues; and most of all for being willing and eager to talk straight with all voters about the most important issues.
Alice Bolstridge
Presque Isle