State treasurer outlines road to economic recovery
By Mark Putnam
Managing editor
PRESQUE ISLE — Maine’s state treasurer is taking his message on the importance of fiscal prudence on the road, recently stopping in Presque Isle for a luncheon presentation to the Rotary Club.
Bruce Poliquin, a Georgetown attorney, told Rotarians Sept. 19 that the LePage Administration is serious about changing Maine’s poor business image and, more importantly, its economic health.
Contributed photo/Rachel Rice
STATE OF THE STATE — The Presque Isle Rotary Club received a visit from Maine State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin, right, during its Sept. 19 meeting. With the special guest speaker is Presque Isle Rotary Club President Jeff Pangburn.
To solicit the best ideas and practices, the governor and his cabinet are traveling around the state — meeting with municipal and industry leaders, as well as everyday citizens.
“There’s a new attitude in Augusta. We work for you. You are the customer,” said the Waterville native, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010. Poliquin said it is the private sector, not bureaucracy, that generates new jobs and ultimately revenues for the state.
Poliquin used PowerPoint slides to illustrate Maine’s poor business climate (ranked 50th in U.S.) and his agency’s steps to create more private sector jobs. They include spending less, taxing less, regulating less as well as lowering energy costs and health insurance premiums for individuals and businesses. He also said Maine’s education system needed to be reformed to include charter schools, flexible curriculums, student and teacher performance benchmarks, seamless transition from high school to college or trade school.
