Marina Villeneuve, AP Statehouse Reporter Augusta, Maine twitter: marinav13 T ~ C ~ F

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1 Marina Villeneuve, AP Statehouse Reporter Augusta, Maine twitter: marinav13 T ~ C ~ F Marina Villeneuve with the Associated Press. I am asking five questions of all gubernatorial candidates who are still in the ring. I m asking for answers by noon on Monday, April 2. I would appreciate specifics versus general talking points. 1. Firearms: Should Maine pass additional gun control or strengthen existing measures? If so, how far would you go to regulate guns? See below statement - Stance on Gun Rights Issues - provided to Brunswick High School student forum on gun rights 2. Medicaid expansion: Maine faces an April deadline to submit a written plan to the federal government to expand Medicaid as voters approved. Expansion is slated to start July 2, though how Maine will pay for expansion remains unclear. If elected, what steps would you take concerning Medicaid expansion in your first month? 3. Pot: Lawmakers are still debating the future of recreational marijuana sales, with votes on a compromise possible soon. If elected, what steps would you take concerning recreational pot sales in your first month? As a former CPA specializing in Healthcare Finance and former Director of Accounting at Maine Med, I have a very keen understanding of all the forces that weigh upon healthcare including M.Ex. I am also aware that neither party understands healthcare finance. All other candidates are simply parroting words from some think tank that does not have the needed expertise. After taking office: 1 st : explain the math to people who don t want to know the facts. 2 nd : make sure we have the right people properly trained to do the tasks at hand 3 rd : make sure we have enough people effectively distributed across the State 4 th : gradually implement expansion region by region 5 th : Make sure the accounting is handled properly to show the reconciliation between what would have been vs what reality turner out to be with M.Ex.. The truth is that the funding already exists in that most costs are going to be incurred with or without M.Ex. Current projections assume that without M.Ex. most costs just wouldn t happen. But that s not true. People are going to get care no matter how you fund them. Projections focus on how healthcare costs are insured when the real issue is how to reduce both the amount of care needed and the costs of care used. Frankly, the Cost Report that hospitals file with the Fed includes offsets for uncomp. care and bad debts that means the Fed already funds those costs and M.Ex. includes them too. I would push to legalize recreational marijuana and treat it more like a tobacco/alcohol hybrid. We have a chance to do a good job of regulating this new industry fairly and effectively. It seems we are lacking a long range policy statement what is our long range plan for MJ? So the discussion about what our vision is for MJ in our future needs to happen and the vision decided/defined asap.

2 4. Ranked Choice: Do you support a constitutional amendment to require Maine to use rankedchoice voting for all statewide elections? 5. Civility: Is it time for a new tune in Augusta? Have at-times tense debates in Augusta been good or bad for the state overall? How will you as the next Maine governor work with lawmakers? No. Although R.C. has strong validity from a statistical standpoint, it is not yet ready for prime time on a large scale here in Maine. I would suggest that it be implemented gradually for local elections to measure whether there are any unexpected aberrations that result. I would never suggest a Constitutional amendment. I don t think a lot of politicos have ever been trained or informed how to decide substantive issues in a civil manner. I am a student of the Dale Carnegie approach to problem solving. I was responsible for forming one of the first civil discourse efforts in Maine several years ago. It was called The Editorial Board and was hosted at the Portland Public Library and other Portland locations. These so called tense debates result when the participants haven t clearly defined what the problems are that they wish to solve. Instead they approach it from a winlose viewpoint where someone has to win. All or nothing. My way or the highway. Carnegie s first step in problem solving is to clearly define the problem(s) you are trying to solve. Once the problems are clear, possible solutions become clear quite fluidly. Then the job of consolidating possible solutions into an agreed upon solution and the resources to implement them. 6. Economy: Maine s unemployment numbers are at record lows, private-sector employment is at record highs and the state s seeing a budget surplus, while income growth remains sluggish and experts continually point to a need to attract young people. What specific legislative and/or regulatory efforts would you back to help Maine s economic health? Also, it wouldn t hurt to look hard at Mason s Rules for Legislators and at the biannual schedule for legislative sessions. Very inefficient and ineffective. First, the budget surplus has been created on the back of social service programs gone wanting. Seniors are at very high risk. We recently discovered how at risk our children are. We should have been knocking on the Puerto Rican door to bring new workers to Maine to grow our workforce. The surplus is a mirage. The low unemployment and positive economy is not the result of anything we did here in Maine. Every state is experiencing the same impact - it goes back to the economic stimulus. We need to emphasize jobs that don t need a full four year student loan. The trades are at high risk of shortages. To attract young people from out of state, we need to invest our funds in businesses like Idexx, WEX, Jackson Labs, Unum and so on. If we make those businesses solid, they will bring/attract new generations of highly paid workers, researchers, scientists, educators and so on. We definitely need to rethink our regulatory statutes. They are just so complex and nitpicky and controlling it s like have parents living in your business Do this. Don t do that. Government doesn t have to do everything. It should provide the blueprint and let private enterprise construct the building. I have a whole new concept for taxation sort of like tithing which puts taxation entirely at the local level. This allows every town to choose how it raises its operating revenues and then tithes a portion to the state for costs of running state government only. This makes towns much more competitive. They can choose the economic models and regulatory models and educational models that work for them.

3 There are a lot of strategies to attract young people. But far too many in government have no taste for innovation and change. We need to look to UNE, Husson, Kaplan and others to lead the way to growth in Maine. We have massive opportunities for aquaculture as we are starting to see. The recent boom in elvers is it being managed wisely to assure the population of elvers is efficiently harvested and to assure growth in that population. Maine is not exactly forward thinking. In short I would be the best opponent to the failed Status Quo. Kenneth A. Capron MemoryWorks 1375 Forest Avenue D-11 Portland, Maine kcapron1@maine.rr.com See Below

4 My name is Pearl Stuart and I am a sophomore at Brunswick High School. In light of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the students of Brunswick and surrounding schools have been active in the Never Again movement for gun control. Following a nationwide request by the students of Parkland, Brunswick area students have moved to organize a Town Hall on Saturday, April 7th from 10:00am-12:00pm in the Crooker Theater of Brunswick High School. It would cover the topic of gun control, specifically banning assault rifles as well bump stocks and other high capacity magazines, raising the minimum age to purchase rifles, keeping guns out of classrooms, improving background checks and installing them at guns expos and shows, and the role of mental health in the issue of gun violence. I am writing to you to invite you to prepare a written statement on your stances on this issue that we can provide to the audience at our Town Hall. We would also post it on our Facebook page for this event. We would be pleased to hear your opinions on gun violence and to spread the word to our audience. If you would like to prepare a statement, please send it to us at pearlsstuart@gmail.com. Sincerely, Pearl Stuart and the students of Brunswick High School S Const. A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. ME Const. Section 16. To keep and bear arms. Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned. Written Statement Kenneth A. Capron Stance on Gun Rights Issues 1. banning assault rifles Rather than banning assault rifles, I would propose a requirement for specialized training and very specific background checks plus an affirmative statement/requirement on how the owner intends to secure the weapon(s) to prevent improper use. There are other weapons that need to be added to this consideration like grenades, bazookas and sniper rifles. 2. bump stocks Banning bump stocks will simply lead to other creative work arounds but I do believe these should be regulated the same as assault weapons. 3. high capacity magazines No opinion here. One large is same as two regular. Maybe we should regulate the size of the bullets or the projectiles sold. 4. raising the minimum age to purchase rifles The age issue echoes back to many discussions about age. If you are old enough to vote; if you are old enough to fight for our country; if you are old enough to drive; etc.; then you are old enough to purchase a rifle or a handgun. The question is when are you old enough to take responsibility for your actions and be held accountable for the consequences. Why is the age to drink 21? Why is the age to smoke 18? Both are killers. Individuals mature at very different rates. 5. keeping guns out of classrooms Guns should be prohibited on school grounds except when carried by a trained security professional. The last thing I want is to have teachers, parents, students or visitors carrying guns on school property. The mental health issues that create shooters is not exclusive to any one age group or level of maturity and that includes security officers. We trust the security staff has been properly screened for mental stability even though we have seen evidence to the contrary. 6. improving background checks The challenge here is not whether it is desirable to improve background checks, everybody wants them, but how far do we let this intrusion into our private lives go. Some information could impact things like job licensing, insurance coverage, credit scores, parental rights. As we have seen, there is no such thing as secure data. Where do we draw that line on privacy? Can the government dictate what an individual must reveal? That s been argued for centuries and will for centuries to come. Expansion of background checks could set precedent for expansion of other government knowledge of our private lives.

5 7. implementing background checks at guns expos and shows 8. the role of mental health in the issue of gun violence Agree 100% I think this is the most critical aspect of the many shooting events. We know that in every case, someone, somewhere, had some indication of storms brewing. We choose not to squeal on our classmates; our peers; our family members; our friends; our leaders; and so on. Despite many red flags, society has until now encouraged us to just keep quiet and keep your nose out of other peoples business even when we see and know there are problems. Actually we are often chastised, punished, ridiculed and bullied for speaking out about red flags. One has to wonder what impact it would have if students were taught to identify and report red flags including bullying, abuse and corruption. What happens to the abused child if their abusers were held accountable BEFORE the child acts out and hurts others? This is a much greater social change than society could handle right now, but it is, I believe, the only long term effective way to stop the shootings before they happen. 9. Constitutional impact I believe it is important to keep in mind the consequences of modifying/amending any piece of the State or Federal Constitutions. Opening the Constitution for any revision also opens it for all revisions. Just imagine what a President could do with an opportunity like that Never Trump could become Forever Trump. If you are willing to risk your rights just to fix one problem, then you need to study the concepts in much greater depth. Our Constitution is precious. It is more than just a document. It is the heart and soul of our Nation. I d prefer to avoid heart surgery. This document written and approved by Kenneth A. Capron, candidate for Governor of the Great State of Maine.

Governor s term limits: Serve four year terms and can serve a consecutive term.

Governor s term limits: Serve four year terms and can serve a consecutive term. The executive branch of government in Florida consists of: The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Cabinet and various departments. The Governor is the supreme executive according to Florida s state constitution,