Look at ME

The national news media don’t often shine their spotlight on Maine. When it does, the illuminated subject matter tends to be quaint, backwoodsy or just plain goofy.

So it was refreshing last week to read the Wall Street Journal story about something serious, worthy and farsighted happening here: Start ME Right, the comprehensive package of child-care bills working its way through the Legislature.

As befits a business-oriented publication, the Journal story focuses upon the economic-development angle of good, available and affordable child care, its relationship to a productive, stable work force, and the role the business community must play.

The featured legislator in the piece is Sen. Susan Longley, Democrat of Waldo County, the sponsor of the private-sector side of Start ME Right — several bills that, through tax credits, low-interest loans and other incentives, will encourage businesses to become active partners with parents, caregivers and children’s advocates. And it is duly noted that the liberal branch of the Longley family tree has as allies some of the State House’s most commited conservatives.

It is also noted that Maine has a lot of catching up to do: Demand exceeds by nearly 13,000 the supply of licensed and inspected day-care slots; 18,000 families who are eligible for sliding-scale subsidies don’t get them; 1,800 low-income families who could get subsidies can’t get care; chronically low pay and low benefits results in a constant turnover in child center staff; Maine spends a smaller percentage of its tax dollars on child care than any other New England state.

It’s a thorough assessment of a problem and a good job of reporting on the several years of hard work, study and brainstorming that Sen. Longley and her colleagues devoted to formulating a solution. One lapse in the story is that it neglects to mention the issue at the core of Start ME Right, its strongest economic argument: A growing body of research demonstrates conclusively that every dollar spent on pre-school education produces a handsome return on investment in savings on remedial education, juvenile corrections and prison. That, after all, is why it’s called Start ME Right.

A couple of other quibbles, though not the Journal’s fault. One of the examples given of a business struggling with child-care availability and work force instability was a southern Maine printing operation with 700 workers on 12-hour shifts. You require parents to be on the job from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and wonder why they quit? Journal readers must be scratching their heads over that self-inflicted wound.

Then there’s the Republican representative, also a Southerner, who said he likes the incentive approach of Start ME Right “because we’re so overtaxed in Maine.” If there’s ever a good time to spout that economic-development-killing misconception, it would not be during an interview with the world’s leading business newspaper, read daily by the world’s leading business executives.

Note to business executives: Maine taxes are quite reasonable; the levy is smack in the middle compared to other states. We are, however, in the lower tier for per-capita income. That’s why we have the nation’s fourth highest tax burden — levy as a percentage of income. Maine taxes aren’t bad, Mainers just aren’t paid enough. Expand here and pay them more. Thank you.

But the most troubling part of the story, accurately told but still troubling, is that although the entire Start ME Right package has made it through the relevant committees, often with ringing endorsements, lawmakers may be getting cold feet when it comes to the relatively modest funding requirements. The money’s there if legislators have the courage to find it. Perhaps, now aided by the national spotlight, they will.