MERI’s score card focused on Maine economy

Based on the last census, 22 percent of Maine’s youth between 20 and 34 years old left Maine for opportunity elsewhere while the national average loss is only 5 percent. Why? A national organization that advocates for small businesses has rated Maine at the bottom of their list for years, currently rating Maine a poor 48th in the nation as a place to succeed as a small business – the very backbone of Maine’s economy. Why? Maine’s own Maine Economic Growth Council (public- and private-sector representatives) reports that the state and local tax burden on Maine citizens is higher than the rest of New England, based on their most recent report that the gap has increased 73 percent since their 2000 report. Why? Incomes in the rest of New England are 28 percent higher than Maine and even our closest neighboring state, New Hampshire, has incomes 26 percent higher than Maine. Why?

We have all seen these reports and more; Maine has been rated at the bottom of the economic pile for far too long. Part of the answer to the questions above is the state policies our representatives create in Augusta. Too many of these policies, for too long, have hurt rather than helped Maine’s economy. Maine is at a critical juncture where we must start down the path of a better economy with more and better jobs. MERI subscribers believe this begins by building a foundation of economy-friendly state policies.

The Maine Economic Research Institute is a nonpartisan, independent, not-for-profit organization formed to do research, analysis and reporting on economic issues. MERI’s methodology, a tested model operating in 23 states across the country – some for more than 20 years – is rooted in the basic business concepts of accountability and performance review. A particular focus for MERI is how state policies affect Maine’s economy. MERI’s board of directors is comprised of Democrats, Republicans, Independents and those unaffiliated with any political party. MERI’s Advisory Committee has the same range of political interests. Both the board and the Advisory Committee were formed with broad political diversity by design to keep the organization focused on Maine’s economy and away from partisan issues. It works. MERI is committed to a healthy economy and quality jobs – period.

MERI reported on the economic performance of the 119th and 120th Maine Legislatures, and has now reported on the first half of the 121st Legislature in its interim report. Included in these reports are a total of more than 85 legislative bills related to the economy that were used to help rate state representatives. These bills range from education initiatives, tax policies, cost of doing business in Maine, economic development, health care, transportation, and more. The selection of legislation is driven by what Maine employers say is critical to their success, their ability to create opportunity for Maine citizens (jobs), and what is fundamental to Maine’s economy.

One major source of direction for selecting legislation is a scientific survey in which 673 Maine employers participated. Sixty-six percent of these companies have 50 or fewer employees clearly making this survey representative of small, often family-owned and family-run Maine companies. Who knows better than these folks about how state policies affect the creation of jobs?

A column in the Bangor Daily News on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 by state Rep. John Richardson tries to fault MERI’s nonpartisan methodology and puts forth many false accusations about MERI (for the facts please visit www.fixmaine.com). Perhaps in his role as majority leader, Rep. Richardson needs to provide cover for those who are not happy about being held accountable for their voting records related to Maine’s economy.

A different view of MERI’s methodology was reported in a recent evaluation by Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Bates College, Dr. Douglas I. Hodgkin. He concluded: “The methodology that MERI uses to rate Maine legislators is a sophisticated process that comes much closer to the goals that such ratings attempt to achieve than do most such efforts. … Conclusion: This rating system is one of the most sophisticated, most realistic and most accurate I have seen in decades of studying interest-group ratings of legislators. It measures what business leaders consider the important legislative issues. It includes objective and easily quantifiable roll call data, but with consideration of the meaningfulness of these votes. …”

Relative to Rep. Richardson’s claims that MERI somehow penalizes Democrats it should be noted that MERI’s current chair and vice chair are Democrats. I am a former lifelong Democrat (I am currently unaffiliated with any political party due to my role at MERI) and the other staff member at MERI is a Democrat. Perhaps Rep. Richardson is referring to only those Democrats who fit his personal definition.

Perhaps we should not be so quick to kill the messenger. What Maine needs now is for our elected representatives to hear the voice of Maine people. Fix our economy, help create jobs for Maine people, and, work together to create real opportunity for future generations.

Edward J. McLaughlin is the president of the Maine Economic Research Institute.