Allen talks broadband, energy, health care

BUCKSPORT – Tom Allen, the 1st District representative hoping to unseat Sen. Susan Collins in her re-election bid this fall, made a case Friday afternoon at a local bookstore about how the federal government can help boost Maine’s economy.

Allen, a Democrat, said there are three major categories that affect the economy in the rural parts of Maine: broadband Internet access, energy and health care.

He also spoke Thursday at a bookstore in Rockland.

“Everything is connected to everything else,” Allen said, standing in front of a rack of magazines at BookStacks on Main Street in Bucksport. “At the end, it’s an integrated whole.”

Allen cited the bookstore’s wireless Internet signal, which owner Andy Lacher keeps on after he closes each day so people still can use it on the sidewalk outside, as an example of how Internet access can boost small businesses. Waterworld Seafood, a processing company in Bucksport’s industrial park, uses its broadband access to receive orders from its clients, which includes the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, he said.

But vast areas of the state and thousands of Mainers still do not have broadband Internet access, according to Allen.

“Affordable, accessible broadband is essential to our state’s economy,” he said.

The six-term congressman cited the Rural American Communication Expansion for the Future Act, a bill he introduced, as a way to make broadband access more affordable. The bill would use tax incentives, loans and grants to help make the technology more available in rural areas, he said.

Access to health care also is important to the rural economy, according to Allen. Some health care services can be enhanced with improved broadband Internet access by allowing patients to have remote video consultations with specialists, he said.

But in other cases there is no substitute for having direct, in-person access to medical personnel. Increased investment in the National Health Service Corps would encourage that direct access, he said.

“My plan provides incentives to doctors to practice in rural areas,” Allen said.

He also stressed the importance of the development of sustainable energy to Maine’s rural economy. Wind power and solar power have the potential to provide Maine with much of the power it needs, he said, and are likely to manifest themselves at rural facilities. Biodiesel and ethanol plants, which are a natural fit with the state’s forest resources, likely would provide cleaner energy and more jobs for rural Mainers, he said. More federal investment in developing these types of technologies is needed, he said.

“These are very viable technologies,” Allen said. “They will make a big difference in rural areas and in the nation’s economy as a whole.”

On Thursday, during a campaign appearance at Rock City Books and Coffee in Rockland, Allen said the federal government should adjust the tax code to give small businesses a break on their energy expenses. He cited a proposed two-year tax credit on fuel purchases and increases in the tax deduction for fuel for small-business owners such as fishermen, family farmers and independent contractors.

Allen also would shorten the depreciation period on improvements from 39 years to 15 years, which Rock City co-owner Susanne Ward said would allow businesses to deduct bigger chunks of credits each year for investments.

BDN writer George Chappell in Rockland contributed to this report.