Abbott offers consolidation as solution to budget woes

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Steve Abbott believes cuts within the University of Maine System, such as those proposed by UMaine’s Academic Program Prioritization Working Group, are due to elements beyond the university’s control.

“It reflects two things. One, it reflects the current economic problems that we have in this state,” said the Republican candidate for governor. “But the other problem is for the past 35 years, Maine has not sufficiently supported higher education in the state.”

Abbott, a Portland attorney and Orono native, said the University of Maine System is a bargain compared to American private universities, but believes the system “could deliver a better product” to students. He said the University of Maine and community college systems also have a collective number of “redundancies,” especially in administrative positions.

“Just things as simple as payroll and billing,” Abbott said. “All those features that are run separately at different campuses — I think we’ve really got to start to look at combining those.”

Abbott praised UMaine President Robert Kennedy for working with Sen. Susan Collins to secure money for research and development at the university. The candidate said Maine spends less on research and development than other states in New England — something he would like to change.

“We’re competing against the New England states,” Abbott said. “Innovation is one of the critical components of a new economy.”

The candidate cited developments in the UMaine’s AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology as demonstrations of innovation by Maine students. Partnerships between businesses and education, he said, must be as prevalent as possible in Maine.

“The university is doing some very good things. We’ve just got to promote more of it, because those examples alone just show how it can help our economy,” Abbott said. “It enhances the educational opportunities of the students but it also provides employers with the skills that they need from employees.”

Abbott said he supports technological advances in traditional Maine industries such as agriculture. Indoor farming, he said, could be a boon to the state’s economy and sustain agriculture through the harsh winter months.

“We’ve got a market of 55 million people just to the south of us who want fresh produce and want it locally grown,” Abbott said. “We can serve those markets.”

The candidate praised Gov. John Baldacci’s second-term avoidance of tax hikes, but said more budget cuts could have been made this year. Abbott acknowledged Baldacci’s clash with the Maine Legislature on tax increases, saying the Legislature is “definitely revenue-oriented.”

“Their idea to get more revenue is to increase taxes and I just think there’s a fundamental difference between what the Republicans are saying and what the Democrats are saying in this race,” Abbott said. “I think the best way to get more revenue for our state government is to get more taxpayers. More jobs — then we’ll raise more revenue to run our state.”

Abbott criticized his party for not giving Mainers “a credible alternative” to the Democrats for many years because of the lack of a clear party vision.

“The last decade really hurt the Republican Party in Maine and hurt the Republican Party nationally. I think the last year in Washington has given the Republican Party a new opportunity and the challenge for us is to take advantage of that opportunity,” Abbott said. “We got arrogant — more focused on power and less focused on doing what the people elected Republicans to do.”

The candidate said Republican governors must fight the portion of the recently signed federal health care legislation which forces Americans to buy health insurance.

“There comes a point when the federal government is just becoming the government. They’re completely usurping the roles of states and local government as well,” Abbott said. “From that level, it is important that we push back.”

Abbott said Maine’s Dirigo Health plan was “well-intentioned, but it didn’t work.” He believes many in Augusta have held on too long to the plan, which he says has “failed with its core mission, which is to cover previously uninsured Mainers.”

Abbott served as chief of staff to Collins from 1997 to the end of 2009, just before he announced his candidacy for governor. Collins was one of three Republican senators to vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — more commonly referred to as the stimulus bill.

The candidate said much of the public attitude that surrounded the stimulus came from representatives competing against each other for resources for their state. Infrastructure, he said, was not included sufficiently in the bill.

“I am not a big fan of the stimulus,” Abbott said. “If we’re going to make those kinds of investments, why not make them on long-term expenditures?”

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010, 1:34 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.