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Libby Mitchell believes the University of Maine System is front and center in the future of Maine’s economic development. President of the Maine Senate and longtime state legislator, Mitchell said the legislature’s support of the system has always been strong.
“Research and development is certainly key to the new economy,” said Mitchell, a Democratic candidate for governor. “The Maine people have always agreed. We’ve tried to pull down federal money for research on offshore wind. A lot is going on at Orono.”
The candidate cited UMaine’s Advanced Engineering Wood Composites Center’s work on offshore wind as a way public education and business have partnered in Maine, but said more of this type of work is necessary.
“The business community needs to be more forthcoming with working with the university to talk about what they need and we need to be nimble,” Mitchell said. “The university also needs to be more entrepreneurial in looking at what are the rising needs in the next decade or so.”
Mitchell, an attorney from Vassalboro, a town of approximately 4,000 outside Augusta, believes a small business-friendly atmosphere will keep college graduates in the state for work.
She said access to college loan repayment and clusters of businesses that interest students are ways to attract students.
The candidate also praised the Foster Center for Student Innovation as an enterprise trying to get Maine businesses to think creatively.
“I have talked to entrepreneurs who are making businesses grow even in this recession,” Mitchell said. “Businesses are innovating all the time, and students are very much a part of that.”
She believes smaller campuses within the University of Maine System are economic drivers for communities and does not believe Maine’s seven university campuses and seven community college campuses are too many. She believes all campuses should be “mission-driven.”
“When you grow two separate systems without any systematic way of communicating — yes, there are always lapses in the ability to work together. We need to find a better way to make that happen,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell called Maine’s community college system the “low-cost entry point” to higher education for many Maine people.
“We need 40,000 more college graduates in the next 10 years or so because we simply are creating these new jobs in Maine that demand education beyond high school,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said although she wasn’t sure if the University of Maine System is more expensive than the average American institution, she said Maine’s per capita income is disproportionately low when compared to the cost of tuition.
“We certainly want to keep tuition down, but we also want to make sure that there is adequate financial aid — meaningful financial aid — for those students who simply cannot afford it. It is critical to make sure that our Maine students can go to the university,” she said.
She said credits between the university and community college system must be more transferrable to make a transition to a four-year university easier for prospective students.
Mitchell said Gov. John Baldacci and the Maine Legislature have been through hard economic times but have put the state in a good position to bounce back through intelligent cuts and reallocation of funds.
“We’ve used the crisis, if you will, to make some structural changes that are going to help our state grow in the future,” Mitchell said. “If you Google and see the budget difficulties of other states in this country, you will be very, very impressed with how Maine has handled this difficult time.”
Mitchell said she has campaigned in every county in the state. She said Mainers are first and foremost concerned about job availability in the state.
“But not once do they want to sacrifice the quality and the beauty of Maine to get there. They also value our environment and our conservation, and they’re looking for new ideas,” Mitchell said. “They’re pretty sophisticated. They understand that the recession was not caused by Maine.”
Mitchell conceived a bill in fall 2009 called “An Act to Prevent the Spread of H1N1.” The original bill would have required all Maine businesses to provide paid sick days to employees. Mitchell withdrew a watered-down version of the bill in March after staunch opposition from many in the business community.
“No one was willing, from the business community, to talk about the issue. They just didn’t want it, and they joined forces to kill it, unfortunately,” Mitchell said. “I think they were able to convince most legislators that this would kill jobs, whereas I saw it as a public health issue.”
Mitchell, the only woman in American history to serve as speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and president of the Senate, is a vocal supporter of gay marriage and was encouraged by the support at the polls in favor of Question 1 in the November 2009 referendum, which lost the popular vote.
“Women’s right to vote or blacks’ right to fully participate in society — those things didn’t happen overnight. So we have to keep educating and pushing the envelope, and I know the progress that was made on this is extraordinarily important,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said this sort of risk-taking legislation is something she never shies away from. Her government experience, she said, is not a prerequisite for leadership, but familiarizes her with political life in Augusta.
“I don’t see why it is a detriment to know something about the job you’re taking on because the governor not only has to lead, which is No. 1, but also has to govern,” Mitchell said.
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