Testimony of Representative Sean P. Flaherty regarding LD 774: “An Act To Create Jobs and Improve Energy Efficiency through the Transformation of Maine’s Housing Stock”

Senator Bartlett,  Representative Martin, distinguished members of the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Energy Future, my name is Sean Flaherty.  I represent half of the town of Scarborough, and am pleased to have this opportunity to address this bill as a very proud cosponsor.

I want to acknowledge the work of one of my constituents on this bill, Rip Patten.  Mr. Patten began meeting with me on this issue at the very start of this year and he got me excited about this bill.

When I went door to door during my campaign I kept hearing a similar theme from many folks on their front porches.  “How lucky your mother must be to have you come back to Maine,” I was frequently told, “I wish my son Bobby could move back.”  And so it has become the overarching theme of my work; I want to bring my friends back to Maine.

I am one of the lucky ones.  I am lucky that I was able to move back to Maine, but I often joked that in order to get a job in this State, I had to run for the legislature.

But in all seriousness, there is a Brain Drain in Maine, it is real.  There are other 20-somethings who were raised in Maine, educated in Maine on the dime of Maine Taxpayers, graduated from Maine but are currently living and working in New York, and Hartford, and Boston, and Providence, and Concord and Portsmouth.  And they and their families would like nothing more than to take a job in Maine and build a life the way people have done in previous generations.   So the money that we have invested in our children, though our schools, through our Universities, well, that investment is paying off for other States.

As a legislature, we are already working on many issues to help provide more and better paying jobs.  But there is little sense in opening these job opportunities if we cannot offer young workers affordable places to live.

This bill does three things that will be vital to improving our State for my generation.  This legislation will serve as an economic development and stimulus package, it will serve as energy conservation and efficiency vehicle, and it will serve as a mechanism to create more affordable housing to more young people like me.

So in your consideration of this bill, think about the mothers out there who just can’t wait to have their son or daughter be able to move back to Maine.   Maybe think about your own kids, and how great it would be to have them be able to settle in Maine.  But think about how all the work we do to create jobs in Maine will be wasted if we can’t house the young work force which will revitalize this State for generations to come.

Thank you for your consideration, and I would respectfully direct technical questions to the experts, but I’m happy to answer any questions about my mom, who is thrilled to have me back in Maine.