Ray Richardson

The Labor Committee in the Maine Legislature is at it again. Apparently these fine folks believe that Maine's business climate is so inviting, they can craft any sort of non-sense they choose and the small business community of Maine will just absorb it as yet another cost of doing business. I bet these same fine folks are the ones telling us our tax burden is really not so bad, property tax relief is just around the corner, health insurance costs actually should cost more than your monthly mortgage payment and our incomes really are not lagging almost $5,000 behind the national average.

Isn't it great things are just so wonderful economically in Maine? Isn't it wonderful that any citizen who wants a quality job with great benefits can find one by simply letting folks know they are on the look-out for new employment? Isn't it great that health insurance costs have gone down dramatically over the last five years and all Maine citizens can afford sufficient health insurance for their families? Oh wait, you don't work for state government or serve in the Legislature where you do not have to pay for health insurance? Sorry, my mistake É. I will try to be more careful next time. The Labor Committee in the Maine Legislature, earlier this week, supported mandating paid sick time for full and part-time employees of any company that employs 25 or more people with each employee accruing one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, or up to five paid sick days per year to take care of themselves or family members. It would be the first policy of its kind in the country. Not to be vulgar here, but I have to wonder if they are passing around a "crack pipe" before each meeting or simply running an internal contest to see who can craft the most devastating business policy that actually gets support from the committee. Maybe it is not so sinister and there is simply not enough oxygen flowing for normal brain function, but whatever it is, enough already!

Look, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to have a loved one in the hospital and attempting to manage your everyday life. My youngest daughter spent a combined 26 days in the hospital during two stays a couple of years ago. It made our lives difficult because the three children at home were not yet old enough to take care of most of their everyday needs. Thankfully, our daughter survived, is thriving and we as a family made it through a very difficult time through the help of some friends and family. We did not, however, go run to the government and ask them to mandate paid sick leave on small businesses throughout Maine.

If an employer wants to offer such a benefit, that should be between the employer and the employee, not the damn government. The reason Maine's economy is lagging so far behind the national economy in wages and benefits paid are because of the incoherent and non-cohesive economic policies being constructed by Augusta.

I know some of our legislators read this column. I hope you will not be so foolish to defend the "status quo" and tell us how your policies are working . . . they are not! If you want to defend the second highest tax burden in the nation, the second highest health insurance costs in the nation, average Maine incomes that lag almost $5,000 behind the national average, then go ahead and explain to Maine people why your ideas are working. Yes, you have preserved some of our land through the "Land for Maine's Future" and there is no question you are great friends of the trees growing in the ground, but unless you let us cut a few of them down to warm our homes, you have done nothing to help Maine families move forward.

You know, it is ironic that on the day they passed the sick time measure out of committee, they were debating raising the minimum wage in one committee room while debating cutting lottery sales commission to convenience stores in another committee room. Where is the irony? Think about it. Who pays minimum wages to their entry level workers because that is what they can afford? Convenience stores, the mom and pop shops, the little guys É they are the backbone of Maine's economy and it seems the Legislature takes a special delight seeing just how much damage they can do to this sector of our already stumbling economy. If you increase the minimum wage and then decrease the amount of money you pay the lottery agents for the tickets they sell, you are hitting these businesses with a double whammy.

Of course, saying you are going to raise the minimum wage is a good sound bite and it makes you look compassionate, however, the truth is, raising the minimum wage is all about "good politics" and not good policy. I never hear these folks talk about crafting policies that eliminate the need for a minimum wage. I never hear them talk about crafting policies that will encourage small business owners, allow them to prosper and then allow them to pay their staff a prosperous wage. What I hear is how do we craft policies that will keep our citizens enslaved to the need for more government?

Enough with the nonsense and same, old, tired thinking that has oppressed Maine citizens for over 30 years. As you ponder the coming year, I ask you, the readers of this newspaper, are you simply mad and frustrated, or are you ready to take real action to move Maine in a new and prosperous direction? I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to respond to Ray's column in a Letter to the Editor. Send any feedback to editor@windhamindependent.com.

Ray Richardson is a longtime Westbrook resident and has also served as president of the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce. He has a morning radio show on WLOB, a TV show on FOX 23 and is involved with many community organizations. He can be contacted at ray@rayrichardson.com.

Ray Richardson is a longtime Westbrook resident and has also served as president of the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce. He has a morning radio show on WLOB, a TV show on FOX 23 and is involved with many community organizations. He can be contacted at ray@rayrichardson.com.