Act today to ensure the creation of a Joint Select Committee for Sustainable Prosperity!

The Legislature is considering the creation of a Joint Select Committee to shepherd the recommendations of the Brookings Report through the Legislature. They will make this decision in the next couple of days.

A special Joint Select Committee will allow legislators to better collaborate in order to enact the comprehensive Plan of Action laid out in the report.

It is crucial that the Legislature form this Committee as soon as possible in order to implement the Action Plan for Sustainable Prosperity while important decisions are made on the budget, tax reductions, government efficiency, and new investments. The four senators listed at right are on the fence about whether or not they will support this new Committee. Please encourage them to act without delay.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Form a Joint Select Committee for Sustainable Prosperity

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Thank you for your efforts in the 123rd Maine Legislature. I understand that you are talking with your colleagues in the Senate about whether to form a Joint Select Committee for Sustainable Prosperity.

The recommendations of the Brookings Report, "Charting Maine's Future," have garnered remarkable support among Mainers and made us more optimistic about our future. This report, along with others, should be considered by a special select committee to help Maine move forward at this moment of opportunity.

Because these initiatives are crucial to the future of our state, the Legislature should form this Committee without any further delay. Please do all you can to help accomplish this and develop a plan for sustainable prosperity for Maine.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 20, 2007

Background Information

Later this week, we expect to formally submit our single comprehensive legislation, which encompasses all of the recommendations of "Charting Maine’s Future" (outlined below). That bill will be jointly sponsored by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.

At the same time, Legislative leadership will be announcing the creation of a Joint Select Committee to shepherd the bill, and related bills, through the Legislature. A special committee is needed, in part, because the Legislature is not organized to discuss big inter-connected ideas, but instead has a tendency to break comprehensive plans into pieces, to accommodate its seventeen standing committee structure. A Joint Select Committee will allow legislators to integrate the related parts of the Plan of Action laid out in the report.

These are the specific recommendations of the Report:

Streamline government to cut taxes and reinvest.

Invest in Maine's heart and soul.

Invest in Maine's resourcefulness and creativity.

Help Maine communities plan for the future.