July 22, 1975
Page 24098
COMMISSION ON MAINE'S FUTURE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, anticipating and planning for the sweeping changes in store for modern society is a vital and difficult task. My home State of Maine recently established a 40-member Commission on Maine's Future to undertake just such an analysis.
The commission is charged with nothing less than determining the needs of Maine people in the year 2000 and recommending a growth and development policy which will meet those needs. It is an enormous, and an enormously important, undertaking.
The chairman of the commission, Halsey Smith, a respected Maine banker who now directs the Center for Research and Advanced Study at the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham.
He wrote recently in a Maine business publication, Maine Business Indicator, that–
The task is mind-boggling ... The one factor which makes the Commission's task more exciting is the fact that unlike other states, Maine's future is not "locked in" by preestablished constraints.
To share with my colleagues the reasoning behind an idea which has applications in all the States, I ask unanimous consent that Halsey Smith's article be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[From Maine Business Indicators, July 1975]
MAINE'S LONG TERM FUTURE
(By Halsey Smith)
What will be the primary determinant of Maine's long range future? — Maine's people, business, government, or external forces originating from decisions made elsewhere in the nation or region?
Will state and local governments in their present form, size, and procedures be able to serve adequately the needs of Maine people 85 years hence?
How much of Maine's development is being directed by non-elected bureaucrats and non-voter-mandated programs?
How can Maine's social welfare programs be made less addictive and humanly demeaning? Who should pay the costs of such programs — and how?
Can Maine's present environmental quality afford any additional pollution without destroying it?
How much can or should it stand? How can a reasonable line be drawn between economic and environmental "necessity"?
These are just a few of the provocative questions one must confront when one looks into Maine's long term future.
The job of looking into that long range future has been assigned to the Commission on Maine's Future, which was created by the 106th Maine Legislature. That legislative action called for creation of a 40-member Commission, to be appointed by the Governor under a formula which would insure at least two representatives from each of the eight planning districts, at least one member from each County, six Representatives, six Senators, and the Director of the State Planning Office. The formula for selection of representatives from the Planning Districts called for selection on the basis of the pro-rata population of the Districts to the total population of the State, and since County lines and Planning District boundaries don't coincide in all cases, twenty-seven members of the Commission are Planning District/County representatives. These, together with the Legislators and the Director of the State Planning Office, brought the membership to 40. (See List on next page.)
Since the effective date of the legislation was set at January 1, 1975, Governor Curtis, recognizing that the work of the Commission would take place during the term of his successor, chose to leave appointment of the membership to the next Governor. Consequently on March 5, 1975, Governor Longley announced creation of the Commission.
LD 2528, which created it, requires that the Commission prepare for consideration of the Governor, Legislature and People of Maine, a proposed growth and development policy for the State of Maine, together with recommendations as to the means of most effectively implementing such a policy. The statute further requires the Commission to present a preliminary report in November 1976 and calls for its final report to be submitted in June 1977.
The task, obviously, is mind-boggling both because of its broad scope and the time constraints imposed by the statutory deadlines. While the bulk of the work will be the Commission's own research, study and forecasting, the Commission will also want to hear from the people and businesses of Maine as to what they want for the future. Its task will then be to integrate that public input with its own data, "massaging" all of it with creative and imaginative thinking. It must also consider changes which it might feel must be made in existent structures and decision making processes in order to produce an end product which is practical, exciting, and desirable.
The one factor which makes the Commission's task more exciting is the fact that unlike many other states, Maine's future is not "locked in" by preestablished constraints. As you think of many other states, you can identify many, which, because of previous development, have very limited future options open. Either they are over-urbanized, over-industrialized or are now committed to one or another form of development. They simply don't have the same variety and number of alternatives open as Maine.
Obviously, it would be unrealistic to assume the Commission could produce recommendations which will be 100% acceptable to100% of the people. It would be equally unrealistic to assume that its recommendations should be considered as inflexible or permanent. Conditions and influences are not static. In fact, the velocity of change is great. Consequently, the Commission, while it must make the best and most practical recommendations possible at the moment, must provide for flexibility and constant evaluation as time goes on.
All one has to do to understand the need for flexibility is to think back 25 years and ask oneself with what degree of accuracy one could have predicted the changes in technology, economics or even human attitudes that have occurred over the past quarter century. Also, it is apparent that the Commission cannot consider Maine as an island. Thus Maine's interrelationship with its region and nation must be taken into account in any recommendations that are made. Consequently, while the Commission will undoubtedly make some specific recommendations, it will have served well if it can devise an ongoing procedure by which Maine can anticipate future problems with greater accuracy and lead time. This procedure will permit the State to eliminate the need for crisis reaction to the greatest possible extent while, at the same time, providing a definite outline which Maine should follow.
At the moment the Commission, having come into existence only in March of this year, is still in the process of wrestling with the processes by which it will attack its task. While it would be reasonable for the Commission not to resolve its procedural questions for several more months, there is no reason why the people and businesses of Maine should not be using that time to do some hard thinking themselves as to the kinds of futures they would like to see. Thus, by the time the Commission is ready to receive public input, people can be prepared to convey to the Commission their hopes, desires, and needs.
Taking the questions which opened this article as simply a starting point, sit down and ask yourselves what quality of life you would like to see in Maine in the year 2000 for yourself, your grandchildren, your business or organization. Also ask yourself what changes you think will have to be effected in order to make that possible. It is your state and your future, and they deserve your thought and attention.
MEMBERS OF COMMISSION ON MAINE'S FUTURE
Member's name, county, and planning district
Halsey Smith, Chairperson,
Roberta Well, Vice Chairperson.
Lillian Caron, Androscoggin, Androscoggin Valley.
Thomas H. Reynolds, Androscoggin, Androscoggin Valley.
Stanley Salwak, Aroostook, Northern Maine.
W. Jerome Strout, Penobscot, Penobscot Valley.
Mary R. Thompson, Cumberland, Cumberland.
Clyde F. LeClair, Cumberland, Cumberland.
Wende Frutchy, Franklin, Androscoggin Valley.
Sister Lucy Poulin, Hancock, Eastern Maine.
Sylvia Lund, Kennebec, Kennebec Valley.
J. Neal Martin, Kennebec, Kennebec Valley.
Robert Strider, Kennebec, Kennebec Valley.
Russell Brace, Knox, Midcoast.
Edward Myers, Lincoln, Midcoast.
Louise Lincoln, Oxford, Androscoggin Valley.
David Fox, Penobscot, Penobscot Valley.
Arthur Johnson, Penobscot, Penobscot Valley.
Jennie Magaro, Penobscot, Penobscot Valley.
King Cummings, Piscataquis, Penobscot Valley.
Esther H. Dougherty, Sagadahoc, Midcoast.
Abbie Norling, Somerset, Kennebec Valley.
Paul Reynolds, Waldo, Midcoast.
Sherwood Prout, Washington, Eastern Maine.
Mary Merrill, York, Southern Maine.
Marion F. Brown, York, Southern Maine.
Lloyd LaFountain, York, Southern Maine.
Judith Kany, House of Representatives.
Richard Spencer, House of Representatives.
Neil Rolde, House of Representatives.
John L. Martin, House of Representatives.
Richard Morton, House of Representatives.
Linwood Palmer Jr., House of Representatives.
Joseph Sewall, Senate.
David G. Huber, Senate.
John L. Thomas Jr., Senate.
Neal C. Corson, Senate.
Robert Clifford, Senate.
Peter W. Danton, Senate.
Allen G. Pease, Director, State Planning Office.
Richard Sherwood, Staff, State Planning Office.
Joan Hazzard, Staff, State Planning Office.