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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Journal

2007

Maine Policy Review

Articles 1 - 16 of 16

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Green Deal: A Call For Changed Lifestyle, Samuel S. Inman Jan 2007

The Green Deal: A Call For Changed Lifestyle, Samuel S. Inman

Maine Policy Review

Each year the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for high school seniors. This year students were asked for a comprehensive national energy policy, addressing the topic from multiple perspectives and surveying the economic, environmental, political social and historical considerations that must go into any viable long-term solutions. Featured here is Samuel S. Inman’s thoughtful and well-articulated 2007 first place prize-winning essay.

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Building On Mainecare’S Success, Lisa Pohlmann, Christine Hastedt Jan 2007

Building On Mainecare’S Success, Lisa Pohlmann, Christine Hastedt

Maine Policy Review

This commentary provides a particular viewpoint on MaineCare (Maine’s Medicaid program). Lisa Pohlmann and Christine Hastedt critique reform efforts in several states and emphasize the key role of MaineCare in the state’s overall health care system.

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Mainecare—A Provider Prospective, Erik N. Steele Jan 2007

Mainecare—A Provider Prospective, Erik N. Steele

Maine Policy Review

Dr. Erik Steele in this commentary discusses MaineCare (Maine’s Medicaid program) from a provider’s perspective. He suggests that delays and problems in the state’s reimbursement to providers have led to doubts about the state’s credibility both as a payer and as a health care systems change leader.

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Nature-Based Tourism In Maine: The State’S Role In Promoting A Strong Tourism Industry, Elizabeth Munding, John Daigle Jan 2007

Nature-Based Tourism In Maine: The State’S Role In Promoting A Strong Tourism Industry, Elizabeth Munding, John Daigle

Maine Policy Review

Tourism is Maine’s largest industry and, perhaps also, one of the least well understood and appreciated by the state’s citizens. Conventional wisdom suggests that tourism yields unwanted crowds and low-paying jobs. Yet closer analysis suggests that tourism does and has a yet-to-be-realized potential to enhance the well-being and sustainability of communities, particularly through high-quality, nature-based experiences that leverage Maine’s extraordinary landscapes, wilderness, and rural culture. Elizabeth Munding and John Daigle summarize what was learned as a result of Munding’s interviews with close to 50 tourism stakeholders throughout Maine. Although this study covered four major aspects of Maine’s tourism industry, here …

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Poverty In Maine, Ann Acheson Jan 2007

Poverty In Maine, Ann Acheson

Maine Policy Review

Despite decades of concerted federal, state, local and private effort, poverty persists in Maine and many parts of the nation. The face of poverty, however, differs across regions and states. Maine, for example, has a higher rate of working poor than in the nation as a whole. In this article, Ann Acheson updates the profile of poverty in Maine, examining recent trends and the nature of regional disparities. Some measures of economic distress have worsened over the last five years; others remain stagnant. Acheson concludes with a brief overview of current policies and programs that address poverty and calls for …

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Taking A New Look At Mainecare, Paul Saucier Jan 2007

Taking A New Look At Mainecare, Paul Saucier

Maine Policy Review

Maine’s Medicaid program, called MaineCare, provides health care coverage to one in five state residents. Paul Saucier gives an overview of MaineCare’s services, eligibility categories, and financing. He discusses root causes of MaineCare’s continued expansion in breadth and cost, which has prompted reform proposals to rein in what many believe is unsustainable growth. Examining reform efforts in other states, Saucier cautions that we need to learn from these experiments. Finally, he raises important questions for policymakers related to MaineCare’s mission, its complexity, and the stability of its financing.

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You Don’T Always Get What You Want: Lessons To Be Learned From The Demise Of Maine’S Local Assessment System, Rebecca H. Berger Jan 2007

You Don’T Always Get What You Want: Lessons To Be Learned From The Demise Of Maine’S Local Assessment System, Rebecca H. Berger

Maine Policy Review

The recent repeal of Maine’s local education assessment requirement was met with mixed reactions ranging from relief to outrage. That there were such differing responses points to the fact that “assessment” in education is understood in diverse and sometimes contradictory ways. In this article, Rebecca Berger looks retrospectively at how the problems associated with implementing Maine’s local assessment system (LAS) were caused by a lack of understanding of important aspects of assessment as it relates to standards-based reform in education. Using examples from her case study of one Maine school district, Berger notes three areas of ongoing concern: lack of …

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State Earned Income Tax Credits And “Making Work Pay”: How Maine Might Help Workers, Glenn Beamer Jan 2007

State Earned Income Tax Credits And “Making Work Pay”: How Maine Might Help Workers, Glenn Beamer

Maine Policy Review

Established in 1975, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) became the federal government’s largest antipoverty program for citizens under the age of 65 by the mid-1990s. In this article, Glenn Beamer gives a brief overview of how the program works and how states have piggybacked on the federal EITC to further assist their working poor. He observes that Maine’s EITC policy does not fully avail itself of potential returns and points to other states with policies that provide greater benefits for the working poor. He suggests that expanding Maine’s EITC not only would provide working Mainers with extra income, but …

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The Maine Woods: A Legacy Of Controversy, Richard W. Judd Jan 2007

The Maine Woods: A Legacy Of Controversy, Richard W. Judd

Maine Policy Review

In the Margaret Chase Smith Essay, Richard Judd reflects on the history of Maine’s North Woods. He discusses the divergent interests with a stake on the North Woods over the centuries, but notes that there has been a long-standing interest in conservation and in the heritage represented by this vast region.

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Are The Economics Of A Sustainable Maine Forest Sustainable?, Mike Levert, Charles S. Colgan, Charles Lawton Jan 2007

Are The Economics Of A Sustainable Maine Forest Sustainable?, Mike Levert, Charles S. Colgan, Charles Lawton

Maine Policy Review

Mike LeVert, Charles Colgan and Charles Lawton discuss the transformation of the economic environment of Maine’s forests over the past two decades. Paper companies have sold most of their holdings; residential and conservation demand for land has increased; forestland prices have skyrocketed; and new classes of landowners have different strategies, objectives, and time horizons than the old industrial landowners. The authors believe that management of Maine’s forests must now address changes in the economic environment with the same intensity as threats such as the spruce budworm were addressed if we are to keep Maine’s forests as forests.

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Forging A Common Vision For Maine’S North Woods, Robert J. Lilieholm Jan 2007

Forging A Common Vision For Maine’S North Woods, Robert J. Lilieholm

Maine Policy Review

Robert Lilieholm takes stock of the challenges and opportunities facing Maine’s North Woods, the largest undeveloped forested block in the eastern United States. In the face of changing ownership patterns and development pressures, there is lively debate over current land use policies and trends. Lilieholm suggests that a broader, regional vision for the North Woods might better serve the long-term interests of both the area’s forests and its struggling communities.

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Alternative Large-Scale Conservation Visions For Northern Maine: Interviews With Decision Leaders In Maine, Elizabeth Dennis Baldwin, Laura S. Kenefic, Will F. Lapage Jan 2007

Alternative Large-Scale Conservation Visions For Northern Maine: Interviews With Decision Leaders In Maine, Elizabeth Dennis Baldwin, Laura S. Kenefic, Will F. Lapage

Maine Policy Review

Based on confidential interviews with 21 decision leaders in Maine, Elizabeth Baldwin, Laura Kenefic, and Will LaPage examine the complexity of the conflicts over alternate visions for large-scale conservation in Maine. Exploring models that may be useful for policymakers grappling with competing values for Maine’s forests, they present four alternatives: national forests, new U.S. forest service models, forest heritage areas, and the British national park model. The authors found that the leaders interviewed agreed about the need for some level of conservation, but did not completely agree on how this might happen and where the decision-making power should lie.

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Lurc And First Principles Of Land Use Regulation, Mark Anderson Jan 2007

Lurc And First Principles Of Land Use Regulation, Mark Anderson

Maine Policy Review

In this commentary, Mark W. Anderson notes that recognizing the strengths and limits inherent in what Maine’s Land Use Planning Commission (LURC) does can bring more realism to how various “publics” seek to accomplish their goals for the North Woods.

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Houses In The Woods: Lessons From The Plum Creek Concept Plan, Kathleen Bell Jan 2007

Houses In The Woods: Lessons From The Plum Creek Concept Plan, Kathleen Bell

Maine Policy Review

Residential growth pressures have arrived at the edge of Maine’s North Woods. Kathleen Bell in this article examines changes in the economics of rural land use in Maine. She notes that public debate over Plum Creek’s proposal for development in the Moosehead region reminds us that we need to increase our understanding of the interactions between residential growth pressures, changing landownership patterns, and new expectations for Maine’s forestlands

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Wanted: A Maine Woods Dialogue, Mark B. Lapping Jan 2007

Wanted: A Maine Woods Dialogue, Mark B. Lapping

Maine Policy Review

In his commentary on Jerry Bley’s article on the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LURC), Mark Lapping discusses the need for serious dialogue about the future of the Maine North Woods. He believes that LURC’s mandate needs to be altered and enlarged

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Lurc’S Challenge: Managing Growth In Maine’S Unorganized Territories, Jerry Bley Jan 2007

Lurc’S Challenge: Managing Growth In Maine’S Unorganized Territories, Jerry Bley

Maine Policy Review

Maine’s Land Use Regulation commission (LURC) oversees an area covering roughly half the state. Plum Creek’s Moosehead Lake Concept Plan has brought LURC into the spotlight. Jerry Bley presents the history of this unique agency, the lands under its jurisdiction, how it has managed development, and what may lie ahead. In developing its Comprehensive Land Use Plan update, LURC needs to seek common ground for solutions that preserve the unique qualities of the area in its jurisdiction, while providing landowners opportunities to realize the financial values of their lands.

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