This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

You know, it's just not enough to simply say "thank you" and pat ourselves on the back for fulfilling a promise to honor our nation's veterans. As President Kennedy once said, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

As the proud daughter, and sister, and niece of veterans, I am committed to making sure that Maine is the best state in the nation for our veterans to live, work, and raise a family. And I'm proud to have continued the annual Hire-a-Vet campaign, which has expanded Maine's workforce, and supported businesses, and improved the financial well-being of our veterans.

This campaign has successfully connected more than 2,200 veterans with good-paying jobs in Maine since its creation a decade ago, and in 2025 alone, 100 veterans and military family members were hired across every county in our state. The average hourly wage of veterans hired through the 2025 Hire-A-Vet campaign was $27.69. Employers hiring the most veterans last year included the State of Maine, Bonney Staffing, Northern Light Health, and Bath Iron Works.

So, to those employers in every county and in every industry, I just want to say thank you. I say thank you because you did not hire veterans merely out of a sense of charity or obligation. You hired Maine veterans for jobs that are at the foundation of our economy, because you recognize what we all know to be true: veterans make good employees.

Veterans know what it means to work as a team. Veterans know that they can't leave anyone behind. They know how to serve with integrity and commitment to a vision and mission, while being able to adapt and being flexible to a mission's evolving needs. Sounds like pretty good employees to me!

According to the Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, there are more than 102,000 veterans in Maine. That includes thousands of working age men and women who are ready to apply the skills our businesses need to expand and modernize and succeed. Maine's Hire-A-Vet campaign is critical to making the connection between an army of workers and high-quality jobs across the state. So my administration will continue Maine's Hire-A-Vet campaign and continue our partnership with employers, big and small, with nonprofit and private organizations, to make those connections happen for more veterans in our state.

I look forward to the 2026 Hire-A-Vet campaign, and I thank Maine businesses and organizations for their enduring commitment to our honorable veterans. This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, the State of Maine continues to experience an extended period of cold temperatures statewide, which has significantly increased heating demand for residences and businesses;

WHEREAS, the increased heating demand has resulted in delivery backlogs by heating fuel delivery crews statewide;

WHEREAS, the increased heating demand and delivery backlogs have resulted in propane supply chain shortages at all regional propane offloading facilities;

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening. 

While the average price of electricity in Maine is typically among the lowest in New England, that's certainly of very little comfort to Maine people who are all suffering under the weight of high energy bills right now. 

And it's because of our significant overreliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity that we're seeing these high bills, especially our reliance on natural gas -- that's the leading factor driving up energy costs for Maine.

President Trump and Congress have repealed tax credits to help us get off of our reliance on fossil fuels, and they've imposed new tariffs that are making clean energy production more expensive and raising energy costs for Maine people. So we need to continue diversifying our energy sources and welcoming more renewable energy onto the grid in order to offset the price of natural gas, which is driving up the cost of electricity. And that's why my administration established Maine's first cabinet-level energy department, the Maine Department of Energy Resources, to promote more affordable and reliable energy for Maine.

I'm proud that we've added more than two gigawatts of clean energy — an unprecedented amount — to our grid, and that we've added two hundred and forty megawatts of grid connected storage to provide affordable, reliable power to Maine people. And this year, the Maine Department of Energy Resources will conduct a procurement for energy storage projects to help us surpass our goal of four hundred megawatts of energy storage installed by 2030, which is one of the most ambitious goals in the country, and rightly so. And that procurement will be building on other energy storage projects now breaking ground in Maine, like Cross Town Storage in Gorham. These new energy storage projects will store power for periods of high demand, like during the cold spells we've had recently, and this will keep energy costs down.

We're generating more renewable energy, and we're also leading the nation when it comes to installing energy efficient technology. We've installed more than 1,400 public charging ports for EVs. We've installed more than 180,000 heat pumps statewide — exceeding our original goal of 100,000 — and we've set a new, more ambitious target of installing 275,000 heat pumps by the end of next year. Well, I'm proud that this nation-leading effort has cut our reliance on heating oil by nearly 20 percent since I've taken office.

And I'm proud, too, that these investments are putting people to work. More than 15,600 people now have good-paying jobs in the renewable energy sector in Maine, and that contributes nearly $3 billion to our economy each year. We're also working with neighboring states to bring more renewable energy to the entire region. The Northern Maine project for renewable energy and transmission, which most of the New England states are helping us out on, will bring more renewable energy to the grid, and will reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and will bring down energy costs for ratepayers in Maine and create jobs and economic development in northern Maine. 

We know that clean energy produced here in Maine and across New England is a more reliable and a less expensive source of energy than fossil fuels. We know that investing in the renewable energy and efficiency sector creates good-paying jobs. We know that transitioning to renewable energy reduces our carbon emissions and mitigates the damage to our climate. So look, no matter who is in the White House, Maine will keep working to attract investments in emerging renewable energy industries and will keep creating good-paying green collar jobs, and will keep reducing our reliance on expensive fossil fuels and shielding Maine from volatile energy costs.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

WHEREAS, March is American Red Cross Month, a special time to honor the kindness of our neighbors who aid families in need every day in Maine, across the United States and around the world as they carry out the 144-year mission of preventing and alleviating suffering in the face of emergencies; and

WHEREAS, the American Red Cross aspires to turn compassion into action, and Maine people – American Red Cross volunteers – help each other when we are in need; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

You know, when you talk to people who are experts in business, or people who know a lot about the economy, they tell you that research and development is one of the most important things, a major force behind a strong economy.

Well, what is research and development? We talk about it a lot – “R&D” – it's basically the process of creating new products or taking things we may already have, and improving them to make them more useful. It requires a little degree of ingenuity, creativity, which Maine people have a lot of.

Our ten-year economic development plan, which I released in my first year in office, calls for us increasing investment in R&D. Well, we've made some progress. R&D spending in Maine has increased by 24 percent, and last year, I signed legislation to increase the state's share of spending on R&D until we reach the national average.

But we've got to keep at it. We already have a lot of companies and entrepreneurs in Maine who are working hard every day to improve their products and services and create new ones, and we know that supporting innovation can create economic growth and create good-paying jobs for Maine people.

That's why I endorsed a $25 million R&D bond, and why I signed legislation to send it to the voters, which they then approved.

Well this week, after a thorough process administered by the Maine Technology Institute, I was proud to announce 23 innovative Maine businesses and research organizations will be receiving awards funded by that R&D bond.

The companies who are receiving these funds are in nine different counties across Maine, they're developing new products and technology to compete on the global stage, and they're conducting groundbreaking R&D in every kind of advanced industry. Let me give you some examples.

bluShift Aerospace in Brunswick – they're going to use this grant to continue manufacturing rockets and making our state a leader in space flight.

Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding in Thomaston – a family business – they will use the grant to build an advanced composite center with state of the art manufacturing equipment.

Robbins Lumber in Searsmont will use the grant to transform low-value wood into high-value finished boards that builders need.

Marin Company in South Portland will use the grant to build a lab to keep up with the demand for its skincare products, made with chemical compounds found in lobsters.

Overall, with the $25 million dollars in state funding provided by the bond, matched by more than $718 million in private sector funding, we know these 23 companies will create and sustain thousands of good jobs and will provide economic benefits for years to come, putting Maine on the map.

I'm happy that Maine voters joined me in supporting the R&D bond – now we're distributing that funding to companies who will drive meaningful economic growth and job creation across our state.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

To the Members of the Democratic, Green Independent, Libertarian and Republican Committees of Chester, East Millinocket, Medway, Millinocket, Mount Chase, Patten, Woodville, and unorganized townships Residing in Representative District 29.

GREETINGS:

WHEREAS, by the January 10, 2026, death of Kathy Javner of Chester, in the County of Penobscot, a member of the House of Representatives in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Legislature in District 29, a vacancy has thus been created; and

WHEREAS, for the first time in seven long years, the New England Patriots will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 8 against the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of the 2015 contest; and

WHEREAS, after going just 4-13 during the 2024 season, the Patriots shocked the country this year by posting a 14-3 record under new head coach Mike Vrabel and behind a breakout season by quarterback Drake Maye; and

WHEREAS, the speaking of French is an expression and affirmation of a people's cultural identity; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine is named after the Province of Maine in France, and the towns of Paris and Calais owe their names to the capital city of France and the French port city of Calais, respectively; and

WHEREAS, more than one third of the population of Maine is of French and Canadian descent and Franco-Americans in Maine have contributed much to the beauty and quality of this State; and

WHEREAS, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children and is detected in more than 15,000 of our country's sons and daughters every year; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine has one of the highest rates of childhood cancer in the nation, with 60 Maine children diagnosed with cancer annually; and

WHEREAS, thanks to ongoing advances in research and treatment, the five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers has climbed from less than 50 percent to 80 percent over the last several decades; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Look, one of the biggest obstacles for many people today -- whether you're a new college graduate, or a young parent, or an older person on fixed income, perhaps -- one of the biggest obstacles is the high cost of living right now. From health care to housing and utilities, to the cost of a car or truck repair, to the price of groceries and life saving medicines, costs are just too high and Maine people, like millions across the country, are feeling it. Earlier this week, in my State of the State Address, I proposed that we do something about it.

Over the past seven years, on several occasions, with bipartisan support from the Legislature, we've been able to issue relief checks to Maine families on several occasions. We did this in recognition of tough times and in recognition that each family, each person, may have different needs. So once again, I'm proposing that we help Maine people breathe a little easier by sending them an Affordability Relief Check for $300 each, drawn from our record-high Rainy Day Fund, in order to offset, in some small way, the cost of goods and groceries that are increasing because of tariffs and other circumstances beyond our state's control.

And while we're at it, let's continue to tackle one of the most significant issues facing Maine people -- that's the high cost of housing. First, I'm proposing two new pilot programs backed by $17.5 million to build 530 new homes and apartments for middle class families. Second, I propose we increase our investments in our already very successful housing programs, like the Rural Rental Program by $52.5 million, which will in turn trigger at least $15 million in federal matching funds. Well, all told, those measures alone will result in 825 new homes all across Maine.

In my State of the State Address, I also proposed making Community College free in Maine permanently to ensure that the cost of two years of community college -- which, as we know, is the pathway to a good-paying career here in Maine -- so that cost will not increase. To date, more than 23,000 students have taken advantage of free Community College, with many more scheduled to achieve a degree or certificate over the next two years.

Take Tori Wile, who grew up in Gray building things with her grandfather in his woodworking shop. She's a person who wanted to be a builder but couldn't afford to go to college. But thanks to our free Community College program, Tori graduated with a degree in Building Construction Technology, and she even recently helped to build a new electrical lab. The free Community College program has made a life changing difference for thousands of people like Tori. It's time to make it permanent.

Well, these three proposals -- distributing relief checks, building homes, and making free community college permanent -- will provide both immediate and long-term cost relief.

There are other ways that we're fighting to hold down costs, like fully funding the state's share of education and funding revenue sharing to the towns so that more money goes back to them to pay police and firefighters, road crews, and local services -- so less of that cost is borne by the property taxpayers. While costs are rising across the country, we're going to continue to do what we can, where we can, to provide some relief to you, the people of Maine, to make it more affordable to live, work, and raise a family in our great state.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.