Westbrook, MAINE – As Republican legislators begin openly questioning why House Minority Leader and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Fredette forced the State Legislature to stop working, Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett called on the Republican candidates for governor to say whether or not they backed Fredette’s tactics.
Chairman Bartlett’s call comes after Republican State Senator Joyce Maker blasted House Minority Leader Ken Fredette in a Facebook post, saying he forced the State Legislature to adjourn despite its unfinished work so that he could fundraise for his gubernatorial campaign. “Why else would you choose a more expensive way to complete the peoples’ work,” she asked in the post.
“Senator Maker said aloud what most people are thinking: Ken Fredette is so desperate to raise money for his failing gubernatorial run that he’s willing to abandon the work of Maine people and leave the government mired in dysfunction,” Chairman Bartlett said. “Do Fredette’s fellow Republican candidates for governor think this how government should work? We know Garrett Mason voted to extend the session, but what would Mary Mayhew and Shawn Moody do if they were governor? Would they side with Ken Fredette to reject Medicaid expansion and rollback the minimum wage or would they ask legislators to keep working to address the serious issues facing our state?
“We know where Democrats stand. Today, I’m calling on Garrett Mason, Shawn Moody, and Mary Mayhew to condemn Ken Fredette and his selfish obstructionism.”
Yesterday, Fredette and his conservative Republican caucus rejected several efforts to extend the legislative session – even by a single day. In doing so, he left several critical pieces of legislation unfinished, including a raise for direct care workers who take care of seniors and Mainers with disabilities; bills to help address the opioid crisis, infrastructure bonds; nursing home funding; and a technical education legislation. And he did so because he is intent on preventing Medicaid expansion from moving forward, despite being the law, and on rolling back the voter-approved increase in the minimum wage.
Fredette even went so far to take a veiled shot at Senate Majority Leader and fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Garrett Mason for voting to extend the session, saying “If you want to elect Republicans who are going to act like Republicans, they need to come vote like Republicans.”
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