Join or Donate

Reinventing Maine Government

How We Can Shape a Sustainable Government and a New Prosperity

Charting Maine's Future, the landmark Brookings Institution study sponsored by GrowSmart Maine, said that to achieve sustainable prosperity we must streamline and restructure Maine government. In doing so, we free up critical resources to invest in our future.

GrowSmart Maine commissioned a follow-up report (written by EnvisionMaine) called Reinventing Maine Government  that gathers viewpoints from varying perspectives.

The report lays out a number of challenges including:

  • We are in an unprecedented era of instability in government that has produced a permanent fiscal crisis reflected in regular shortfalls in budgets and diminishing services and maintenance of critical infrastructures.
  • We will most likely see budget shortfalls for at least 8 of the next 10 years.
  • Exploding health care costs now consume 1/3 of most states' revenues, and are projected to increase as much as 50% of revenues within ten years.
  • Seismic changes in energy costs are further accelerating the crisis.
  • Government is organized around a hundred-year old industrial bureaucratic model.
  • Our state budget problems cannot be fixed through annual and incremental budget adjustments, reacting to ongoing shortfalls with across-the-board budget cuts, or by 'moving boxes around' in the organization chart

The report recommends that we reexamine the essential structure and culture of our government through a comprehensive plan, realistic timetable, constant dialogue, and public pressure to move forward. To download a PDF of the report, click here.  To order a bound copy of Reinventing Maine Government, contact us at info@growsmartmaine.org

Next Steps

Now we need to know what you think. GrowSmart Maine's members are Democrats, Republicans and Independents; environmentalists and developers; business leaders, non-profits, fisheries and wildlife enthusiasts, agricultural experts, lawmakers and many others. We have one thing in common. We care about Maine, and we believe that we can best find common sense, strategic solutions by working together.

As we formulate our priorities for the coming year, we would like your reaction to the Reinventing Maine Government report, or any of the GrowSmart Maine reports -- including Charting Maine's Future.

Contact us at 207.699.4330 or info@growsmartmaine.org.

We look forward to hearing from you.