5646-R4_ML&P_TownOfBuxton_2016-2017_AnnualReport_Web

128th Legislature Senate of Maine Senate District 31 128th Legislature Senate of Maine Senate District 31

Senator Justin M. Chenette P.O. Box 315 www.JustinChenette.com Saco, Maine 04072 (207) 287-1515 Senator Justin M. Chenette P.O. Box 315 www. Chenett .com Saco, Maine 04072 (207) 287-15

Dear Buxton neighbors, It is an honor and privilege to serve as your Senator in the Maine State Legislature. We must restore a sense of trust and credibility back into the institution of government itself and my focus has been — and will be — to do just that as your Senator. My colleagues and I, including Rep. Marean and Rep. Kinney, worked on hundreds of pieces of legislation. This past year, I submitted several bills focused on growing and supporting our small businesses, providing much needed property tax relief to seniors on fixed incomes, expanding drug treatment for addicts while strengthening enforcement to go after the drug traffickers, all while making sure government is accountable to the people by reducing the influence of special interest groups and lobbyists. We made progress in some of these areas, while others continue to need our utmost attention. This past session we’ve seen an all-out assault on our democratic institutions. Every single one of the citizen-led referendums have either been significantly changed or all out ignored. I have pushed back on these attempts and introduced legislation to protect free and fair election results. We must respect the will of the voters. A small group of politicians and government bureaucrats should not be able to cherry-pick which election results to implement and abide by. That’s giving government too much power and taking power away from the people. As the ranking senator on the Taxation committee, I have a leadership role in crafting responsible tax policy working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The committee does important work regarding taxes, tax credits, property valuation and assessment, plus municipal revenue sharing — the mechanism by which state funds get sent back down to Buxton to help pay for the bare essential town services. Towns like Buxton know how to spend their money better than the state or even Federal government can, so the more money we can send back to communities to pay for essential services like fire and police, the less of a property tax burden is felt by local residents. My role is to be your voice. This is your seat. I work for you. Contact me anytime day or night with questions, comments, concerns or help navigating a state government agency. You can reach me through email at justin.chenette@legislature.maine.gov, at my office at 287-1515, or message me at facebook. com/JustinChenette. To sign up for weekly email newsletters and for additional information on the state budget and other important documents, you can visit my legislative website at www.JustinChenette.com. Best,

Justin Chenette Senate District 31

State Senate Office: 207-287-1515 * Web Site: www.JustinChenette.com * Email: Justin.Chenette@legislature.maine.gov

96

State Senate Office: 207-287-1515 * Web Site: www.JustinChenette.com * Email: Justin.Chenette@legislature.maine.gov

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs