Established 2002 Chairman Jinger Duryea Staff 6 Founder Dick Jackson | Focus Maine public policy Chief Executive Officer Matthew Gagnon Headquarters Maine, United States | |
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Budget Revenue: $557,262
Expenses: $533,244
(FYE December 2014) Similar State Policy Network, Oklahoma Council of Public Aff, Beacon Center of Tennessee, Georgia Public Policy Fo, Donors Trust Profiles | ||
The Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) is a free-market think tank located in Portland, Maine. According to its mission statement, the MHPC is "a research and educational organization whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise; limited, constitutional government; individual freedom; and traditional American values–all for the purpose of providing public policy solutions that benefit the people of Maine." The organization has an associated media outlet, The Maine Wire.
Contents
Leadership
Matthew Gagnon is the CEO of MHPC. The board includes Peter Anania, Timothy J. Bryant, John Chandler, Jinger Duryea, W. R. Jackson, Jr., Jeff Kane, James Ward, Thomas Connolly, Laurence Rubinstein, Susan Dench, Jason Oney, Scott Wellman, and Neal Freeman.
Activities
In 2006, MHPC was prominently involved in the unsuccessful campaign for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) in Maine. In August 2011, MHPC and the Maine chapter of Americans for Prosperity distributed a videotape produced by conservative activist James O'Keefe which "hint[ed] at" Medicaid fraud.
MHPC has been involved in policy debates over issues such as government spending, welfare reform, and Maine’s pension debt. The Bangor Daily News reported that critics of the organization have faulted MHPC for publishing the salaries of state employees while declining to release the names of the organization’s donors. MHCP is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN).
In 2013, MHPC initiated a tax proposal for Maine's poorest area, Washington County. According to the proposal, "residents and businesses would cease to pay state income taxes or collect sales taxes until economic conditions reach the statewide average and stay there for three years running." A grant proposal supporting the initiative to was submitted to SPN.
Since 2013, MHPC has published healthcare transparency data on the website CompareMaine.org. The website lists, by Maine hospital, how much different procedures cost for patients.
MHPC has opposed the Common Core State Standards Initiative and called for the Maine Legislature to allow parents to opt their children out of standardized tests.
In 2014, MHPC laid out an agenda for conservative policymaking in Maine. It included a push for welfare reform, making Maine a right-to-work state, a change in Maine’s constitution to see the attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer popularly elected, and tax cuts.
In 2016, the organization published its Piglet Book, a book chronicling wasteful government spending in Maine. The organization wrote that while Maine has made some progress, “state spending is still far larger than it should be, or would be if only Augusta took our spending seriously.” The Piglet Book had last been published in 2012.