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September 9, 2010

LePage challenged to prove dairy fee claims

On Aug. 31, Paul LePage addressed dairy farmers at the Agriculture Council of Maine forum on how he’d make their lives better. LePage said, “I read the report from the Department of Agriculture to the governor, and every page had at least three fees. License fees, registration fees every page. It’s a 20-page report. No wonder they’re going broke. We’re feeing them and licensing and permitting them to death.”

It is reasonable to assume that LePage referenced the 20-page report: “Governor’s Task Force on the Sustainability of the Dairy Industry in Maine,” in speaking specifically to dairy farmers. No other 20-page report can be found.

The report, however, does not contain three fees per page for a minimum total of 60. “License” doesn’t appear. “Registration” comes up once, recommending exemption of farm vehicles from some taxes. “Fee” comes up three times, referencing the same “handling fee schedule”: once each in the “Executive Summary,” “Findings” and “Recommendations.”

There are three appearances of “fee” in the entire 20 pages, not three per page, and these reference the same fee, not three separate ones! Instead of 60 fees, there is just 1.

The report may not perfectly address the difficulties facing Maine dairy farming; but reading it demonstrates that it is from people who care about its survival and seek solutions in a volatile market, precisely what one hopes to see in efforts to sustain Maine farming.

While there is little doubt that this is the report LePage referenced, I challenge him to produce a 20-page Agriculture report with 60 fees highlighted. We ought to know if LePage lied to dairy farmers or just makes things up. Either way, he is not fit to be governor and should return to his imaginary world of counting fees.



Bruce Bourgoine

Readfield

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