The Maine Policy Institute (formerly the Maine Heritage Policy Center) is a non-partisan free-market think tank that researches and promotes policy based on the principles of economic freedom and individual liberty. Maine Policy research and policy recommendations focus on education, government reform, healthcare, labor, regulations, and tax policy. ¹

Maine Policy is an affiliate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ² While Maine Policy is non-partisan, members of its staff and board have affiliations with the Republican Party.

Activity

The Maine Policy Institute is a non-partisan free-market think tank that researches and promotes policy based on the principles of economic freedom and individual liberty. Maine Policy’s areas of interest are education, government reform, healthcare, labor, regulations, and tax policy. ³

Maine Policy supports school choice policy and advocates for removing (or raising) the cap on the number of charter schools allowed by the Maine Charter School Commission. It also advocates for Educational Savings Accounts, discarding the controversial Common Core standards, and incentivizing or requiring the elimination of unnecessary public school administrators. It also seeks to reform higher education by reducing administrative expenses, making school fees more transparent, and streamlining campuses at state universities and community colleges. ⁴

Maine Policy advocates for government reform that limits welfare programs to serve those most in need, claiming that the current system creates government dependence. Suggested reforms include changing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program time limit from 60 months to 24 months, applying time limits to Maine’s General Assistance program, and enforcing work participations requirements. Maine Policy also advocates for government reforms that include expanding the spending and subsidy data provided by the Maine Open Checkbook to include all state entities, streamlining government by dissolving inactive boards and commissions, and limiting legislative proposals to five per legislator per session. ⁵

Maine Policy advocates for health care policy that would expand Maine’s “Right-to-Shop” law, for which it previously championed. Expansions would allow for the inclusion of more medical services, tests, and procedures and availability of right-to-shop health insurance plans for all Maine citizens. Additionally, Maine Policy advocates for the repeal of Maine’s Certificate of Need laws, transitioning to a direct primary care health care system, and reforming Medicaid by resisting expansion, limiting eligibility, and reducing coverage. ⁶

Maine Policy’s labor recommendations include repealing or reducing unnecessary occupational licensing requirements and removing their “good character” clauses, establishing right-to-work laws in order to protect workers’ rights, repealing Maine’s prevailing wage law, and repealing Maine’s minimum wage law, which established a $12 minimum wage in 2020. Maine Policy also advocates for policy to reform public sector labor unions, including opening up collective bargaining negotiations to the public, prohibiting union agreements from including “release time” provisions, and preventing government entities from automatically collecting dues on the behalf of unions. ⁷

Funding

Maine Policy is funded by donations from individuals, businesses, and foundations. Notable contributions have come from Donors Capital Fund, which donated between 2005 and 2014;⁸ the Maine Community Foundation, which donated between 2008 and 2018;⁹ and the Roe Foundation, which donated between 2004 and 2018. ¹⁰

People

Staff

Matthew Gagnon is the CEO of the Maine Policy Institute. Gagnon formerly served as director of digital strategy for the Republican Governors Association, director of new media communications for Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and deputy director of digital strategy for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. ¹¹

Nick Murray is the outreach coordinator at the Maine Policy Institute. Murray is a former field associate for the New Hampshire chapter of Americans for Prosperity and the former northeast regional director of Young Americans for Liberty. ¹²

Board of Directors

Timothy J. Bryant is a member of the state committee of the Maine Republican Party. ¹³

Neal B. Freeman is a director emeritus of the board and is formerly worked for National Review as an editor and columnist. ¹⁴

Board of Advisors

Joel Allumbaugh is a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability. ¹⁵ Allumbaugh was named director of the Maine Policy Institute’s Center for Health Reform Initiatives in 2011 and formerly served as a member of the Maine Coalition to Protect Patient Rights. ¹⁶

William Becker is the former president and CEO of the Maine Policy Institute and formerly worked on the Maine gubernatorial campaigns of Republicans Matthew Jacobson and Mary Mayhew. ¹⁷

Joe Bruno is a former state representative and served two elected terms as House Republican Leader. ¹⁸

Michael Estes is a former Republican candidate for the Maine State Senate. ¹⁹

Susan Hamill formerly worked as an associate director and fund-raiser at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ²⁰

Philip E. Harriman served four terms as a Republican in the Maine Senate. ²¹

Derek Volk sits on the boards of the Maine Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Economic Research Institute, and the Maine Business Leadership Network. ²²

Board of Adjunct Fellows

Joe Crosby is president and CEO of the government relations firm MultiState and formerly worked as the COO and senior policy director of the Council On State Taxation and as president of the State Government Affairs Council. ²³

Jim Frogue formerly worked as a senior health policy advisor to the Trump for President campaign, vice president and director of state policy for the Center for Health Transformation, director of the Health and Human Services Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council, and a health care policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. ²⁴

Roy Lenardson serves as the director of government affairs at the Foundation for Government Accountability. Lenardson formerly served as a senior legislative analyst for the Maine Office of Policy and Legal Analysis and as a chief of staff in the Maine Senate. ²⁵

Margo Thorning serves as the senior vice president and chief economist of the American Council for Capital Formation. Thorning formerly worked at the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Trade Commission. ²⁶

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2. “The Network: Maine.” State Policy Network, 2020. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://spn.org/directory/#ME.
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4. “2019 Legislative Guidebook.” Maine Policy Institute, 2020. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://mainepolicy.org/project/lgb-2/.
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6. “2019 Legislative Guidebook.” Maine Policy Institute, 2020. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://mainepolicy.org/project/lgb-2/.
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8. Donors Capital Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2005-2014, Schedule I, Part II.
9. Maine Community Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2008-2018, Schedule I, Part II.
10. Roe Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2004-2018, Part XV, Line 3a.
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14. “Neal B. Freeman.” National Review, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://www.nationalreview.com/author/neal-b-freeman/.
15. “Joel Allumbaugh.” Foundation for Government Accountability, 2019. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://thefga.org/joel-allumbaugh/.
16. “Meet Our New Health Care Policy Director – Joel Allumbaugh.” Maine Policy Institute, June 2, 2011. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://mainepolicy.org/meet-our-new-health-care-policy-director-joel-allumbaugh/.
17. “Bill Becker.” LinkedIn, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-becker-ctfa-cmaa-5b46121/.
18. “Joe Bruno of Community Pharmacy.” The Grow Maine Show, October 19, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://growmaineshow.com/2020/10/19/joe-bruno-of-community-pharmacy/.
19. “Michael Estes.” Ballotpedia, 2020. Accessed December 20, 2020. https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Estes.
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21. “Our Team.” Lebel & Harriman, LLP, 2020. Accessed December 24, 2020. https://lebelharriman.com/firm/ourteam/.
22. “About.” The Derek Volk Show. Accessed December 24, 2020. http://derekvolkshow.com/about-derek-volk/.
23. “Joseph R. Crosby.” MultiState, 2020. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.multistate.us/team/joseph-r-crosby.
24. “Jim Frogue.” FroqueClark, LLC, 2017. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.frogueclark.com/frogue.html.
25. “Roy Lenardson.” Foundation for Government Accountability, 2019. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://thefga.org/roy-lenardson/.
26. “Margot Thorning.” The Washington Post. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/postlive/margo-thorning/2012/08/15/3905da62-e70a-11e1-a3d2-2a05679928ef_story.html.