Incumbent state Rep. Karen Kusiak, D-Fairfield, is seeking reelection Nov. 4 to her District 108 seat and is being challenged by former state Rep. John Picchiotti, a Republican, also from Fairfield. The district covers the towns of Fairfield, Mercer and Smithfield.
Kusiak, an educator who “teaches teachers,” said full funding for public education and a return to full municipal revenue sharing are tops on her list of goals if she is returned to office.
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House District 108 representing the towns of Fairfield, Mercer and Smithfield
NAME: Karen Kusiak
AGE: 61
TOWN: Fairfield
EDUCATION: Nashua Senior High School, Nashua, N.H., 1971; bachelor’s from Colby College, 1975; master’s in education from Lesley College (now Lesley University), Cambridge, Mass., 1983; doctorate in education from University of Maine, 2011
OCCUPATION: Teacher educator
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: 15 years SAD 49 school board; Representative District 84, Fairfield, Rome, Smithfield, 126th Maine Legislature
NAME: John J Picchiotti
AGE: 71
TOWN: Fairfield
EDUCATION: Newman Catholic High School, Sterling, Ill., 1958-59, and Streator Twp. High School, Streator, Ill., 1960-61; U.S. Navy Electronics Technician School, San Francisco, Calif., communication/electronics technician, 1962; Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby, Ill., 1975 to 1977; Life Underwriting Training Council courses, 1982-1983
OCCUPATION: Retired sales representative
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Representative District 84, Fairfield, Rome, Smithfield, 2010-2012; Fairfield Town Council, currently vice-chairman, 2013 to present; SAD49 school board, 1983 to 1986
“I am running to ensure the state enacts policies that support public education from preschool through higher education,” she said. “I am running to support a state budget that provides adequate revenue sharing for municipalities, as well as equitable resources for school districts in our area that are moderate to high receivers of state revenue. I am running to protect Maine’s lakes, rivers, fisheries, forests and ocean.”
Kusiak said state revenue sharing is important for all Maine cities and towns to maintain vital municipal services while protecting local property taxpayers.
“I support restoring our tax structure to what we had prior to the tax cuts that were enacted in the 125th Legislature. Those cuts have been detrimental for the typical Maine taxpayer,” she said.
She said she supports Medicaid expansion to allow Maine to extend health care coverage to additional low-income residents.
“We need to consider that in addition to being the right thing to do for eligible Maine people — including about 3,000 Maine veterans — the program will also create and maintain a demand for health care professionals. In other words, the program will employ Maine professionals.”
As for Gov. Paul LePage’s position denying state reimbursement to local communities for welfare payments made to undocumented immigrants, Kusiak said it has yet to be determined if the governor’s position is constitutional.
“Our town employees should not be put in the position of needing to determine the immigration status of applicants for public assistance,” she said. “Rather, our town employees should have the authority to consider what is best for the municipality and its residents.”
On the hotly debated referendum question on whether to ban bear baiting, trapping and use of hunting dogs, Kusiak said she is still gathering information on the subject.
“It is good that Maine people will decide this question directly,” she said. “The question will not be decided by the Legislature.”
Kusiak’s opponent, John Picchiotti, said he has had many years experience trying to get businesses and government to work together.
“I am running for office because I care greatly about our community and state,” he said. “My grandchildren live here, except my granddaughter who is in the Marines, and I would like to see them be able to stay here and make a good living and life for themselves. We need to move our economy forward to create jobs, make higher education more affordable and expand vocational training.”
Picchiotti added that he would like to reform welfare to help the truly needy and give a hand to people who have fallen down and get them back on their feet.
Like Kusiak, Picchiotti said school funding is a high priority for him.
“We need to get to 55 percent funding of schools as soon as possible to help lower property taxes in our state,” he said. “State government needs to work hand in hand with the local government to come up with solutions to fund things such as schools, etc. It will not be an easy task, but it must be a work-together attitude instead of an us-against-them attitude.”
As for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, Picchiotti said the measure is “being sold as cheap and easy,” but in the long run it will not be. He said Maine has a balanced budget law and funding the program would result in either drastic budget cuts or raising taxes or both.
“We need to look at other options without putting our state and citizens at a strong risk with credit downgrades or even financial ruin,” he said. “Our resources are stretched very thin, and we need to make sure the system works for the most needy.”
Picchiotti said he agrees with the governor in denying state reimbursement to local communities for welfare payments made to undocumented immigrants. He said the priority should be helping needy residents and the elderly before money is paid to undocumented residents.
He said he will vote against the referendum asking Maine voters to ban baiting, trapping and using dogs to hunt bear.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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