This past week, I have never been more proud to serve the people of Windham and Gray, and to be from Maine. I’ve been attending the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), spending my days at seminars and forums exchanging policy ideas with lawmakers from across the country. NCSL is a non-partisan organization that studies state laws and trends, and brings lawmakers together to share ideas. The group also acts as a resource when legislators are developing new bill ideas.

What I didn’t expect when I first arrived at the conference was that having Maine listed as my home state on my name tag was like being a magnet, and people weren’t approaching me based on the novelty of being the northernmost vacation state.

The participants I met were very interested in our approach to state policies. They were asking about how 8,000 more people gained access to health care through the Dirigo Health program, how we managed to simultaneously work to lower property taxes and fund local education at its highest point in state history, and cutting overall spending by hundreds of millions of dollars.

I was peppered with questions about our environmental policies, and how we’ve managed to stem the spread of milfoil in our lakes. People wanted to know about how we’ve worked to preserve our family farms and fishing industries, and our initiatives to grow our economy based on the small businesses already working here at home.

Even though we tend to think of many of our ideas as just good commonsense, our state has a reputation across the nation as a place where innovative ideas are being turned into results that matter. The other lawmakers I met at NCSL seemed to be confirming the impressions of national and international think-tanks.

For instance, the Milken Institute, a business research organization, recently ranked Maine as the lowest-cost state to do business in all of New England, and 19th overall in the whole country. Earlier in the summer, Foreign Direct Investment Magazine said Maine had the best quality of life in the country, and the Portland area received prestigious rankings for small business growth at the beginning of the year.

Having grown up in small town Maine, I’ve always just tried to work hard and do what matters to my family and neighbors. It really never occurred to me the impact that our state has on the rest of the country. Calling something a “first-in-the-nation” plan just seemed like a buzzword before. It’s nice to lead, but it’s more important to do what’s right.

Beyond all the policy ideas I’ve brought home, the most significant thing I learned at NCSL was how many of our initiatives here in Maine really do lead the nation, and it matters not because of the credit, but because we are making a difference, first with our families and neighbors, and then with the rest of the country.

Ideas from other states are interested, but I’m most concerned with what you think. Please feel free to call me at home at 892-6591 to discuss any state matter, or e-mail me at RepMarkBryant@yahoo.com.

Rep. Mark Bryant

Windham