AUGUSTA – An opening prayer offered by the Rev. Roger E. Tracy of the East Eddington Community Church in the Maine House last week raised the eyebrows of some State House regulars, who noted that it was a bit more political in nature than the usual offerings.

“Forgive us, Lord, if we seem a bit pretentious to come to you and ask for your guidance and help when we have so carelessly dismissed you from the very fabric of our society,” Tracy said.

“We have not only declared you irrelevant, but have rejected the very mention of your name in our schools and in the public square. In the name of political correctness, we’ve become tolerant of everything except the faith of our fathers, Christian principles and anyone who holds dear the traditional values that have sustained us from the very beginning, yet we come today to pray.”

Later in the prayer, Tracy said the state was in “trouble,” and he seemed to blame prior Democratic leadership.

“We have spent money we did not have for things we did not need and have burdened our children with a tremendous debt that they cannot pay. We need your help. We have overburdened businesses, so they have left our state for more profitable regions, and we need your help,” he said.

“We have ignored the common-sense voice of the people for the bureaucratic power of bigger government, and Lord, we need your help. We’ve replaced the pride and dignity of hard work and honest pay with a welfare state where subservient dependency looks for a handout, and we need your help.”

The prayer prompted House Speaker Bob Nutting, R-Oakland, to review the House guidance regarding prayer.

“Political debate is a primary function of the House, but invocation is a time for reflection outside that realm,” Nutting in a written statement. He also said he had no intention of vetting each prayer.

House Minority Leader Emily Cain, D-Orono, said some in her caucus were upset by Tracy’s words.

“I had many members that were very upset by the overt political tone of the prayer,” she said. “We all understand that we all don’t share the same denominations or faith all the time, but there’s a way to be open and respectful — yesterday’s prayer really was more of a political stump speech, and that was offensive to many of my members.”

But Cain was pleased at how Nutting reacted. “I want to applaud the speaker for addressing that issue swiftly and for not condoning it,” she said.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS MAINE OPPORTUNITIES

Legislators will leave the State House on Wednesday for a three-day bus tour that gives them a chance to see a boatbuilder, paper company, high-tech lab and blueberry harvester.

For more than 20 years, the Maine Development Foundation has sponsored bus tours for legislators — 90 are scheduled for this year — to help them learn about the top issues facing the state, said foundation Executive Director Laurie Lachance.

“It will dramatically change the way they listen when people come before them with bill changes,” she said.

The tour includes stops at Lyman Morse boatbuilders in Thomaston, Verso Paper in Bucksport, The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and Jasper Wyman and Sons blueberry harvesters in Machias. They’ll go to Eastport early Friday, before heading back to Augusta for an evening arrival.

In addition to official stops, there will be dinner presentations about rural dental care and tribal issues, she said.

The trip is paid for by associations that are members of the foundation. The 250 members include groups as diverse as AARP, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cianbro Corp., various cities, the university system and United Way.

The foundation was created in 1978 with a “broad mandate to promote the economy.”

Plus, it’s fun for legislators — House and Senate, Democratic and Republican — to get to know each other at the beginning of the legislative session, she said.

For Lachance, a former state economist, it’s a reminder of what’s possible in Maine.

“The opportunities are amazing,” she said. “There are so many things going on that are great things.”

EX-JOURNALIST NOW PRESS SECRETARY

Gov. Paul LePage has hired Adrienne Bennett, formerly of WABI-TV (Channel 5) in Bangor, as his press secretary.

Bennett, of Freedom, worked out of the central Maine bureau in Waterville and often covered State House issues. In her new job, she’ll work closely with Communications Director Dan Demeritt.

And, according to her biography on the television station website, she is “a published poet and enjoys writing poetry any time she can.”

Perhaps this will assuage the feelings of other poets of Maine who are feeling stung after being left out of inaugural activities.

SNOWE, COLLINS LAUD MIKULSKI

Maine’s U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins both paid tribute last week to their Democratic colleague U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland as she became the longest-serving female U.S. senator. Mikulski replaced Maine’s own Margaret Chase Smith, who served for 24 years in the U.S. Senate.

Snowe, who has served in Congress beside Mikulski for more than 30 years because they both spent time in the U.S. House of Representatives, was one of four senators who spoke on the Senate floor last week marking the occasion.

Snowe called Mikulski the “dean of women in the Senate” and said Mikulski’s milestone was “personal and poignant” for both herself and Collins.

“We are both colleagues and dear friends of Sen. Mikulski and also direct inheritors and beneficiaries of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith’s groundbreaking service,” Snowe said, noting many similarities between the two longest-serving women.

“They both lived the ideals of hard work and earning one’s way in life,” she said. “The point is, neither started at the top, but they most certainly arrived there.”

Both Snowe and Collins used the occasion to pay tribute to Smith.

“As she begins her 25th year in the Senate, Sen. Mikulski now surpasses my personal role model in public service, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith,” Collins said in a written statement. “Just as the Great Lady from Maine inspired me and countless other young women of my generation to serve, Sen. Mikulski inspires the young women of today.”

STATE HOUSE POST FOR EX-SENATOR

Former state Sen. Paula Benoit, R-Phippsburg, has been hired as the Blaine House residence director/executive assistant to the first lady. Benoit served one two-year term in the Senate from 2007-2009 and is a longtime small-business owner.

BUILDERS GROUP NAMES NEW CEO

James Cote of Farmington has been named president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Maine. He takes the place of Kathleen Newman, who was named deputy chief of staff for Gov. LePage. Cote most recently worked for the Maine Forest Products Council.

STATE TO SHUT DOWN FRIDAY

Friday is another state shutdown day, so beware if you need to do any state business.

The day leads into a three-day weekend for state workers, who have Jan. 17 off in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

MaineToday Media State House Writer Susan M. Cover can be contacted at 620-7015 or at:

scover@mainetoday.com

MaineToday Media State House Writer Rebekah Metzler can be contacted 620-7016 or at:

rmetzler@mainetoday.com