David F. Emery

Republican

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Senator – District 12
Age: 68
Occupation: Consultant
Education: BS Electrical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA), 1970
Family: Wife Carol (an attorney); son Albert (a physician)
Hometown: Saint George

Political experience

I served in the 105th and 106th Legislatures as State Representative from Rockland, serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs, and as House Chair during the 106th. I also served on the Committee on Human Resources.
I was elected to the US Congress in 1974 representing the First District, serving for 4 terms. I was appointed to the Committees on Armed Services, Science and Technology, and Merchant Marine, Fisheries, Conservation and the Environment. I was chosen as Chief Deputy Republican Whip for the 97th Congress.
President Reagan appointed me as Deputy Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1983. This agency was the ‘think tank’ that supported the negotiations to reduce nuclear and chemical weapons. I served as Acting Ambassador to the UN Committee on Disarmament during the fall of 1984.
I was Deputy Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services during 2011 and 2012.

Why are you running for office?

I have always had a deep affection for my state, and I hope to use my experience in government to address several problems we face. These problems include the opiate crisis, economic development and job creation, maintaining our infrastructure, supporting revenue sharing to help municipalities avoid property tax increases, and relieving the property tax burden by establishing a strategy to achieve and maintain the goal of 55% state funding of education as established by the 120th Legislature.
Any successful economic growth strategy must be built around several factors: building and maintaining a modern transportation system to promote convenient access and passage of tourists, products, goods and services and raw materials through our state; creating a first-class education system that prepares our youth for the modern economy, that recognizes that different career paths and expectations require different skills, and that inspires our youth to grow intellectually and to develop their natural skills to complement their interests; expanding Maine’s current efforts to extend fast Internet access to more communities as a major catalyst for business growth and for personal connectivity; encouraging greater use of renewable energy and clean fossil fuels to reduce our dependency on oil; expanding upon the Administration’s zero-based budget initiative to control spending and promote program efficiency; and finally, to create a review process for business and environmental regulations patterned on zero-based budget analysis procedures that will give state government a measure of their effectiveness, efficiency, cost, impact on business and compatibility with state and community policy goals.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • Other

    A fair and efficient tax system will necessarily include a balance of tax mechanisms. Consequently, I do not believe that Maine should entirely eliminate the State Income Tax, but undoubtedly it could be reduced by changing the scope and rate structure of the Sales and Use Tax. How much to reduce the Income Tax, and how to make up the lost revenue if it is reduced, should be determined by a comprehensive analysis of the impact such changes would have on revenue, economic growth and job creation. This will require an analysis tool known as dynamic economic modeling; the state does not currently use such a model to the best of my knowledge. It is important that any changes to the tax system be made with close consultation with the State Economist, the Maine Revenue Service, and with other experts familiar with economic and revenue forecasts related to taxation.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • No

    The Bloomberg proposal, Question 3 on this Fall’s referendum ballot, is a big city, high-crime-area law that does not and should not apply to Maine. Maine has a long history of hunting and responsible gun ownership. The very restrictive language of this proposal will make it extremely difficult for responsible sportsmen and gun enthusiasts to loan or transfer their guns without possibly being in violation of the law. It is simply not fair or reasonable to restrict the rights responsible Maine people who are not part of the problem.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • No

    Minimum wage increases are always politically popular but are not necessarily good public policy. Increasing the minimum wage effectively increments the entire wage scale by a similar amount, thereby increasing labor costs for business across the board, making some businesses less competitive. This often results in layoffs, reduced hours and fewer benefits for workers, or increased prices for labor-produced goods and services. I would have supported the Republican compromise proposal calling for a phased $10 minimum wage as a significant increase over the current minimum wage of $7.50. Should the ballot measure fail, the new incoming legislature will likely reconsider the issue and hopefully a reasonable compromise minimum wage can be agreed upon.
    The only real answer to low wages in Maine is economic growth. An expanding economy creates new businesses and generates more income for existing businesses. This results in more jobs, higher wages and more benefits for workers.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • No

    Over the past ten years or so, I have occasionally worked as a consultant for various community non-profit organizations concerned about substance abuse in the adolescent and high school age population. They are greatly concerned about the impact of alcohol, marijuana and the unauthorized use of prescription drugs and pain killers within this age group. Their focus is to help parents learn how to communicate effectively with their teens and how to help each other as parents to help teens resist peer pressure and avoid risky behavior. Making marijuana available as a legal commercial product will only complicate this effort by making marijuana even more readily available that it already is. I support the availability of marijuana as a physician-prescribed drug for pain control, and I favor decriminalization of private use (it makes no sense to burden the court system with users). But I oppose making marijuana a commercial product.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • Prevention of opiate addiction is always better than finding an effective treatment. Doctors must resist the temptation to over-prescribe opiate narcotics following a surgical procedure or as a response to patient complaints of chronic or non-specific pain. It is necessary to periodically review protocols that specify dosage and duration of prescriptions; shorter courses will limit access but still allow the physician to intervene if pain control is inadequate.

    Unfortunately, the detoxification vs. Methadone debate overlooks the fundamental fact that different people have different body chemistries, and no two people will necessarily respond the same way to any given treatment strategy. Some will react well to detoxification; others will become easily addicted to opiates and cannot break dependency through detoxification alone.
    A practical State strategy will be to recognize the great need for both approaches, and apply either, as indicated, based upon the individual’s history and medical profile.