Erik C. Jorgensen

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 41
Age: 52
Occupation: Consultant, formerly director of Maine Humanities Council
Education: BA Bowdoin College, MPA Harvard University
Family: Married to Tamara Risser, one child
Hometown: Portland (Harvard, MA)

Political experience

I have served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives, and during both those terms have sat on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which has allowed me to gain a broad understanding of Maine’s government at the budgetary level.

Why are you running for office?

I am running in order to assure that Portland is treated fairly in the State budget and to fight what I see as radical policies being promoted by the current administration. My areas of particular interest include public education, clean energy, and addressing issues deriving from Maine’s aging population such as shrinking workforce, a growing elderly population, and the need to tap the talents of our immigrant community. I am very concerned about Maine’s growing childhood hunger problem, and the rising rates of the uninsured. I will fight to have Maine join the rest of the Northeast in expanding Medicaid.

I am capable of working effectively across the aisle. My statewide experience of 25 years working in the educational field through the Maine Humanities Council and as a museum administrator before that has provided me with understanding of the whole state, not just Portland.

• 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?
  • No

    I do not support radical reduction in or elimination of the income tax, which has already been reduced substantially from its former levels. State tax and program cuts often lead to local property tax increases, as cities and towns need to take up the slack in providing critical services, and property taxes are far more burdensome and regressive for most families than state income taxes.

    Maine’s sales tax is relatively narrow and as a result there are cyclical revenue swings that might be reduced by broadening the sales tax base somewhat, but this would need to be done very carefully to avoid making the tax code more regressive.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • Yes

    This seems like a common sense measure that will not harm people’s second amendment rights. I stand with the Maine police chiefs on this.

• 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?
  • Yes

    It is impossible to meet basic needs for food and shelter anywhere in the country for workers making the current minimum wage. This should be a Federal policy but in the absence of Federal action, it’s a state concern.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Other

    I have repeatedly voted to send this issue to referendum, and I think that the voters of Maine should appropriately make this decision, and not the legislature.

    I certainly support decriminalization, but am personally ambivalent about this measure, and feel that there is not yet a lot of solid information on the lasting effects of legalization in Colorado, Washington, and in other localities where it has been tried. My chief questions include effects on the workplace, the question of impaired driving and whether or not there is, in fact, increased use by minors.

• 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?

  • This is a critical problem. There needs to be a balance between law enforcement, treatment, and mitigation, such as having emergency personnel equipped with Narcan.

    But most of all we need to find ways to increase access to treatment options, which range from residential detox facilities, community support programs, and medication-assisted treatment. I am very encouraged by the new Law Enforcement Assisted model that has worked well in several communities and which we formalized and expanded in the last legislature.

    Because the state eliminated MaineCare coverage for childless adults and has refused to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, there is often no way to pay for treatment, even where capacity exists. Uninsured people rarely can afford treatment.