Craig Hickman

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 81
Age: 81
Occupation: organic farmer
Education: Bachelors Degree in Government, Harvard University, 1990
Family: Jop Blom, MaineGeneral Physical Therapist
Hometown: Winthrop

Political experience

State Representative, 2012 – present
House Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, 2014 – present
House Chair, Commission to Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund, 2015
Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission, 2015-present; President, Maine Electoral College, 2012
Democratic National Convention Delegate, 2012 and 2008

Why are you running for office?

It has been the highest honor of my life to represent the good people of Winthrop, Readfield, and part of North Monmouth at the foot of Mt. Pisgah in the Maine House of Representatives. Public service is humbling and most rewarding, at times, a big adventure, and always a great responsibility. It is my purpose and my duty. And so I am stepping up to serve again because I welcome the opportunity to continue creating public policy that protects veterans, small businesses, hard-working families, our natural resources, and our personal liberties. Policy that promotes food self-sufficiency, clean renewable energy, and ends hunger and poverty. Policy that increases investments in education and infrastructure and rebuilds rural economies. And policy that supports self-regulated local food systems and strengthens farming, fishing, and forestry—our heritage industries. I will continue to be a strong voice for those who cry in the dark. And I will always remain civil in the face of incivility, refuse to scapegoat any group of people for any reason whatsoever, and carefully choose words befitting the office to which I have been elected.

• 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 believe that eliminating the income tax, as wonderful as it sounds, would create devastating deficits in the state budget and drive up property taxes even more. Eliminating the income tax would require a resolution to amend the Constitution of Maine that must be presented to the voters for ratification after a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. I voted against this resolution in the 127th Legislature and would likely vote against it again. Taxing a broader range of goods and services can be regressive, disproportionately affecting low-income workers, but I am open to compromise.

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

    I believe we must solve the conundrum of gun violence across the nation, but I don’t see how this measure will reduce gun violence in Maine, a state with such a relatively low rate of gun violence to begin with. Still, there must be more than symbolic value in doing our best to ensure that guns don’t fall into the hands of people who may not use them responsibly. The truth is in the details. I will make up my mind in the voting booth.

• 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

    I believe it’s beyond time that we raise the state’s minimum wage. Still, I have considerable reservations about the tipped wage portion of the referendum as written, for it might harm the hospitality sector of tourism, one of Maine’s top industries. Nevertheless, if we want to decrease the number of children living in poverty and reduce the funds we spend on public assistance programs, then working people must be able to earn a wage we can live on. When employers shortchange their workers, taxpayers pick up the slack. Haven’t we had enough of that?

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

    I believe that the legalization of marijuana for recreational use has the potential to boost an economy in desperate need of one. I respect all of the work that brought this to the ballot box. Still, I need to do more research before I determine if this measure is the best way to go about it. Regulations all over the place. What entities will benefit from them, and what entities will suffer? Will the small medical marijuana caregiver be protected or driven out of business? Again, the truth is in the details. I will make up my mind in the voting booth.

• 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?
  • I believe that the Legislature and the Governor came together to take a good first step in the comprehensive drug bill passed into law earlier this year. Still, law enforcement officers all over the state have made it clear that we must adequately fund education and prevention initiatives, treatment, treatment, and more treatment. Yes, drug traffickers must be held accountable before the courts and punished to the full extent of the law. But addiction is not a crime; we cannot arrest our way out of it. We must treat it as the public health crisis that it is. People with substance use disorders, mood disorders, and personality disorders must receive treatment. One of the ways to fund treatment without relying on elusive state dollars is to expand MaineCare under the Affordable Care Act. And we would, if only we could put the public health before ideology, once and for all. Whatever the case, we have to finance more prevention and treatment. If we’re not going to access available federal funds, then we must appropriate state funds. Before we get this epidemic under control, we may end up having to do both.