Scott Hamann

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 32
Age: 35
Occupation: Project Manager
Education: MBA – University of Southern Maine (’16)
Family: Not submitted
Hometown: South Portland (Nashua, NH)

Political experience

126th Legislature – State Representative – Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee
127th Legislature – State Representative – Health & Human Services Committee

Why are you running for office?

I am running for re-election to continue advocating for economic and social justice. Too often in Augusta I’ve seen the voices of low-income Mainers and vulnerable populations drowned out by lobbyists and corporate interests. It is particularly disturbing to witness the sharpest increase of ‘extreme child poverty’ in the country at the same time that the LePage administration has cut services and withheld funding to support Maine children in need.

Additionally, I am running to support our teachers, students, and schools that deserve adequate and predictable funding. Maine’s future workforce, and ultimately our economy in the long run, depends on educating our kids today. We all have a vested interest in investing in a high quality education system.

And finally, I’m a firm believer that every family deserves a family doctor. We ought to expand Medicaid and ensure that people have access to healthcare. My committee worked several bills to accomplish this goal, but the governor and Republicans in the House and Senate said “no”. For the sake of our neighbors’ health and quality of life, I hope to accomplish Medicaid expansion in the 128th legislature next year.

• 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

    As the most progressive tax, I support keeping the income tax where it is or moving it back to where it was before Governor LePage gave tax breaks to wealthy income earners leaving the state’s vital services by the wayside. Cutting income taxes may be done responsibly within the broader context of the tax code, but doing so should never result in the state turning its back on the needs of its most vulnerable citizens.

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

    The first bill I sponsored was to raise Maine’s minimum wage to $9 an hour and index it to inflation. Someone who works full time shouldn’t live in poverty or have to be reliant on taxpayer funded social services. When we raise the minimum wage, thousands of Mainers will have more money in their pocket – money they’ve earned – to stabilize their lives and balance their household budget more effectively. We ought to reward work by making work pay.

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

    Currently, the unregulated system enables a supply chain that is accessible to our youth, and drug dealers logically are not collecting sales tax. We ought to get it off the street corner and behind the counter. In doing so, we should heavily restrict advertising and prohibit novelty products that may appeal to kids. We should look at what worked and what didn’t in other states and implement this law responsibly and carefully.

• 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?
  • The opioid crisis is killing Mainers and destroying lives. Not only are people getting addicted at an increasing rate, overdose deaths are increasing along with rates of drug affected births.Meanwhile, two primary tools to deal with these issues have been opposed by some who don’t understand that addiction is a disease. One, we need to increase access to naloxone, which is the antidote to death for a person who has overdosed on opioids. This is a matter of life or death, and it has been sad to see Governor LePage oppose access to this life saving drug. Two, we need to increase access to treatment. Again, the Governor opposes a treatment-focused approach to the opioid epidemic.

    I serve on the Health and Human Services Committee. In the last session we crafted legislation to expand access to naloxone, increase funding for treatment and law enforcement, and revise opioid prescribing laws so ours are now the strongest in the country. In the next session I expect to continue these efforts, and I will re-introduce legislation I sponsored earlier this year to improve naloxone access.