AUGUSTA — In a 75-minute address to the Legislature but aimed at Mainers in general, Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday said the state’s “economy and our way of life is under attack” by liberals who seek “a socialist Utopia.”

In a hard-hitting and wide-ranging speech, LePage urged a return to “the rugged individualism that made us great.”

In his seventh State of the State message, the governor touched on a variety of hot topics, from energy costs to the damage the governor sees from ballot questions whose unintended consequences he fears.

Democrats who control the Legislature have a different take on many of the issues, however, and appear unlikely to go along with LePage on much.

“The governor’s budget gives money away to the rich and will drive up property taxes on those who can’t afford it,” said Rep. Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat who serves as the House whip.

Taking a kinder view, Sen. Nate Libby, a Lewiston Democrat, said he was “pleasantly surprised to hear the governor speak to some issues that Democrats have long been fighting for: curbing the heroin epidemic, reducing Maine workers’ student debt and working hard to attract young families and working people to Maine.”

“Of course, the devil’s in the details and I look forward to seeing where the governor, legislators, and the public can work together on some solutions to these big-picture problems,” Libby said.

In the first of his speeches to be livestreamed on Facebook, LePage touted his $6.8 billion, two-year spending plan and urged officials to press for the reduction of the income tax and, ultimately, to eliminate it entirely.

But LePage took a broader look, pointing out that Maine is “an old state” with the highest average age in America.

“We need new blood. We need to attract young, smart people,” he said, by making the state more affordable and productive.

LePage said that many people “have lost faith in their government — everybody. On both sides.”

He said it’s time for officials to “figure out how we can work together” and called on lawmakers to “protect the economy, our families, our small businesses and, most importantly, our elderly.”

Democrats said they’re willing to work with the second-term Republican governor and find areas where there may be common ground.

The governor urged the Legislature to “show strong leadership” and reform the referendum process.

“We cannot make it so easy that out-of-state money controls our lives” by forcing questions onto the ballot to serve their interests rather than Maine’s, LePage said.

“They are doing an end run around the Legislature by hijacking the citizens’ referendum process,” the governor said.

Golden said he has “always taken pride in American democracy of the people, by the people, for the people, but tonight I heard the governor say forget the will of the people who voted and let’s be a representative republic.”

“Sounds an awful lot like the elitist in Washington, D.C., to me,” Golden said. “I don’t agree with him. I respect voters and the outcomes of elections.

LePage said it’s crucial to deal with the tip credit that is slated for elimination under the minimum wage referendum adopted in November. He said it will undermine the pay of those working for tips and push up prices.

LePage said the elderly in particular are going to get socked by higher costs they can’t afford. “We need to help them,” he said.

The governor said 358,000 Mainers are elderly and living on about $1,130 monthly through Social Security and cannot afford to shell out more money for the goods and services they need.

But Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO, said LePage “insulted Maine voters” by assailing the minimum wage hikes approved in November.

“Mainers voted overwhelmingly to raise the minimum wage because no one who works full time should live in poverty. The cost of housing, groceries and other basics have gone up for years, but wages haven’t come close to keeping up,” he said.

LePage, though, said he’s trying to look out for ordinary people.

“My budget protects the people liberals consider expendable,” LePage said, especially senior citizens, the mentally ill and the physically disabled. He said his proposals to help them always get killed in the Legislature.

LePage pleaded for education reform. “The future of Maine is our kids,” the governor said. “We don’t need more money in education. We need more accountability in education.”

He said only 59 cents of every dollar spent makes it to the classroom, much less than the national average, spurred by a surplus of school districts.

He said Maine doesn’t need 148 school superintendents. Instead, he said, localities should work together to consolidate districts and save money.

“If we don’t do this, we simply cannot sustain our education system,” LePage said.

He said the state also needs to do more to get young people into classrooms by paying them what they’re worth. “We simply don’t pay” enough, LePage said, to keep young teachers in rural areas.

The governor said the surcharge on high earners, adopted by voters in November, is poor policy.

“Taxing them out of our state and hurting our economy is not the right thing to do,” he said. Once the wealthy “feel they’re being abused, they leave” so the surcharge is counterproductive, he said.

Golden said, though, that “Maine voters made clear they wanted full funding for public education and that they want the wealthy to pay their fair share so that all our children can get a quality education. The governor wants to do the opposite, give the wealthy a tax cut and reduce school funding.”

After praising the University of Maine for holding tuition in check for six straight years, LePage urged lawmakers to fund a program to offer no-interest loans to students attending state colleges.

He said it would help attract young people to Maine and keep more Mainers from leaving.

Libby said teacher pay and student debt are areas where Democrats may be able to work with the governor.

LePage said he is also trying to create a system that would let businesses pay off the loans of new employees as another step to draw talented young people to the state.

The governor said the opiate crisis “is ravaging our state” and “too many people are dying” from overdoses, more than one a day. “We need to take action,” he said, to try to find programs that work.

“We can’t just throw money at something that isn’t working,” LePage said.
One key, he said, is to start training children by middle school about the dangers posed by these drugs, particularly heroin.

Libby said, “We can find common ground” on ways to fund drug treatment.

LePage said he will do everything possible to keep energy costs from rising further. He said what’s important is to protect the environment while seeking clean energy at an affordable rate.

He said he is especially upset at excess costs related to solar energy, a policy that mostly helps those with big homes and the money to install solar panels. The governor said he would love instead to buy cheap electricity from Hydro-Quebec.

The speech Tuesday, carried on many radio and television stations, marked a return to the longstanding practice of delivering them in person. Last year, LePage chose to submit his overview only in writing. He said his staff talked him into speaking in person again.

Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, at the State House in Augusta.Gov. Paul LePage is applauded by legislators as he arrives to deliver the State of the State address, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, at the State House in Augusta.Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, at the State House in Augusta.Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, at the State House in Augusta.

Gov. Paul LePage delivers the State of the State address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, at the State House in Augusta.