Legislator tour coming to OHCHS

PARIS — Business owners in the area have a unique chance to bend the ear of their local legislators before it's too late to impact the session's legislative agenda.

Tanya Swain, executive director at the Western Mountains Alliance, says that there is a slim window of opportunity between November elections and the start of a session.

"They have to get the name of the bill in by cloture, which happens in mid-December," said Swain. "It's a very limited window."

Because of this, local business development leaders are hosting a listening forum on December 8, at which businesses and legislators will come together to hold a listening forum on taxation and regulation issues affecting the business community, such as regulation, labor, and tax laws.

"Counties working together can create powerful alliances," said Mia Purcell, of the Western Maine Economic Development Center (WMEDC). "Our goal is to create legislative awareness of rural business issues that may cross county lines and build legislative support to address them."

WMEDC is convening the forum in conjunction with other county-wide economic development organizations and regional nonprofits in Western Maine

"We've asked people to come with some specific ideas," said Swain. "So don't just come and complain that we have the worst business climate. Come with specific suggestions for issues that you feel are hindering your business. The goal would be for legislators  to hear these concerns and ideas, and also for them to make a connection with the businesses."

The forum can seed a process that extends up to the state capitol, said Swain.

"If it's a real issue, legislators would like to see businesses show up in Augusta," she said. "If this is something you're concerned about, can you be a part of the process?"

Swain said that the event organizers would have liked to have done similar fora on healthcare and education, but the compressed time span caused them to focus on the issue they felt was most critical to Maine citizens: business development.

"In Western Maine, one of our senses is that some of the issues the businesses face here are different from some of the issues that businesses face in other parts of the state that are more built up," said Swain. "We don't have the presentation that businesses have in other parts of the state."

Any suggestions that business owners bring may be addressed with legislation in the First Session of the 125th Legislature.

The event will be held in the Forum, a small theater that seats 256 people, at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Notes from each of three fora will be compared and disseminated to identify common ground among rural counties.