PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A day after the nation surpassed the grim milestone of 500,000 deaths, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills paid tribute to Mainers who’ve died in the pandemic and praised the state’s perseverance while providing her vision for an economic path forward on Tuesday.
Mills used her “virtual” State of the Budget address to honor the 660 Mainers who lost their lives during the pandemic — mentioning several of them by name — while also celebrating the state’s hard work, ingenuity and success in fighting the pandemic.
“We’ve been through a lot these past 12 months, and perseverance will see us through these times, no matter who we are or where we live,” said Mills, who on Tuesday ordered flags lowered to honor COVID-19 victims.
The pre-recorded speech aired on television and was streamed online in lieu of a traditional, live address to a joint session of the Maine Legislature.
During the speech, Mills announced that she’ll be presenting a “Back to Work” bond proposal in coming weeks that draws from the state’s 10-year economic development plan.
She said her two-year budget, previously released, aims to move the state forward and to protect those who are at risk without going overboard by dipping into the state’s savings.
“State government cannot be all things to all people all the time. But history has shown us that we cannot cut our way to prosperity. During emergencies such as this one, people depend on us to protect children, to secure health care, to safeguard educational and career opportunities and to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens,” she said.
The governor touted some of the state’s COVID-19 successes — low infection rates and a Top 20 performance for vaccinations. And she said the state’s economy is improving with strong home sales and construction job growth, indicating the economy is growing.
She took time to heap praise on some of the unlikely heroes of the pandemic like veterinary diagnostics company Idexx and The Jackson Laboratory’s help in boosting testing capacity, and Guilford-based Puritan Medical Products, which makes specialized swabs for testing.
She took time to praise a Biddeford company for making materials used in the heat shield of NASA’s Perseverance, which landed on Mars last week.
And she quoted characters Frodo and Galdolf from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Fellowship of the Rings” in talking about how people are sometimes thrust into situations that they don’t really want.
“We, like the rest of the nation, were dealt a bad hand last year. But we are pushing through. We will get to the other side. We will not only survive, we will rise a better, greater state for all that we have endured and all that we have learned, all whom we have saved,” she said.
