Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and Maine Policy Review launch new digital public policy publication.

The Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and its publication the Maine Policy Review have created a new digital publication series entitled Maine Policy Perspectives. This online forum consists of a roundtable discussion of pressing policy issues that are under debate by policymakers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Adhering to the non-partisan commitment of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, Maine Policy Perspectives brings together world-renowned experts and local policy specialists to debate all sides of an emerging policy issue from a variety of academic, sociocultural, and professional standpoints. The unique non-partisan nature of the publication allows policymakers, business leaders, and researchers to easily access multiple viewpoints regarding pressing issues, allowing them to make decisions based on expert analysis and in-depth research. Deciding political platforms based on non-partisan research and best outcomes for the constituency rather than party ideology is part of a long tradition of civic discourse and practical politics in the state of Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center upholds this tradition throughout its publications, student programs, and research initiatives.

The first edition of Maine Policy Perspectives features a roundtable discussion of Universal Basic Income (UBI). UBI is a policy proposal to give every individual regardless of personal economic condition or employment status a monthly or annual stipend. Debating UBI could not be more timely, as American entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has made it a primary platform of his campaign, proposing “The Freedom Dividend,” a $1,000 per month stipend for every American adult. Further, in the state of Maine, on June 19, 2019, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1324 into law. This bill created a committee to study the benefits and feasibility for starting a universal basic income program for the state of Maine. After their research is complete, this 13-member committee will present their findings and draft bills for the Maine Legislature to consider in 2020. The participants in the roundtable discussion come from a variety of backgrounds including economics, philosophy, political science, sociology, law, and history and they approach UBI based on its expense, our current social programs, the disruptiveness of technology, the opportunity costs of exploring other options, the rising costs of living, increases in economic inequality, a desire to simplify our welfare programs, as well as the moral and ethical implications of the program. Please click the following link to access Maine Policy Perspectives — Universal Basic Income.

The editor of Maine Policy Perspectives, Daniel S. Soucier, invites proposals for roundtable debates regarding pressing policy concerns.  Proposals should consist of the policy matter you wish to debate, reasons why it is of great importance to policymakers in the state of Maine, your position regarding the topic, and a list of individuals who can debate different sides of the issue. Please email proposals or ideas to daniel.s.soucier@maine.edu.