Republican gubernatorial candidate Shawn Moody unveiled his economic plan Thursday morning in Auburn.
Speaking at the awning manufacturing company FutureGuard, Moody said Maine's biggest challenge, and biggest opportunity, is its workforce. He says he'll devise a strategic marketing plan to attract former Mainers back to the state, if he is elected.
"Think of the benefits of bringing our former Mainers back home,” Moody says “They have assets, they have talent, they have families and they're going to revitalize our rural communities."
Moody says he would also reduce government red tape, build a robust broadband network and reduce healthcare costs by allowing businesses to buy health insurance across state lines. He also said that, if elected, he would grow the economy, in part, by revitalizing technical education so that more Mainers can access good paying jobs.
"You know there's a population of students out there right now that we're not meeting their needs,” says Moody. “They're out there working for minimum wage. They're floundering and they're scraping by."
Scott Ogden, a spokesperson for Moody’s Democratic opponent in the four-way race for governor, Janet Mills, released a statement Thursday saying that Moody’s plan is simply more of the same and calls it the last thing Maine needs after the State Department of Labor has predicted virtually zero job growth.
Updated 12:32 p.m.
An original version of this post attributed language in a statement to Janet Mills, when it should have been attributed to a spokesperson from the Mills campaign.
Originally published Oct. 25, 2018 at 12:06 p.m. ET.
