Shawn Moody

Protecting Healthcare & Lowering Costs with transparency in pricing and ensuring our local hospitals are properly reimbursed.

Growing Wages and Securing Maine Jobs through a plan cutting job-killing red tape and encouraging economic growth in all parts of Maine: North to South, East to West.

Sustaining Maine’s Environment which is critical to our economic growth and the long term health of Maine people.

Cutting Wasteful Spending &Lowering Taxes including property taxes with incentives for agencies to seek efficiencies.

Standing Behind Our Constitution in defending life, liberties, and freedoms.^[2]

I am running for Governor to put the People of Maine first, not the Augusta special interests. As the only candidate running with more than 40 years of executive experience creating jobs and helping grow Maine’s economy, I will work to: improve wages in Maine, lower healthcare costs, fight the opioid epidemic, lower taxes, and improve education.^[2]

CREATING GOOD PAYING JOBS & GROWING OUR ECONOMY
Perform a comprehensive review of all government red tape with the goal of increasing speed of permitting, reducing fees, and eliminating duplication.

Create a jobs “customer service hotline” so that potential job creators and Maine businesses looking to expand can get immediate responses from state government, through a single point of contact.

Structure a Governor’s Initiative on Regulatory Reform with existing staff to address red tape.

Conduct entry and exit interviews with businesses both moving to Maine and those leaving so we can address what is working well with, and what is inhibiting, job and economic growth.

Focus on recruiting, and retaining, businesses which pay strong, competitive wages.

FIGHTING GOVERNMENT WASTE & LOWERING TAXES
Protect the rainy day savings fund Governor LePage worked so hard to build.

Force fiscal responsibility on Maine government by working on “Tight N’Up” spending proposal.

Impose budget quality controls to tie performance to a department’s spending authority.

Work for the reduction of the Maine income tax to protect families and make Maine competitive with other U.S. states.

Incentivize regionalization of local municipal services to provide property tax relief for Mainers, while increasing transparency so the Maine people really know where their dollars are being spent.

LOWERING HEALTHCARE COSTS AND PROTECTING CARE
Work to bring back successful Maine reforms, overridden by Washington, that increase competition, allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines and lower costs for Maine people.

Provide transparency so customers can compare prices between Maine hospitals for non-emergency services and treatments.

Ensure those who receive government funded health care, if physically able; contribute something toward their own care to ensure costs are not just shifted onto other payers or taxpayers.

Encourage best practices to reduce medical supply waste which drives up costs.

Work to reduce frivolous lawsuits which dramatically increase insurance and healthcare costs.

Advocate for Maine’s hospitals to ensure they receive the reimbursements promised by Washington bureaucracies when they agree to provide services for Veterans, our Seniors, and families.

CONTINUING WELFARE REFORM
Use state government to help promote the dignity that comes with a job, not just a government check, by connecting training and work availability with those who try entering the system, and performing a skills assessment when somebody applies for benefits.

Protect and encourage a strong fraud detection unit to improve enforcement against waste and fraud.

Support tougher penalties for those who commit fraud and work on programs to end the use of welfare EBT cards in the drug trade.

Support a stronger lifetime cap on “TANF” (ie Temporary Assistance) benefits.

Permanently limit and audit welfare dollars for those found to have large gambling winnings of $5,000 or more.

Support reforms that require random drug-testing for all welfare recipients.

Institute a tiered welfare system so individuals have a pathway to move from poverty to prosperity.

ADDRESSING MAINE’S FAILED REFERENDUM PROCESS
Reform the initiative signature gathering process and the wording of questions so Mainers can control the decisions affecting their lives, not out-of-state special interest groups.

PROTECTING OUR 2ND AMENDMENT WHILE IMPROVING SCHOOL & PUBLIC SAFETY
Fully uphold the Oath to protect and defend the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as Maine’s Constitution which states under Section 16: “Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.”

Veto unconstitutional measures which would limit law abiding citizen’s rights.

Place trained, armed school resource officers in every high school across the state.

Support a thorough review of Maine’s protocols and procedures to ensure that people – including our school kids – have the ability and systems to speak up and have their concerns heard over the actions, or potential actions, of others who might commit violence before it happens.

Support active shooter training for schools, large venues, and workplaces that need the training.

Review Maine’s mental health infrastructure to ensure those who need help can find it.

ENSURING A QUALITY EDUCATION, WITH BUDGET CONTROLS, AND A FOCUS ON MAINE CAREERS
Prioritize parental and local control in education curriculum decisions.

Provide improved performance evaluations for teachers and administrators with performance-based pay increases.

Permanently remove the failed 1-4 new Grading System in “Proficiency Based Education”

Evaluate high school, community college, and University system offerings with an eye on the careers in the region, long term trends, and coordination of programs to reduce costs and improve student outcomes, ensuring they align with Maine employers’ needs.

Provide taxpayers transparency on how education dollars are being spent at the local and state level with an eye on cost increases vs inflation, long term trends, and student outcomes.

Bring back a focus on CTE (Career Technical Education) which provides good-paying careers for some students and fills current, regional job openings. Require all CTE instructors to spend a minimum of two weeks per year in a “best in class” Maine business to ensure knowledge of modern job processes, and to create job placement opportunities for students.

FIGHTING THE OPIOID CRISIS AND VIOLENT CRIME
Ensure law enforcement has the resources they need to catch the criminals - including strengthening our criminal code for addictive opioid drug trafficking and tools to track the traffickers.

Work with our schools to bring a new focus on drug education, deadly impacts of opioid abuse, and long term effects of heavy drug use.

Work with the federal government to ensure strong borders, including our Northern Border, to stem the tide of illegal drug trafficking while keeping an eye on interstate drug trafficking routes.

Support peer-to-peer recovery efforts like the AA model, and other treatment options, where those in recovery can serve as real-life mentors for others battling addiction.

HELPING STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Work with federal government to comply with federal law and prohibit sanctuary cities in Maine.

Notify and cooperate with the federal immigration officials when illegal immigrants are found by Maine state law enforcement officers.

Push for an end to any welfare dollars being used for illegal aliens.

Crack down on employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

SUPPORTING A PRO-LIFE CULTURE IN MAINE
Oppose any state taxpayer money for abortions.

Support Maine Right to Life’s Legislative efforts including parental consent in cases of minors and those who are incapacitated and efforts to require waiting periods for abortions.

Oppose the rationing of medical care for those suffering from disabilities and other terminal illnesses.

Oppose euthanasia in Maine. STANDING BEHIND OUR VETERANS WHO PROTECTED OUR FREEDOMS Continue support for Veterans educational and employment programs and Veterans Service Offices.

PROTECTING MAINE'S ENVIRONMENT
As a job creator, and the founder of Moody's, I take my responsibility as a businessman seriously, which is why Moody's leads the industry on environmentally friendly practices.

Moody’s is also the first business, in our industry in Maine, to achieve Environmental Leader status for its voluntary certification in the Maine Environmental Results program. Moody's was one of the first in our industry, in Maine, to adopt eco-friendly practices - voluntarily - even before the EPA passed rules requiring these practices. I partnered with the Maine Audobon Society for a renewable energy project to finance the installation of solar panels. Moody's uses waterborne base coats, energy-efficient lighting, recycled sheet metal, and energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems to ensure we maximize energy efficiency and minimize our impact on the planet. Gorham Auto Parts, a junkyard, was ripe with DEP violations when we purchased it. We focused on cleaning up the site, and received the environmental excellence award from the Auto Recyclers Association. We can and must strike a balance between protecting Maine's pristine environment, and having a stable and predictable regulatory and permitting structure for Maine's job creators. We must have a strong economy while minimizing our impact on our environment. We cannot sacrifice one at the expense of another.

^[2]