Rich Cebra

By Rich Cebra

Special to the News

Recent history has shown us that Maine state government has over-promised and under-delivered for a very long time.

State government has tried to be all things to all people and has grown and spent your tax dollars at an alarming rate for almost 40 years. We have made some great progress under Governor LePage reversing that trend.

The simple truth is that government is still too big at all levels, it reaches into too many areas of our lives, and stifles the ability of the private sector to grow, create jobs and flourish. In many ways, it’s harming the very fabric of our state and our nation. Under Governor LePage’s leadership, we have charted a new course in so many areas — desperately needed welfare reform, health insurance reform, regulatory reform, and the long-needed review of individual departments, agencies and programs for efficiency and fiscal responsibility. We have taken bold and major steps with the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Department of Health and Human Services. The current majority in the legislature is standing in the way of true reform and has instead opted in favor of the failed, tired policies of the past.

In 2004, I started my first House campaign with these simple words: “Lower taxes, less government, more opportunities for the people of Maine.” I spent six years in the minority and in those years I submitted dozens of principled, conservative issue bills and did so against overwhelming odds, when the Democrats controlled the legislature. I believe that we need to fight the fights on these issues that need to be fought, no matter the outcome of that day, on issues like welfare reform, tax reform, and making government more responsive and efficient to the public who are paying for it. We needed to fight those fights so that the hard working citizens of Maine could see that there was someone fighting the good fight for them and for their future. In my last two years in the legislature, I was in the majority and we were able to implement many of those major policy reforms.

In my eight years in the legislature, I did exactly what I said I would do. I have always stuck to my core principles and I worked hard as a full-time state representative to accomplish those goals and represent the people of the Lake Region.

I believe an elected legislator has another important job as part of their position — to constantly communicate with their constituents. When in office, I kept the people of our House district informed, with over 70 articles in The Bridgton News, a regular show on Lake Region TV with Representatives Ralph Sarty and Richard Sykes, dozens of appearances on Portland radio and TV talking about issues from a Republican perspective, working hard to keep the public informed.

It’s time for you to decide what direction you want your government to take. Will it be to continue down the new path we started here in Maine in January 2011? If so, I will take an aggressive non-stop approach and move us further in the right direction. The alternative is to simply return to the failed policies of the past. You decide in this 2014 election in which direction you would like Maine to go and what type of representation you want in Augusta!

You deserve a government that holds itself accountable, lives within its means, and gets the job done through representation that is responsive and responsible to you, in a manner of uncompromising integrity. I did that for eight years in the House of Representatives and I want to continue to move Maine forward, because there is still a lot of work to do.

I am happy to announce that I am running for the Maine Legislature in the newly-created House District 68 which includes the towns of Naples, Sebago, Baldwin, part of Cornish and part of Parsonsfield.

I am ready to put my experience to work again and roll up my sleeves in the Maine State Legislature and get the job done.