Colleen Shores Morton

Democrat

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 139
Age: 60
Occupation: Small business owner
Education: Masters
Family: Married, one son
Hometown: Eastport

Political experience

I have worked in the policy realm my entire career, as a diplomat with the State Department, as a nonprofit executive focusing on infrastructure, investment and trade, and as a consultant on government contracts. Most of my work has been at the Federal level, but I have also worked with state and local governments to institute small business self-assessment programs, performance improvement systems and approaches to attracting investors and residents.

Why are you running for office?

I am running to represent the citizens on District 139 and to be a strong voice for rural Maine. My background is in economic development and I have come to the realization that small towns in rural Maine are severely hampered by lack of infrastructure and economic development spending by the State. We also need a much greater emphasis on human capacity building through education and training in the job fields of the future, and to build a stronger small business base for our rural economy. Many of the challenges facing our society are due to lack of decent, meaningful jobs for our kids. They are leaving the state, or getting into drugs, or living in poverty at a higher rate than ever before. We need new policies at the state level that focus on the root causes of these problems, not just on blaming outsiders. I will work very hard to ensure that Maine becomes a leader in the adoption of proven and innovative methods to keep our kids in Maine and give them opportunities to make a living wage or start their own businesses. I will also address misgovernance, lack of transparency, and accountability in the administration, particularly the governor’s office and DHHS. We need to move forward with positive ideas for growth and our children’s future.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • No

    While I believe our income tax rate is too high, particularly on lower income and older people, I don’t believe raising the sales tax is a good alternative because it is highly regressive and will have a disproportionately negative impact on people with fixed or low incomes. Instead, we should raise the income tax rate on the wealthy and make sure that corporate taxes are actually being paid.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • Yes

    I think people with criminal backgrounds or records of mental instability should not be able to easily buy guns at gun shows or off someone’s truck. Law abiding people already go through background checks when they buy from reputable dealers. Why should criminals and mentally ill people be exempt when they try to buy weapons due to these loopholes in the law? Many states have closed these loopholes and Maine should too.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • Yes

    Our service workers need to make a living wage without having to work 3 or 4 jobs to the detriment of their families. Our entire economy will benefit from a large portion of our population having more disposable income. Fewer children will be living in poverty, and we’ll have less crime.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Yes

    We spend too much money processing and imprisoning people for something that shouldn’t be a crime, anymore than drinking alcohol is a crime. We could potentially raise quite a bit of revenue from taxing its sale, and we would decriminalize an activity that many people engage in for health reasons as well as recreation.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • No. We should be training doctors on how to prescribe and administer Narcan. Many doctors resist dispensing it due to the stigma attached to opiate addiction. We should make more treatment centers available. We should ensure that recovering addicts should get the help they need to get jobs and re-enter the economy and society. We should reign in prescriptions of opioids and identify at-risk people before they become addicted. We should provide counseling to these people in schools and the workplace.

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