AUGUSTA

Tax cuts, welfare reform and continued job creation were among the themes of Gov. Paul LePage’s second inaugural address, delivered Wednesday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center.

After taking the oath of office, LePage gave remarks in front of about 3,200 state officials, lawmakers, dignitaries and supporters. He started by noting that many thought he wouldn’t see a fifth year in office.

“Well, folks, we’re back. The national experts, our local media, with due respect, said we wouldn’t be here today. But they forgot to ask the people who count,” Le- Page said to applause.

LePage’s speech focused on what the governor said were efforts to prioritize “prosperity, not poverty.” Those included initiatives that offer a glimpse into the biennial budget proposal LePage will present to lawmakers on Friday.

Chief among those, Le- Page said, would be to “go after the income tax.”

“My long-term vision is very, very simple: It’s Maine without income tax,” Le- Page said. “When we lower the income tax burden — and we will — we put money back in people’s pockets. You earn it, you should keep it.”

LePage pledged to continue efforts to shrink the size and cost of government at all levels. That includes a renewed effort to promote consolidation of services at the municipal level, where LePage said local budgets statewide had ballooned by half a billion dollars in the past five years.

“A government that is too big and too expensive takes too many resources away from our families,” he said. “We need to be bold. We need to think outside the box. We need to look at Maine’s traditional model of running government and see where we can together make the necessary changes all Mainers can appreciate.”

Municipal officials have argued that the increase in local costs can be attributed to state government in recent years shifting fiscal responsibilities to cities and towns.

The governor was animated and jovial during the roughly 40-minute speech. He said he would continue to look to other states for examples of policies and programs to make Maine more efficient and effective.

While LePage’s speech went about twice as long as scheduled, many of the talking points contained therein were familiar echoes of those from his first four years in office. Well-worn catchphrases from the campaign trail, including “investment capital goes where it’s welcome and stays where it’s appreciated” and “actions speak louder than words” were deployed throughout the speech.

The governor ran through what he has cited as his greatest successes of the past four years — a $150 million tax cut, payment of $263 million in Medicaid debt to Maine hospitals, cutting the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families rolls by half and instituting a culture change in the state bureaucracy that prioritizes flexibility in helping businesses succeed.

Beyond slogans and the highlight reel, LePage said he’d revive proposals from his first term that didn’t win legislative approval, including a plan for a “tiered welfare system” that would slowly reduce benefits as recipients’ earned income increases, as well as changes to state policy to allow for increased harvesting from state timberland.

LePage said the state must court job creators by making government more businessfriendly and reduce energy costs by cutting regulations and investing in natural gas.

When LePage took office in 2011, payroll jobs hovered around the lowest levels in a decade. The recovery picked up in May 2011, driven by private-sector job gains despite government job losses and continued, albeit slower than the national recovery, through the end of 2014.

All told, 16,500 jobs were created under LePage’s watch from 2011 through 2014 — just over half those lost in the Great Recession, while unemployment insurance claims slowed during the same period.

Other speakers during Wednesday’s ceremonies included LePage’s wife, Ann LePage, who gave remarks encouraging volunteerism and honoring military service. Organizers said it was the first time a governor’s wife has had a speaking role during an inauguration.

Pastor Bob Emrich, a Plymouth minister well-known for his leadership in two campaigns to fight same-sex marriage in Maine, delivered a benediction. Inauguration organizers said Emrich was chosen for his well-regarded oratory skills at the pulpit, not his political beliefs.

Tribal leaders, Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices and other judges, and dignitaries from several nations — including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, China, Pakistan and France — also were in attendance.

While Wednesday was all about the governor, there’s another piece of the puzzle in predicting Gov. Paul Le- Page’s success in achieving the vision laid out in his inaugural address: the Legislature.

LePage enters his second term buoyed by Republican gains in November’s elections. His GOP compatriots in the Legislature wrested majority control of the Senate from Democrats and saw their numbers in the House grow by 10 seats, increasing the minority caucus’ ability to wreak havoc on majority Democrats’ ability to set the agenda.

The GOP saw those big Election Day victories as a mandate, putting Democrats on the back foot ahead of what could be a contentious legislative session.

Still, top Democratic officials let the governor have his day on Wednesday, offering only words of congratulations and the olive branch of bipartisanship as LePage began his fifth year in office.

“I look forward to working with the governor over the next two years to grow goodpaying jobs in our state and to strengthen our economy,” said House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick, the highest ranking Democrat in the state. “I hope we can hit reset after a contentious campaign and legislative session.”

Belying the less than amicable relationship between the executive and legislative branches that marred the past two years at the State House, LePage also stressed his desire to work together in the interest of all Mainers for the next four years.

“My door is always open to anyone — anyone — who brings innovative solutions that will help move Maine forward,” he said.

FOR MORE, see the Bangor Daily News at www.bangordailynews.com