Heather W. Sirocki

Republican

Office Sought: Representative – District 28
Age: 57
Occupation: Administrative assistant
Education: AS Dental Hygiene, Westbrook College
Family: Married, 3 adult sons
Hometown: Scarborough

Political experience

I have had the honor of serving six years, 3 terms, in Maine’s citizen legislature as a state representative from Scarborough. During this time, I served on the Health and Human Services Committee for four years and, more recently, I served for two years on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which is responsible for the state budget. In addition to my committee work, I serve on the Maine Children’s Growth Council and the Maine Justice for Children’s Task Force.

I was also appointed to and served three years on the Substance Abuse Services Commission and the Advisory Committee on Dental Education.

Why are you running for office?

For the last six years, I have served as a Maine state representative. During that time, I have worked hard on policies that move our state and her people forward, and we are seeing wonderful results- job growth, increasing wages, paid off millions in unpaid welfare debt, paying our bills on time, controlling spending, and recently, experiencing a rare budget surplus. We also have more to do. As a wife and mother of three adult sons, jobs and opportunity are important. As a daughter of elderly parents, I am concerned about those on fixed incomes making ends meet. As a citizen, we are facing societal, demographic, and substance abuse issues and a shortage of doctors. The state’s highest marginal income tax has been dropped twice, from 8.5% to 7.15%, but it is still very high. With student loan debt, doctors and other professionals view our high rate of taxation as a cut in salary. Our country is aging, which means that each state is competing to attract young people, and Maine is especially vulnerable with our oldest average age in the country. Attracting younger people and their families is important. Government can help create a better environment for opportunity, job growth, and prosperity.

• 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?
  • Yes

    Maine’s tax code is antiquated. The Maine Legislature recently broadened and increased the state sales tax by .5%, and simultaneously lowered the state income tax, but there is still room for adjustment. Many states have shifted to a lower state income tax and a broader consumption tax model with good results. I support exploring this proposal.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • No

    Before voting on Question 3 on this November’s ballot, consider: 1.) Maine has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and already requires background checks, 2.) Question 3 also includes every transfer of a firearm- even straightforward exchanges. For example, this bill, as written, includes even transfers to local gun shops for normal maintenance (cleaning and oiling), a background check is needed for the owner to retrieve their own firearm. 3.) It would be best to bring this proposal to the full legislature for vetting due to the poorly written and ambiguous language of the bill.

    Mainers are getting tired of wealthy, out of state, special interests trying to buy public policy through our referendum process.

    The Maine Constitution: Article 1 “Section 16. To keep and bear arms. Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.”

• 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?
  • No

    Ballot Question 4 involves more than raising the minimum wage. It also phases out the tip credit. In effect, servers will eventually only earn minimum wage. About 4% of Maine’s population earns minimum wage, if servers are factored out, the vast majority are teenagers and the disabled. Moving from $7.50 to $12 per hour is a 60% wage increase. The cost of goods and services will increase correspondingly, but the wages of hundreds of thousands of elderly Mainers, who are living on fixed social security checks, will not. The federal minimum wage will not increase, therefore Maine’s border towns will be at an additional disadvantage with our neighbor New Hampshire. Vote NO.

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

    Ballot Question 1 involves about thirty pages of fine print. Less than ten years ago, Maine voters approved the legalization of medical marijuana, and the kinks are still being worked out. This bill violates federal law, which still bans cannabis. Reports from Colorado show an increase in emergency department frequency rate of children exposed to cannabis. While this bill restricts the sale of recreational cannabis to minors, it would allow edible products containing potent marijuana derivatives, not just the plant’s leaves. Some edibles have the appearance of popular brands of candy. This bill should be brought before the legislature for thorough vetting to provide the opportunity for appropriate amending and a public hearing.

• 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?
  • Maine and the country have been struggling to keep pace with the rise of substance abuse. The goal is to prevent addiction and to move addicts from treatment to long-term recovery.Regarding treatment for addicts, private insurance plans are preferred by health care providers due to higher reimbursement rates and enhanced coverage. Medicaid/Maine Care only pays about 60 cents on the dollar for these services. Maine provides more than $70 million per year toward substance abuse treatment through contracts with providers to offer treatment for the uninsured, but a review of current programs and their success rates is important. Abstinence only and inpatient treatment have higher success rates.

    This year an additional $3million annually was approved for treatment and enforcement.

    A recently enacted Governor’s bill requires that prescribers participate in Maine’s Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP.) It also establishes limits for prescriptions of opioids, requires electronic submission of opioid prescriptions by next year, and prescribers must receive substance abuse education.

    Substance abuse is best tackled from three angles: treatment, law enforcement, and education.

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