AUGUSTA — A retired Maine finance commissioner who has served five different governors is returning to government, this time as a budget adviser for the state Senate’s Republican majority.

Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, announced that Sawin Millett, 79, is joining his staff. Millett most recently worked for Gov. Paul LePage but has also served in other roles, including as education commissioner for Democratic and independent governors.

Millett retired in 2014 after nearly 55 years of state government service when he left LePage’s Cabinet to return to his family farm in Waterford.

Millett, as a lawmaker, was elected to six different terms in the Maine House of Representatives and served three times as the House chairman of the powerful budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

Thibodeau said the Legislature’s current effort to produce a new two-year state budget by June 30 will benefit from Millett’s experience.

“We have tremendous challenges in front of us over the next five months as we attempt to craft a biennial budget that will keep government services operating efficiently without raising the tax burden on Maine citizens,” Thibodeau said in a prepared statement. “Without question, Sawin is an invaluable resource who will bring great benefits to legislative Republicans in the months ahead.”


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