SACO — Republican Marc Chappell has announced his candidacy for House District 15 in Saco.

Chappell, a veteran firefighter with over three decades of experience, also served in the U.S. Air Force, believes that it will take strong leadership to rebound from the COVID-19 crisis, according to a press release.

“I’ve been in high-stress situations all my life,” he said, “and am use to making split second decisions where people’s lives are on the line. The Legislature needs people with common sense, people with a clear direction they want to go, and people who are willing to make tough choices for the future of our businesses, communities and state as a whole.”

Chappell said that the toughest challenges that next year’s Legislature will face is balancing the state budget and balance spending with a focus on getting all Maine citizens back to their employment, financial and home well-being.

“The coronavirus outbreak has shown us all just how valuable every dollar is,” he said. “People are struggling to make ends meet, pay their bills, feed their families, take care of their loved ones, and they just don’t have the money to pay higher taxes and support runaway state spending.”

Chappell added that Maine’s new budget must focus on rebuilding the economy and creating jobs.

“Our small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” he said. “We have to work with them, develop incentives for folks that have lost all hope, find ways to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, plan for the future or we’re only going to continue to lose these men and women who have made our state what it is. We have to invest in small businesses and rebuild our economy.”

He went on to say that another priority is to support parents in finding the best solutions for children safely attending school and helping parents with their dilemma of balancing at home schooling and their need to go to work. Many Saco families have both parents working or are a single-family income.

“We need to look at our state spending like our household spending,” he said. “The last Legislature raised Maine’s budget by almost $900 million. We can’t afford that, and are going to have to make some painful choices, because incoming revenue will not meet the normal projections. We will have to develop budgets that make the citizens, their families and the small businesses a priority. We are also going to have to rebuild our rainy day fund when we can, because if this coronavirus has taught us anything, it’s that we need some money to fall back on in a time of crisis — a crisis that can happen in a split second. That’s just common sense.”

For more information or to get involved with “The Chappell for District 15 campaign,” join the FaceBook campaign page. Search Chappell4Saco. You may contact him by email at sacodistrict15@gmail.com.

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