Maine For Keeps

Where Did All the Money Go? Alec Porteous on Maine’s Exploding Budget

Alec Porteous has run the numbers. He’s been the CFO of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services. He’s been the Commissioner of Administrative & Financial Services, the state’s top budget job. He’s been the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer at the University of Southern Maine. And now? He’s sounding the alarm. In this episode, we dig into Maine’s budget explosion and what Alec sees as the most under-discussed risk to our future. We cover: - Why Maine’s Medicaid budget is growing 21% a year and no one knows why - How state spending ballooned 25% while population grew just 5% - Why working Mainers are getting squeezed while newcomers think Maine is a steal - The paradox of rising revenue and rising property taxes - How to put real teeth into revenue sharing and municipal accountability - What Alec would do with our $1.5 billion rainy day fund - Why now might be the moment to experiment with bold tax cuts - The truth behind Maine’s economic outlook and what’s needed to fix it This isn’t about cutting for cutting’s sake. It’s about building a Maine that’s affordable, competitive, and resilient for the people who already live here and the ones who are trying to stay. 🎧 Available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. 📍 Subscribe to Maine For Keeps for weekly conversations about how we build a stronger future for Maine.

The Crime Surge No One Wants to Talk About in Maine with Lt. Nick Goodman

Lt. Nick Goodman has been a cop in Portland for over 20 years. He’s run narcotics stings. Solved cold cases. Led Portland’s SWAT team through high-risk raids and manhunts. He’s watched the city change, from a place where gunfire made headlines to a place where “another shooting” barely raises eyebrows. This episode is a raw, unfiltered look at what public safety in Maine actually looks like today (and what it will take to turn things around). We cover: * Why Portland went from 1–2 shootings a year to 60–70 * The real reason police recruitment is collapsing * What happens when jails stop taking violent offenders * Why COVID still haunts Maine’s courts, streets, and police departments * How “well-meaning” laws backfire in ways few people understand * What a Vegas man did to get a heart transplant in Portland * Why tech silos make Maine a playground for repeat offenders * And what Lt. Goodman believes Maine’s next governor must do right now We also explore a bigger question: what happens when systems stop working and the people inside them still try to show up? This is not a pro-police or anti-police episode. It’s a pro-reality episode. And it’s one of the most urgent conversations we’ve had on Maine For Keeps. 🎧 Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. 📍 Subscribe for weekly episodes on the future of our state.

How Maine Can Fix Education Before It’s Too Late with Stephen Bowen, Former Commissioner of Education

Stephen Bowen has seen the future of education, and he’s seen what happens when we ignore it. As Maine’s former Commissioner of Education and now Executive Director of the Hoover Education Success Initiative at Stanford, Stephen brings a rare perspective: deep local roots combined with a national, bird’s-eye view of what actually works. In this episode, he lays out a bold, actionable vision for how Maine can rescue its schools, support its students, and rebuild its economy. We cover: - Why Maine’s education rankings have collapsed in the last decade - The one metric that determines a student’s future (and a state’s future) - What Mississippi and Louisiana got right and how Maine can follow - The school choice model already working in parts of rural Maine - How local districts are blocking students from accessing better programs - The untapped potential of micro-schools, magnet academies, and virtual learning - Why ignoring top-performing kids is a dangerous mistake for small towns - What Maine’s next governor should do on day one to start the turnaround This is one of the clearest, most strategic conversations we’ve had on Maine For Keeps about education. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Maine For Keeps for weekly conversations on how we build a stronger future for Maine.

Former Governor of MA, Charlie Baker, on How to Make a State Work

Charlie Baker has a reputation for making big, complex institutions actually work. As governor of Massachusetts, he was consistently ranked the most popular governor in America, running one of the bluest states as a Republican without getting bogged down in partisanship. Today, he’s the president of the NCAA, steering college sports through its most turbulent era. In this conversation, Baker shares the same pragmatic playbook that guided him through both roles: results matter more than rhetoric, and time is money. If it takes five years to permit housing or six years to approve energy, you’re paying for it in higher rents, higher power bills, and lost opportunities. We talk about what states like Maine can learn from Massachusetts’ turnaround under Baker’s watch: fixing the relationship with cities and towns, treating time as a cost driver, and giving communities the flexibility to actually move. We also touch on his leadership philosophy: building coalitions, keeping public trust, and staying focused on outcomes. In this episode, you’ll learn: - Why time is the hidden driver of housing and energy costs - How to lower the cost of living by fixing state –local processes instead of just writing checks - Why ownership opportunities matter more than subsidies in housing policy - How Baker used a simple “menu” approach to let cities bundle grants and revitalize downtowns - What bipartisan leadership looks like when the goal is results, not headlines - The leadership lessons Baker carries from Massachusetts into his role as president of the NCAA If you care about building more, paying less, and leading with results, this conversation with Charlie Baker is a masterclass in pragmatic statecraft. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

How Former Governor Mitch Daniels Turned Indiana Around (and What Maine Can Learn)

Mitch Daniels has worn a lot of hats: Governor of Indiana, President of Purdue University, and before that, business executive and federal budget director. But through it all, he’s carried a reputation for doing the hard, unglamorous work of making institutions perform better. In Indiana, Daniels balanced the budget after years of deficits, capped runaway property taxes, and launched one of the boldest infrastructure programs in America without raising taxes. At Purdue, he froze tuition for 11 years straight while expanding access and research, proving that higher education doesn’t have to keep getting more expensive. In this conversation, Jonathan Bush digs into the lessons behind Daniels’ results — and what states like Maine can learn from them. Some highlights from the episode: * Why Daniels insisted “simple beats smart” when designing reforms * How he kept the focus on raising disposable income for citizens as the North Star of government * The story behind Indiana’s property tax caps and why they’ve endured * His philosophy on balancing local control with statewide reform * What Purdue’s tuition freeze reveals about tackling higher ed affordability * Why trust in government is just as important as budgets or programs This is a playbook for leaders, policymakers, and anyone who cares about making government simpler, smarter, and more accountable. 👉 Listen now to Maine For Keeps with Mitch Daniels on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.