Republican Party Platform 1972

CITIZENS RIGHT’S

1. Full-time district prosecutors appointed by the Attorney General.
2. Creation of a State Crime Laboratory.
3. Mandatory training of full-time deputy sheriffs.
4. A complete review and updating of State Election Laws.
5. A 3 months residency requirement for voter registration enrollment.
6. Elimination of the “Big Box” and adoption of the office type ballot.
7. State employee participation in the State’s election process through changes in the so-called State “Little Hatch Act”.
8. Adoption of a Uniform Title Law of motor vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE REFORM

1. Single member districts for the House of Representatives.
2. Adequate professional technical staff for the Legislature.

AGRICULTURE

1. Retain the present composition, duties, and authority of the State Pesticide Control Board.
2. Enactment of a Maine agricultural marketing and bargaining act to require handlers of agricultural products to bargain in good faith with qualified agricultural associations for contract terms to improve net farm income.
3. Increased involvement of the Maine Department of Agriculture in the promotion and marketing of agricultural commodities.

STATE GOVERNMENT

1. Creation of a Department of Marine Resources, encompassing all present functions of the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries, plus responsibilities for all state-financed Marine research programs, the Wetlands Control Board, coastal pollution abatement, river-harbor development, and seafood inspections.
2. Establishment of a liaison office, professionally staffed between state departments and the citizens of Maine (ombudsman).
3. State employee coverage under the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
4. Uniform retirement policy for all state employees.

TAXATION

1. Elimination of the property tax as the primary means of funding educational costs.
2. 2upport of President Nixon’s revenue sharing proposals with the “no strings attached” concept.
3. Endorsement and continuation of the Maine Revenue Sharing Act and the resulting reductions in local property tax.
4. Abolition of the poll tax, or a revision of the law so that all citizens of Maine 18 years of age or older would be subject to the poll tax.

ENVIRONMENT

1. Adoption of an Environmental Bill of Rights.
2. Acceleration of billboard removals.
3. Support of the concept of regional solid waste disposal areas.
4. Enforcement of existing laws safeguarding against ever-increasing pollution threats.

HUMAN SERVICES

1. Endorsement of the Nixon Administration’s Welfare Reform Program
2. Guaranteed public education for all handicapped children
3. Improvement of the foster home program
4. Improvement and enlargement of rehabilitative halfway house programs
5. Strict application of welfare recipient laws
6. Endorsement of the concept of a cooperative effort of private and governmental participation in the delivery of adequate health care for all Americans
7. Improvement of Education, opportunity and living conditions of Maine Indians

SENIOR CITIZENS

1. Strong endorsement of the Nixon Administration’s program for Senior Citizens
2. State Income Tax exemption for married couples 65 years and older receiving retirement pay under $7,500 annually, and for single pensioned retirees receiving under $5,000 annually
3. Co-ordination at State Level with local organizations to provide better transportation and other services for senior citizens
4. Endorsement of no reduction in Social Security payments because of wages received

EDUCATION

1. The principal funding of public primary-secondary education from state-level tax sources
2. Adoption of a formula which relates local-level property tax relief to income tax increases ear-marked for education
3. Establishment of a State College of Physicians
4. Vocational educational programming, using existing physical facilities including high schools, on a year ‘round basis

LABOR

1. Adequate funding of the Maine Unemployment Insurance Fund
2. Registration of private employment agencies with the State Department of Labor and Industry
3. Equal pay for equal work without regard to sex, religion, color, or national origin

AGRICULTURE

1. Retain the present composition, duties and authority of the State Pesticide Control Board
2. Enactment of a Maine agricultural marketing and bargaining act to require handlers of agricultural products to bargain in good faith with qualified agricultural associations for contract terms to improve net farm income
3. Increased involvement of the Maine Department of Agriculture in the promotion and marketing of agricultural commodities

DRUGS

1. The establishment of drug treatment centers with court emphasis on use of the centers as opposed to jail sentences for narcotic users
2. Mandatory drug education in public schools, on abuse and penalties
3. With the establishment of drug treatment centers, a review of existing laws pertaining to narcotics
4. Repeal statute making second offense for possession of marijuana a felony

VETERANS

1. Educational subsidies for Maine Vietnam veterans
2. Preferential acceptance at State educational institutions for Maine Vietnam veterans
3. Continued and improved service by the State Department of Veterans Affairs to all Maine Veterans and their dependents in receiving state benefits to which they are entitled

JUDICIAL REFORM

1. Diagnostic centers for major offenders for evaluation prior to sentencing
2. Revamping and codifying of the criminal statutes

TRANSPORTATION

1. Improvement of regionalized airports for better commuter airline service
2. Continued planned development of arterial and farm-to-market road systems for the economic benefit of all Maine
3. Top State Highway Commission priority to widening, improving, and resurfacing Route One (Houlton to Caribou) and the Mid-coastal area

RECREATION

1. Continued expansion of recreational facilities, including public boating ramps, public parks and beaches
2. Day use of parks with coastal-inland water frontages near population centers
3. Establishment of coastal and northwestern Maine mountain, region natural parks

NATIONAL

1. Support of the Administration, policies and programs of President Richard H. Nixon
2. Congressional and Nixon Administration authorization to the raising of oil import quotas for New England Immediate attention to the Nixon Administration and the Canadian Government to settlement of U.S.-Canada water boundaries

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Leadership and full cooperation of government at all levels in the development of more job opportunities for Maine citizens, consistent with the preservation of our environmental quality

FISHERIES

1. Protect and promote the continued well-being of present inshore fisheries
2. Encourage growth of our marine resource harvest by establishing aquaculture projects compatible with existing fisheries
3. Change territorial limit for Fishing Control from 72 – 200 miles
4. Increase international control of the size of mesh used in fishing, total catch allowed and especially of any one species
5. Through existing programs provide low-interest long-term loans ‘for the building of better vessels, docks and harbor improvement and multi-purpose fish processing factories
6. Increase federal support of multi-purpose fish research vessels

Source: Copy of the printed platform at the Maine State Law Library.

MEMBERS OF THE 1972 MAINE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM COMMITTEE

Officers: Wakine Tanous, Chairmam
Larry Simpson, Vice Chairman
Elaine Weeks, Secretary

COUNTY REPRESENTED, County Representative

ANDROSCOGGIN Herbert Bunker

AROOSTOOK Ray Lamoreau

CUMBERLAND James Richardson

FRANKLIN John Holmes

HANCOCK Gavin Watson

KENNEBEC Stanley Shaw

KNOX Albert Hoffses

LINCOLN Robert Reny

OXFORD Stuart Martin

PENOBSCOT Torn Needharn

PISCATAQUIS Jo Ann Gordon

SAGADAHOC Arthur Curtis

SOMERSET Robert Viles

WALDO Myron Wood

WASHINGTON Karlene Washburn

YORK Elaine Weeks

Organizations Represented, Representative

SENATE (President + 2) Kenneth P. MacLeod, Pres.

T. Tarpy Schulten

Wakine Tanous

HOUSE (Speaker + 6) David J. Kennedy, Speaker

Ted Lewin

David Ault

Donald Collins

William Hardy

Charlotte White

Larry Simpson

GOVERNOR’ S COUNCIL Walter Cameron

APPOINTEES OF CHARLES Brooks Brown, Jr

E. MORESHEAD, CHAIRMAN Gordon Smith

MAINE REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE Hattie Bickmore

APPOINTEE OF SEN. SMITH H. L. Gosselin