WATERVILLE — State Rep. Thomas R.W. Longstaff is running unopposed for re-election to his seat in House District 109, which covers part of the city of Waterville.

Democrat Longstaff, 79, who has held the office since 2011, is a former city councilor.

He says the most important issues facing his district are the need to balance the state budget, provide better health care for thousands of people in Maine and adopt legislation that will help attract new businesses to Maine and allow those already established to prosper.

“Closer to home, restoring a higher level of revenue sharing for municipalities and reaching the goal of 55 percent support for education are among my highest priorities,” he said. “Accomplishing these things is not something that I can do, but they are all areas in which I can play a significant role.”

As a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, Longstaff is involved in developing new policies for any expansion of gambling in Maine and ensuring support is provided for veterans, he said.

Asked if the state should provide more funding for communities through an extension of the state sales tax or by requiring full funding of municipal sharing, Longstaff said the goal of fully funding municipal revenue sharing is one of his top priorities although it will not be clear how it can best be funded until legislators see the next budget.

“Funding for K-12 education must also be a priority,” he said. “We should resist attempts by the state to take the smaller revenues that come from the excise tax on motor vehicles away from municipalities. An increase in the sales tax should not be seen as a quick and easy solution.”

Longstaff believes Medicaid should be expanded to allow MaineCare to extend health care coverage to additional low-income residents.

“I think that this is something we must do. Medical care should be a basic human right, and shifting the costs to emergency room care is more expensive than providing reasonable coverage for low-income residents.”

He is against providing public assistance for immigrants in the country illegally, but says there are undocumented immigrants who are here legally and should be eligible for necessary assistance.

“Rather than pressure from the state, I would prefer a significant level of local control, leaving the decisions with those people who best understand the circumstances of each case,” he said. Longstaff plans to vote no on a referendum asking whether bear baiting should be banned, he said.

Asked what he thinks of Gov. Paul LePage, who was Waterville mayor when Longstaff was a Waterville city councilor, Longstaff said he sometimes agrees and sometimes disagrees with him, as he did when he was a councilor.

“I think that the governor is absolutely correct in emphasizing the need to do more to address the problems of domestic violence in Maine as he is in addressing our need to take better care of our Maine veterans,” Longstaff said. “I strongly disagree with his attempt to reduce municipal revenue sharing to zero and his refusal to expand medical care to reach thousands of Maine residents who need it desperately.”

Longstaff said he agrees that fraud in the welfare system must be addressed, but that means not only fraud by recipients but also provider fraud and waste within the system.

“All of these things raise the cost of assistance to unacceptable levels,” he said. “Finally, I wish that the governor made less use of his veto power to accomplish his agenda and worked in cooperation with the Legislature, who more closely represent the people, to find a common ground to do what is best for the people of Maine.”

Longstaff was co-chairman of the Waterville Charter Commission in 2004-05 and as a city councilor served on a facilities committee that looked at options for re-locating the Waterville Police Department from the basement of City Hall to a new police station on Colby Street.

Longstaff served in the Maine National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps, was a firefighter in Unity, Sidney and Waterville and worked as an advanced level EMT with Delta Ambulance. He also served on and is former chairman of the Waterville Opera House board of directors, served on and is former chairman of Bangor Theological Seminary board of trustees and is past chaplain at MaineGeneral Medical Center.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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