PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) – We continue our political profile series. WAGM partnered with Aroostook Partnership to interview candidates in the Maine House and Senate races. Each candidate was given five minutes to answer the same three questions provided in advance. All interviews were conducted via Zoom. Tonight’s race for Maine’s 5th Congressional District is between Democrat Kevin Freeman and incumbent Republican Joseph Underwood. This is incumbent Republican Joseph Underwood.
KELLY: If elected, what are your top three priorities for the next Congress?
Joseph Underwood: My top priorities are threefold. The first thing you need to do is lower your electricity bill. Because everything in Aroostook County is powered by electricity. And, I’m sorry to say, Aroostook County’s electricity bills are skyrocketing as a result of the PUC mandating many of the so-called stuck costs. The pent-up cost is a subsidy for solar power, basically a subsidy for solar power, and all these areas are going up, and space with solar power and green equipment is going up. That’s why. In my opinion, the solar industry has not yet proven itself and the subsidies used for the industry to promote it are not worth increasing hydro rate payer rates. Therefore, we need to work on reducing energy costs. The second part of this first question, what are my priorities? The basics should be taught in schools with parents as the main decision makers. Gun Safety and Laws. Gun safety should be taught in schools. This is Aroostook County and we hunt a lot, so we should teach them about gun safety. Also, one of my constituents asked if we could have a course requiring cursive in our schools, so I said, Okay, let’s introduce the bill and see what happens with it. Ta. I have three good ideas in my top three priorities and what I’m looking forward to accomplishing is passing something or putting legislation into the system and getting it to committee. It’s about exposing the subject to the public and letting it be discussed. Legislature. thank you.
Jason: Okay, Congressman Underwood, my second question is, in your role as an elected state official, what would you like to do to help develop the economy and workforce of Aroostook County? ?
Joseph Underwood: Well, this is related to question number one, which is finding out what the solution is. For example, cursive handwriting, a required elementary school cursive course. We have introduced legislation to monitor and promote this. Let’s get it through Congress and see how far it goes. This also has to do with the price of electricity, and although Congress will pass a bill to reduce these solar subsidies, Harwood, the state’s electricity representative, said electricity prices need to be adjusted. It states that there is a need to fix it as soon as possible. Prices will continue to rise, but that’s because of subsidies for solar power. And by lowering the cap on solar projects back to the original level, what was originally rooftop solar will now be eligible for subsidies, allowing small businesses and local materials to be used locally. That’s what it means. Also, the third part is what I’d like to see, but this is my own personal wish, and this is a great and strong introduction to gun safety being taught in our school system. This course requires legislative efforts to understand how the system works to make this happen. It can be put into a bill and it can be monitored and passed by Congress. If everything goes well from start to finish, your claim will probably take 3-4 months to complete. These are my goals, and as an elected state official, I may be able to contribute to the development and benefit of Aroostook County in some of these ways.
Jason: Okay, Congressman Underwood, we don’t have time for this interview, so we’ll leave it at that.
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