By Sen. Susan Bernard

This coming Wednesday marks the start of 2025. It will be a New Year for America and for the world. And for many, it also marks a chance at a fresh start. A new opportunity to reach for goals and dreams. And in every odd-numbered year here in Maine, it also means a newly sworn-in Legislature that will begin its business in January.

Hello, this is Senator Sue Bernard of Aroostook County. First, I want to thank the voters of Senate District 1 who elected me to my first Senate term in November. It is truly an honor to be their voice in Augusta and to serve all the people of Maine. It is also my pleasure today to join you for our final Republican Radio Address of 2024.

For many of us who were recently elected to the Legislature, this time of year is a chance to reflect on our challenges and successes in the past year. It’s also a time to remember what Maine’s people expect from us as legislators. After all, you elected us to do a job.

A New Year means many different things for many different people. When I think about a New Year, I always think about hope. You know what has happened in the year that just passed and you can’t help but feel hopeful that the next one is going to be different somehow.

That difference can be big or small. However, it doesn’t matter because hope itself is intangible and cannot be measured. We only know it exists; and we know when we feel it.

With hope comes a desire to do better, to be better in the next year than the one we are leaving behind. The desires to acquire, to build, to learn and to bond with others are the core drivers of human nature. We always strive for more. For better.

The pursuit of better is what many call the American dream – the desire for life, liberty, prosperity and happiness. It’s what founded our nation and still lives on today. It’s hard to believe our nation has been around for almost 250 years; yet we should never stop hoping and dreaming for a better tomorrow.

I think I can speak for all of my fellow Republicans when I say that we should always strive to do better because we can do better. Good or bad, history has a habit of being the greatest teacher; and I think what we’ve learned over the past few years has given me a list of hopes that I’d like to share.

I hope we can end some of the struggles of Maine’s families, especially the cost of energy and property taxes to this week’s spike in egg prices to $7 a carton due to inflation. We need to do everything we can to make Maine affordable.

I hope Democrats will listen to the other half of Mainers. Republicans gained two seats in the State Senate and four in the House, which now gives Democrats narrower majorities in both chambers. They have passed partisan budgets in the last two cycles, so we hope they involve Republicans and – in essence – all Mainers in the process.

I hope we can get our student test scores back up to where they belong. Our children lost so much ground during and after the pandemic, much more so than the rest of the country. We need to reprioritize reading, writing, mathematics and science at all grade levels.

I hope we can better serve those who are suffering a mental crisis or opioid addiction in our state. More resources are needed at the community level and we need to attract mental health practitioners back to our state.

I hope we can develop affordable housing for those who need it, especially our homeless veterans. Housing is one of the main factors limiting our economic growth, and some areas of Maine cannot even find workers due to shortages in housing.

I hope all of our elderly who need beds in nursing homes can get one. That means making sure our nursing homes are solvent and staffed to reduce any unused capacity. We can’t deny that our state is getting older.

I hope we can finally bring child welfare and safety back to acceptable levels. Our state has been sued twice and failed a federal audit in 94% of all cases when it comes to child safety. We can do better.

These are just some of the ideas that Republicans stand for and why the interests of Maine’s people must be at the forefront of everything we do in Augusta. From the decisions we make that affect everyday lives to the goals we set as a state and nation, our own goals and ambitions – even those at our very core – must come second to the common good of the people we serve.

I’m Senator Sue Bernard of Aroostook County wishing you and your family a safe, happy and healthy New Year.

Senator Susan Bernard represents District 1, which includes communities in northern Aroostook County. She is the Senate Republican Lead on the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.