Staff Report

Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart interviews Senator Dick Bradstreet, Senate Republican Lead on the Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee and Labor Committee.

Stewart: Senator, you are a veteran in the Legislature here, a veteran on some of these really critical issues, including housing; and that’s what I want to talk about today. What’s happening in housing, what are some Republican ideas and solutions to this problem that is widespread across Maine?

Bradstreet: Thank you for that. Yes, my background is in housing. I was a modular and manufactured housing retailer for almost 30 years here in Maine. I’m quite familiar with what goes on in the housing industry.

What we’re looking at now is trying to control costs of what it takes to build a home for Maine people, not only single-family homes but in multi-family housing as well. We’re looking at some of the regulatory burdens, some of the code requirements, some of the permitting processes — trying to make a clear delineation between who has authority over certain areas. Right now, it’s kind of a hodgepodge.

Builders that I talk to — I’m still in contact with many people in my industry as well as traditional home builders (stick builders) — they keep telling me that it’s very difficult to even price a home in Maine because of the changes in the codes, let alone the cost of materials and the problems with getting labor.

Stewart: As a Republican, I’m always skeptical of when government is the solution to problems. I actually think, more often than not, government is the problem in a lot of ways. I think that is applicable here in housing. Let’s talk about regulations and red tape and the codes you mentioned a minute ago. This is probably where Republicans and Democrats differ most. We believe government is part of the problem and is adding to those costs, adding to those requirements which are making it harder for people to get into new homes; and Democrats usually are the ones piling on the regulatory burdens. Let’s talk about that for a minute.

Bradstreet: Currently right now, in the industrialized housing sector we have a manufactured housing board that regulates that industry — the manufactured and modular industry. Licenses are required in that industry as opposed to in the traditional stick building industry where they’re not required.

We’re looking at relieving some of those licensing requirements. It’s a pretty steep hill to climb for a lot of people who are familiar with construction but maybe not as familiar with that particular type of construction. We think we can expedite the process that they need to go through so they can start utilizing that [expertise] to build homes in the State of Maine.

Stewart: Regulations really seem to be one of the things that are driving costs the most for new builds. Tell me a little bit about what that looks like.

Bradstreet: I recently went to a project in Westbrook where they were building a multi-family and the home was a modular construction and had been inspected in the plant. The city code enforcement wanted to disassemble part of it to look at some of the components, driving up costs, time and not to mention the frustration it caused the developer and the builder.

In addition to the code requirements, some of the energy requirements we’ve adopted in the last few years have really not been looked at from a cost-benefit basis. You can’t save money on a home that hasn’t been built. You can’t build a home if it’s not affordable to build; and if the codes and requirements make a home too unaffordable, it will never be built.

Stewart: In a nutshell, the biggest priorities for Republicans being critical investments in our workforce, getting rid of red tape we don’t need that’s only making it more expensive to build housing and working with the private sector instead of opposing them like with what we’re seeing happen in New York and other places that are run by Democrats.

Bradstreet: Yeah, that’s basically it. In short, we need to keep the government out of the way as much as we can. Let the people who are qualified and trained and have done this before — allow them to do it without all the obstacles that government puts in place.

Obstacles cost time, time costs money; and money lost in a building project is only going to drive up costs. We can make things more affordable here in Maine if we’re allowed to do it. Let us do it.

Stewart: Senator Bradstreet, it’s great to see you, as always. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the Republican vision for what housing looks like in the State of Maine, Republican solutions to that problem and what our future could hold under Republican leadership.

Bradstreet: I appreciate the opportunity to be here. We could get a lot of things done for the State of Maine if we’re given the opportunity to do so. That’s what we need.

Senator Harold “Trey” Stewart III represents District 2, which includes communities in Aroostook and Penobscot counties. He is the Senate Republican Leader and a member of the Legislative Council.

Senator Dick Bradstreet is serving his first term representing District 15, which includes the communities of Augusta, Belgrade, China, Mount Vernon, Sidney and Vassalboro. He is the Senate Republican Lead on the Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee and Labor Committee. Sen. Bradstreet previously served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives.

Text edited for clarity and brevity