Corporate Welfare Flourished under LePage.

Continuing from Part One.....Bonds are frequently sold to the public in the interest of job-creation.

During the Lepage years, under the enactment of Industry Partnerships, the public educational system was re-purposed as a job training resource. Industry Partnership's is a new government bureaucracy dedicated to function as central managers of the relationship between industries operating in economic sectors targeted by the State. Funding was re appropriated from traditional government functions such as the Department of Corrections to capitalize ‘quality centers”, collective communes in the community college system, equipped with the state of the art means of production and used as facilities for training workers in the state-targeted industries. More taxpayer funding was distributed to build communal Tech Places, industry quality centers with state of the art facilities designed to attract start-up companies to communal environments with shared facilities and administration. The picture of the corporate state circa 2018.

You Don’t Own the Means of Production and Your Intellectual Property Isn’t Yours !

About the project 

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) has established “Tech Place” a Science and Technology Business Incubator at Brunswick Landing: Maine’s Center for Innovation on the campus of the former Naval Air Station Brunswick (NASB) to prompt new small business development and job creation to replace the 4,800 jobs lost as result of the base closure. The incubator will support the business clusters of aerospace/aviation, composites/advanced materials, biotech/biomed, renewable energy and information services technologies. Tech Place Maine- About US

Per statutory mandate, Tech Places maintain a relationship with the university system. The University of Maine is the center of the University system.

Under Angus King, The Legislature  established a policy authorizing the university to claim ownership of intellectual property rights, based on usage of publicly owned facilities by the creative author of the intellectual property. Under the established policy, ownership of the material resources and facilities can be used to acquire ownership of intellectual property rights .

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SYSTEM STATEMENT OF POLICY GOVERNING PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS

 IV. APPLICABILITY This policy, as amended from time to time, shall be deemed a part of the conditions of employment for every employee of the University, and a part of the conditions of enrollment and attendance at the University by students. It is also the policy of the University that, by participating in a sponsored project and/or by making significant use of University Resources and/or by participating in teaching, research, or service projects, individuals (including non-compensated individuals) accept the principles of ownership of Intellectual Property as stated in this policy, unless an exception is approved in writing by the Intellectual Property Office. (emphasis added)

Copyrightable Works: It is the policy of the University that all rights in Copyrightable Works shall remain with the author(s) and creator(s) unless:

 iv) In the judgment of the Intellectual Property Office and the cognizant University administrator(s), the author(s) or creator(s) of the Copyrightable Work made more than Incidental Use of University Resources. 

Rights to ownership of intellectual property, based on ownership of facilities is a concept embraced in communist political philosophy.

Tech Place is the latest evolution in public-private ownership of the means of production in Maine, On the state side is the University's consortium of productions including the Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of Maine,  Aqua Ventus, in the public-private modality, there is The Maine Venture Fund, The Maine Technology Institute, Quality Places (for job training) and Tech Place, a commune for private start-up companies - All connected to the University, all requiring a continual reinvestment of capital.

In 2015 Maine House Speaker Mark Eves promoted the “Put Me to Work” bill:

Maine House speaker pushes job training legislation  AUGUSTA — House Speaker Mark Eves is backing a bill designed to invest $5 million over the next five years in job training programs that create public-private partnerships to develop a trained workforce in high-demand fields such as logging, health care and machining.

The bill, called “Put ME to Work,” would also fund scholarships in some of the same fields. Eves and Democratic leaders promoted the bill as a vehicle to help fill job needs in select industries in which an aging workforce and new hires aren’t keeping pace with new skill needs Maine House speaker pushes job training legislation by Steve Mistler Portland Press Herald May 18 2015

From the sales script to the manifestation, the targeted sector has changed classes. This methodology has long roots, harking back to the selling the University of Maine to the public. U of M was sold as a place where farmers son's would be taught scientific skills and used instead to pursue the latest technology in the marketplace, replacing rural culture with urban and suburban culture.

Break Down of Expenditures of LD1373 Put ME to Work Bill

The header of the cost analysis identifies that the bill is to finance the Quality Centers and states that the funds will be used for needs-based tuition assistance and grants for persons participating in the Put ME to Work Program.

•  25% of the bond will be used for tuition assistance
• 65% of the expenditure is for the private partnership matching fund which includes what is called “infrastructure” investment likely meaning space and equipment used for production. (the means of production)
• 10% of the funding for this project provides for one new executive position at $100,000, annually

Unlike The Industrial Partnership's Act and The Major Business Headquarters Expansion Act, the Put ME to Work Bill received massive media coverage as it required public funding approval. It was promoted as a jobs training initiative but only 25% of the funding is dedicated to job training grants. Most of the funding is appropriated to acquiring the material means of production which is to be matched with private funding. 10% of the tax payer funding goes to hiring an executive director for the public-privately owned facility- and let us not forget that it is ownership of the means of production which is used to establish rights to ownership of the intellectual property of its users.

Re-purposing Public Education

The funding for the quality centers follows the standard redistribution of wealth policies used by the State, Funding is for sale as a matching fund for private investors. The bill does not state the private terms of investment, but no doubt they exist. However,  since the establishment of the FAME corporations, under the administration of Governor Joseph E. Brennan (Democrat), state policy holds that private benefit is only incidental to public purposes, which is to say the purposes of the centrally managed state, following the Mussolini dictum that everything evolves around the state and so whatever is the purpose of the State is the purpose of the public, says the State.

A centrally managed alliance to end individual freedom and opportunity.

The authority will serve a public purpose and perform an essential governmental function in the exercise of the powers and duties conferred upon it by this chapter. Any benefits accruing to private individuals or associations, as a result of the activities of the authority, are deemed by the Legislature to be incidental to the public purposes to be achieved by the implementation of this chapter. [1985, c. 344, §5 (AMD).]

LD1373 Put ME to Work Bill

2. Job training programs; criteria. The job training programs in the program must provide training to prepare workers for jobs in high-demand fields. The centers shall work with private businesses to determine the demand for jobs and the skills needed for those jobs and with post-secondary institutions of higher education to determine the ability of those institutions to provide the appropriate education and training, including teaching faculty and any necessary infrastructure. A qualified job training program must meet the following criteria: (emphasis added)

A.  Support of at least 50% of the start-up costs for the job training program must be provided by a business or group of businesses that chooses to participate in a job training program. The support may be provided through funds or through an in-kind contribution, such as equipment or teaching faculty;

B.  The job training program must provide education or training for employment in a trade or industry with a significant demand for skilled labor either statewide or in a region that has been identified by the Center for Workforce Research and Information within the Department of Labor as providing employment for high-compensation jobs; and......

An examination of the Community College charter reveals that student’s educational costs are already arranged to be subsidized by taxpayers, through the implementation of the Pine Tree Zone tax exemptions combined with a refundable tax credit. This is how it works:

First the cost of the training is picked up by the employer:

§5217-D. Credit for educational opportunity establishes that the employer can take on the loan, rather than the trainee.

 A qualified individual or an employer of a qualified employee is allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this Part in accordance with the provisions of this section. The credit is created to implement the Job Creation Through Educational Opportunity Program established under Title 20-A, chapter 428-C. (emphasis mine)

The employer may claim a credit for the amount that the qualified employee could have claimed during any months when the qualified employee was employed. Provided the employee was employed by the employer during the full time of the training, the employer can take a refundable tax credit for the full cost of the training.[

The student must be employed full time. Full time is defined as a four-day work week leaving one day for job training.

The tax credit is refundable

You have to read this section carefully. It says in 2C that the credit will not reduce this tax to less than zero (meaning a refundable tax credit in which when the holder owes no taxes the public owes the holder a cash payment (tax)).

Then it says in section 3 that section 2C is not with standing (for qualified individuals (special interests)) The tax credit is refundable if it is used for the purpose for which it is provided! One can only assume that the refundable tax credit is referred to as a tax less than zero, in section 2C and as a refundable tax credit in section 3, to confuse the reader.

§5217-D. Credit for educational opportunity A qualified individual or an employer of a qualified employee is allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this Part in accordance with the provisions of this section. The credit is created to implement the Job Creation Through Educational Opportunity Program established under Title 20-A, chapter 428-C.3. Calculation of the credit; qualified individuals.

C. Except as provided in subsection 3, the credit under this section may not reduce the tax otherwise due under this Part to less than zero. [2013, c. 525, §15 (AMD).]

3. Calculation of the credit; qualified individuals.   Subject to subsection 2 and except as provided in this subsection, the credit with respect to a qualified individual is equal to the amount determined under paragraph A or paragraph B, whichever is less, multiplied by the proration factor:

Notwithstanding subsection 2, paragraph C, the credit under this subsection is refundable to the extent the credit is based on loans included in the financial aid package acquired to obtain a bachelor's degree or associate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016,

If the business has Pine Tree Zone tax exemptions which as a targeted sector business there is a high probability that it does, then the business does not owe taxes or owes a reduced amount of taxes and the taxpayer owes the business the cost of the job training.

Two Winners and One Loser:

• Winner! The student gets job training which will result in a higher paying job with no educational debt. 
• Winner!The employer gets his job training paid by the general taxpayer and a better employee whom he will pay more but also make a greater profit from the increased skill level of the employee.
• Loser!!!The general taxpayer gets a larger tax burden without seeing an increase in his own income earning ability to help with covering the increased tax cost caused by the student's job training. 

Streaming Global Economics.

Consistent with the mission of the Department of Economic and Community Development, Industry Partnerships seeks to streamline Maine policies with a global agenda:

§3304. Industry partnerships
 1. Objectives.
H. Help companies identify and collaborate to address common organizational and human resource challenges, including, but not limited to….. hiring foreign-trained professionals [2013, c. 368, Pt. ,§1(NEW).]
5.Agency cooperation.
D. The Department of Education shall:
(2) Support innovative programs to address literacy, including English as a second language, numeracy shortcomings and soft skills training, especially in those occupations critical to targeted industry clusters; (emphasis added)

A directive to include English as a second language is repeated twice more:

G. The Maine Community College System shall:

(2) Support innovative programs to address literacy, including English as a second language, numeracy shortcomings and soft skills training, especially in those occupations critical to targeted industry clusters;

H. The University of Maine System shall:

(2) Support innovative programs to address literacy, including English as a second language, numeracy shortcomings and soft skills training, especially in those occupations critical to targeted industry clusters;

§3304. Industry partnerships was passed and amendments were added to Title 20-A: EDUCATION. By 2020, alternatives for receiving a high school diploma will be in place and will include completing training for state approved industries.

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
PartChapter 207-A: INSTRUCTION
Subchapter 3: SECONDARY SCHOOLS
§4722-A. Proficiency-based diploma standards and transcripts:
2. Method of gaining and demonstrating proficiency.  Students must be allowed to gain proficiency through multiple pathways,ith a high school diploma as described in section 4703, and must be allowed to demonstrate proficiency by presenting multiple types of evidence, including but not limited to teacher-designed or student-designed assessments, portfolios, performance, exhibitions, projects and community service. (emphasis added)
3. Exceptions
B-2. For the graduating class of 2020-2021 and each subsequent graduating class, a student who has satisfactorily completed a state-approved career and technical education program …, is eligible to receive a high school diploma from the secondary school the student last attended. A student may be awarded a high school diploma from the secondary school the student last attended in accordance with the phase-in of the following diploma requirements for the graduating class of 2020-2021 to

B-2. For the graduating class of 2020-2021 and each subsequent graduating class, a student who has satisfactorily completed a state-approved career and technical education program of study and either met 3rd-party-verified national or state industry standards set forth in department rules established pursuant to section 8306-B or earned 6 credits in a dual enrollment career and technical education program formed pursuant to chapter 229 from a regionally accredited institution of higher education and who has successfully demonstrated proficiency in meeting state standards in the content areas and the guiding principles set forth in department rules governing implementation of the system of learning results established pursuant to section 6209, is eligible to receive a high school diploma from the secondary school the student last attended. A student may be awarded a high school diploma from the secondary school the student last attended in accordance with the phase-in of the following diploma requirements for the graduating class of 2020-2021 to the graduating class of 2023-2024:

I wonder if they will be instructed on the many uses of endlessly long run-on sentences, as well as instructing them on how to edit for clarity, should the reason to do so occur?