State Rep. Michael G. “Mick” Devin |
By J.W. Oliver
State Rep. Michael G. “Mick” Devin already has an ambitious agenda in place for his second term as he seeks re-election in House District 90.
The district includes Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Monhegan, Newcastle, and parts of Nobleboro and South Bristol.
Devin names initiatives to address marine debris, examine the effect of pesticides on crustaceans, reform Maine clean elections laws, and strengthen the aquaculture industry among a lengthy list of legislative priorities.
He also aims to change state contract rules to benefit Maine businesses and reform the state’s tax code.
Devin works as a marine biologist at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center in Walpole, and he has a strong interest in fisheries and the marine environment.
He wants to improve the aquaculture lease process, which enables oyster farmers to secure real estate on the river bottom or surface to cultivate their crops. “Right now, there’s a long wait on leases,” he said.
“Everyone’s talking about jobs and how Maine isn’t business-friendly,” Devin said. “Well, I’m saying the aquaculture isn’t all that business-friendly, and if we can improve the leasing process, then we may be able to create a few more jobs.”
Devin wants to examine the effect of pesticides on crustaceans like crab, lobsters, and shrimp. Certain pesticides break down the exoskeleton of an insect, and the same material in the exoskeleton – chiton – forms the shells of crabs, lobster, and shrimp.
“Are those pesticides – through our waterways, our watersheds and great rivers – are we flushing some of those pesticides down and impacting our shellfish, particularly the crustaceans?” Devin said.
Devin wants to look at how to retrieve “ghost” lobster traps and how to address other marine debris, like plastic bags, which can harm marine animals that “form the basis of our food web for all those fish and larger crustaceans we love to eat,” he said.
Devin also has his eye on non-marine issues, including state contracts. He wants the state to consider “the entire value” of a contract and to favor Maine firms when it awards bids for major work.
For example, if an out-of-state firm bids $1 million for a contract and a Maine firm bids $1.1 million, the state will likely award the bid to the out-of-state firm, according to Devin.
The state appears to save $100,000; however, almost all of the $1 million would likely leave the state. If the state were to hire the Maine firm, the $1.1 million would stay in Maine and “recirculate” through the state’s economy, Devin said.
“We benefit – it’s not just helping a Maine company because we want to be insular or we want to keep other people out,” Devin said. “We’re improving the money we use, our state money.”
Devin counts a bill to protect Lincoln County towns from receiving private school tuition bills for non-resident students, a bill to study the threat ocean acidification poses to shellfish, and the formation of a veterans’ caucus in the Legislature among the key accomplishments of his first term.
Devin co-chairs the new ocean acidification commission, a result of his bill. The commission will make recommendations about how to mitigate the impacts of ocean acidification, particularly its impacts on commercial fisheries.
As the ocean becomes more acidic, it dissolves the shells of clams and oysters. Ocean acidification “is a problem that’s already here,” Devin said.
The Sierra Club of Maine bestowed its Public Service for the Environment Award on Devin primarily for his work on the issue.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Devin established a veterans’ caucus in the Legislature – an informal group of veteran-lawmakers who gather to discuss issues of importance to veterans.
“My first year in the Legislature, I saw Democratic and Republican veterans who were arguing and I (thought), that’s a veterans’ issue,” Devin said. “That’s not a partisan issue. It’s not a political issue. It’s a veterans’ issue.”
The veterans’ caucus is already making an impact, with members presenting a united front “to help move veterans’ issues forward much more smoothly and effectively,” Devin said.
The American Legion named Devin one of its three 2014 Legislators of the Year for his efforts to establish the caucus and his sponsorship of a bill to protect the right of military personnel to wear their uniforms in public schools.
Devin supports an increase in the minimum wage to $10 an hour.
He supports wholesale reform of Maine’s tax code, including a “very close evaluation of our tax loopholes.”
He supports the expansion of the MaineCare program through the Affordable Care Act. MaineCare provides health insurance for low-income Maine residents.
“That’s the first thing we need to do, and then we need to work toward universal health care (with) a strong focus on preventative care,” Devin said.
Devin supports the use of addiction resources and prevention programs to combat the rise of heroin and methamphetamine abuse in Maine.
He opposes Gov. Paul LePage’s proposals to hire more drug enforcement agents, judges, prosecutors, and other personnel to combat the same issues.
Devin said he would not vote to legalize marijuana in the Legislature, although he believes the state is “nearly ready to take it to referendum.”
Devin, 52, sits on the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee and co-chairs the new veterans’ caucus. Locally, he sits on the Newcastle Shellfish Committee.
He has a Master of Science degree in marine biology from the Florida Institute of Technology and oversees a hatchery at the Darling Marine Center in South Bristol.
His résumé includes 28 years of military service. He was in the U.S. Navy from 1984-1992 and the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1992-2012, retiring at the rank of commander.
Away from the lab and the Legislature, Devin likes to read, travel, and stay in shape. He completed a triathlon last summer.
He lives in Newcastle with his wife, Laura Devin, an art teacher. The couple has two adult sons, Coorain and Chauncey.