Maine House District 87 Representative Jeffery Hanley, R - Pittston, plans to approach his next two years in the Legislature as he did his first two: as a conservative.

Hanley’s Democratic challenger for the seat serving Wiscasset, Alna, Pittston and Randolph is Wendy Ross of Wiscasset.

Hanley said a small government is a better government. “Some things, we need to do. Law enforcement is one. That’s very, very important ... But it’s very important also for the state of Maine to leave its citizens alone, whenever it can.” As a high school and trade school-educated, lifelong blue-collar worker, he knows what it means to work hard to live in and raise a family in Maine, he said. “Nothing’s been given to me. I’ve earned everything I have.”

Hanley served in the Maine National Guard from 1969 to 1975.

On the questions Maine voters face on the ballot, Hanley said he is very opposed to legalizing recreational use of marijuana. That would be throwing gasoline on the fire of Maine’s massive drug problem, he said. He also opposes the proposed background checks for gun sales by unlicensed dealers, calling the proposal poorly drawn, and a solution looking for a problem. “Maine is a safe state, very low crime rate. It’s a terrible idea and I hope we defeat it.”

Ranked choice voting is a way to destroy a simple concept called democracy, Hanley said. “Another bad idea,” he said of the proposal. As for the proposed three-percent surtax on household income over $200,000, he said: “You’re going to drive away the very people we need here in Maine,” such as doctor couples. ”We need doctors in Maine ... Wealthy people don’t care where they live.” Maine is competing with New Hampshire, which has no income tax, he added. And although the question calls for the added tax money to go to schools, that’s no guarantee, he said. “It will go wherever the Legislature wants it to go.”

Hanley opposes the proposed minimum wage hike to $12 by 2020, saying it would cut high school students out of the job market and be required even for businesses doing poorly. He’d rather the market drive wages.

Asked about state aid for local education, Hanley doesn’t favor an increase when the student population is dropping. Towns need to take a look at their rising school costs, which amount to a moving target for the state to get to a 55-percent share, he said. He’s interested in finding out more about voucher systems that might consist of accounts families could tap toward their students’ education.

Hanley favors further welfare reform, including making sure people aren’t spending food supplement benefits on the wrong items like cigarettes and alcohol, he said.

On the opioid epidemic, he wants more serious penalties for dealers. “so the message goes out ... I’d like to see it get worse, for the people who sell this stuff.” Addicts need treatment, and the treatment should not keep them on methadone so long it amounts to just being hooked on it instead, Hanley said. Some addicts would benefit if there were a felony charge they could face that could then be removed after a year in a treatment program, he said. Misdemeanor arrests get them out the door and they’re shooting up again, he said. Education is also important, he said. “We’ve got to really, really get out to the public, especially the young people, that you can’t mess around with drugs, that this stuff is so awful.”

On jobs, the incumbent said the state government can’t create them, but it can create an atmosphere for them by becoming more business-friendly on regulations, taxes and energy costs. “That’s how jobs will come here, and then your economy picks up.” Regarding how to help Maine’s fisheries thrive, he believes in basing any legislation on the recommendations of state agencies and those working on the water. Those two groups would know best about any laws to enact, he said.