Maine
Maine’s performing arts venues are back. But audiences haven’t joined them.
The drawn-out pandemic stored folks on their couches for thus lengthy that they received out of the behavior of leaving dwelling for reside performances.
This fall, audiences are slowly returning to indoor performing arts occasions, however ticket gross sales have but to rebound to pre-pandemic ranges in Maine or the nation. And patrons, extra averse to long-term planning, are ready longer to buy tickets than they did three years in the past, making it more durable for performing arts organizations in Maine to foretell their money circulate at a time after they want the income.
All of it quantities to dangerous information for organizations that rely totally on ticket gross sales for earnings.
That features the Penobscot Theatre Firm in Bangor, which has a brand new inventive director this season however has but to see its viewers rebound.
About 70 % of its annual income comes from ticket gross sales, with the remainder from donations, grants and sponsorships, in accordance with Jen Shepard, the group’s govt director. However the theater firm noticed a 50 % drop in attendance throughout its 2021-22 season in contrast with pre-pandemic years.
The venue has gotten by with the assistance of a federal Shuttered Venue grant that was a part of a $16 billion COVID reduction program for arts organizations nationwide, in addition to company assist and particular person donations, Shepard stated.
“We’re working arduous to maintain producing on the similar degree that individuals have come to anticipate from us, whereas maintaining prices down, however one thing must change if we don’t see extra folks coming again to theater,” she stated.
Penobscot Theatre isn’t alone in seeing a big drop in attendance. Portland Stage noticed a 50 % drop in its 2021-22 season from pre-pandemic years. The Theater at Monmouth, a summer season repertory firm, had a 30 % drop.
Teams that aren’t as depending on ticket gross sales, together with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, will climate the income loss extra efficiently.
Previous to the pandemic, 40 % of the symphony’s earnings got here from ticket gross sales, with different income coming from donors, grants and sponsorships, Govt Director Brian Hinrichs stated. That determine fell to twenty % final season, as attendance was down about 40 % in contrast with 2018 and 2019.
Attendance at Opera Home Arts in Stonington this yr has been on par with pre-pandemic ranges, however single-ticket patrons are ready longer than ever earlier than to buy tickets, Govt Director Tony Adams stated.
“Probably the most vital change is the timing of ticket gross sales,” he stated. “The bulk this yr have been inside 72 hours of a efficiency.”
That has additionally been true on the Collins Middle for the Arts in Orono, in accordance with Danny Williams, the middle’s govt director.
The middle delayed mailing out its brochure from July to September this yr as a result of ticket patrons usually are not planning as far forward as they did pre-pandemic.
Audiences did return to out of doors live shows in massive numbers, which is a part of a nationwide development, in accordance with Alex Grey of Waterfront Live shows, which books live shows on the Bangor Waterfront. Nevertheless, older concertgoers, who could also be extra weak to the coronavirus, are slower to return than youthful audiences.
Some Maine theater teams that historically carry out outdoor in the summertime drew crowds this yr. Ten Bucks Theatre ’s annual manufacturing of “Romeo and Juliet” attracted among the largest audiences it’s ever seen in its last week at Fort Knox State Historic Web site in Prospect, in accordance with Ten Bucks founder Julie Lisnet.
One step some performing arts organizations have taken is to supply programming they’re assured will appeal to patrons.
The Bangor Symphony’s season, for instance, options common works conductor Lucas Richman is aware of will herald an viewers, together with Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Richard Strauss’s “Additionally Sprach Zarathustra.”
“I feel all of us received used to staying inside throughout the pandemic, and all of us have a wealth of leisure choices to make the most of from the consolation of dwelling,” Hinrichs stated. “Add to that the difficult political and cultural setting, ongoing well being considerations with massive gatherings and the pressures of inflation, and I feel it’s protected to say there’s a normal malaise that has set in.
“It’s going to take time, at the start, but in addition actually bold, inventive programming to get audiences again.”
For its twentieth season, Good Theater Firm in Portland selected two traditional exhibits — “Carousel” and “You Can’t Take It With You.” The corporate, based mostly on the St. Lawrence Arts Middle on Munjoy Hill, may even produce the beloved comedies “Crimes of the Coronary heart” and “Nureyev’s Eyes,” which is about Maine painter Jamie Wyeth.
“I imagine that individuals’s theatergoing habits modified throughout COVID. It’s more durable to get folks to the theater except it’s one thing they know they wish to see,” cofounder Brian P. Allen stated.
Good Theater is also providing one thing different corporations usually are not — two performances every week, on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons, the place masks are required. Tickets for these performances offered out shortly, in accordance with the corporate’s web site.
Whereas organizations final season required proof of vaccination and masks, all have dropped that requirement this yr.
Maine performing arts group leaders aren’t certain what it’ll take to get folks again of their venues’ seats apart from time.
“We’re nonetheless, as a society, working our manner again to regular,” Shepard stated. “We’re unsure after we’ll get there, however we stay hopeful.
“What we provide — the chance to see glorious reside theater, join along with your fellow neighborhood members and to witness tales that interact patrons each in moments of shared recognition and discovery — can’t be had anyplace else. You’re not going to get that have in your sofa with Netflix.”
Extra articles from the BDN
Maine
Maine Monitor joins MINC as strategic partner
The Maine Independent News Collaborative is delighted to announce that the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, the nonprofit publisher of The Maine Monitor, is now a strategic partner of MINC and will work collaboratively with MINC and its partner news organizations.
MCPIR will bring its experience in investigative reporting, philanthropic fundraising, and audience engagement, in particular, to support the MINC newsrooms and to work with MINC partners and other independent newsrooms throughout Maine to support strong and sustainable journalism for Maine.
“We look forward to exploring collaborative news reporting projects, sharing knowledge, and supporting joint outreach and events,” said MCPIR Executive Director Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm. “In particular, we want to share our experience as a nonprofit to help Maine news organizations consider new ways to share their reporting and to seek philanthropic support for their important local journalism.”
“The addition of MCPIR and The Maine Monitor as a strategic partner of MINC to secure local news for Maine is an important move towards greater collaboration between news organizations throughout Maine — and towards a stronger news future for Maine,” Jo Easton, MINC steering committee member and Bangor Daily News Director of Development noted. “We are excited to expand MINC and look forward to building new partnerships and growing the impact of our work by addressing unmet news and information needs, investing in infrastructure of independent community news sources, and leveraging the collective to lower costs.”
The Maine Monitor is the nonpartisan, independent publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 27-2623867), dedicated to delivering high-quality, nonpartisan investigative and explanatory journalism to inform Mainers about issues impacting our state and empower them to be engaged citizens. MCPIR is governed by an independent Maine-based board of directors with fiscal and strategic oversight responsibilities.
The Maine Independent News Collaborative was founded in 2023 by founding partners the Bangor Daily News, Eastern Maine Development Corporation and Unity Foundation. MINC is a collaborative journalism support organization representing 1.5 million readers comprising five local news organizations with common values: Amjambo Africa, the BDN, The Lincoln County News, Penobscot Bay Press and The Quoddy Tides. The project is fiscally sponsored by EMDC.
Learn more about MINC at maineindependentnewscollaborative.org.
Maine
Janet Mills may get Democratic pushback on proposed cigarette tax hike
Gov. Janet Mills unveiled a tobacco tax hike Friday in her two-year budget plan that serves as the final one of her tenure, and she opens with work to do to win over fellow Democrats who may not all rally behind that major change.
Mills and her office said the $1 per pack increase to Maine’s $2 cigarette tax, alongside a commensurate increase to the excise tax on other tobacco products, will generate about $80 million over two years. Those changes plus cuts to food assistance, health and child care programs, will help close a projected $450 million spending gap.
The governor noted Maine last raised its cigarette excise tax from $1 to $2 in 2005, while every other New England state raised theirs since 2013. She highlighted public health angles, such as how more than a third of annual cancer deaths in Maine are attributable to smoking. Maine’s smoking rate of 15 percent is above the national average of 12.9 percent.
Getting enough support from her party’s lawmakers who saw their majorities narrow in the November elections could prove difficult, particularly given several rural Democrats have banded with Republicans to block past attempts at flavored tobacco bans.
Democrats have only a narrow 75-73 advantage in the House and a 20-15 edge in the Senate. Some of their members from rural districts may oppose it for reasons of personal freedom, while progressives have often disliked these tax hikes because they hit poor residents the hardest.
“I’m not really a fan of disproportionate taxes,” freshman Rep. Cassie Julia, D-Waterville, said Friday. “But I’m also a money person and a numbers person.”
Julia noted the governor focused on public health benefits in pitching the cigarette tax hike, such as how Medicaid-related smoking expenditures cost Maine taxpayers $281 million annually. Julia said savings in smoking-related health care costs “can go far in other places.”
Another freshman Democrat, Rep. Marshall Archer of Saco, said earlier Friday he wanted to understand “the why” behind the cigarette tax increase before deciding whether to support it, mentioning concern for “marginalized populations.”
“If it’s a tool to help reduce the budget [gap], I’m not a big fan of that,” Archer said.
Democratic leaders put out neutral statements Friday afternoon that said they looked forward to digging into the budget details and hearing the public on the plan. They did not mention the proposed cigarette and tobacco-related tax hikes, but House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said he heard not all Democrats are fans of the plan.
Republicans signaled opposition to any tax increases, noting the governor is also proposing tax increases on marijuana and streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify. Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said he is a former smoker but opposes a higher “sin tax.”
“I think it should be spread out amongst all Mainers, not just those who choose to smoke,” Timberlake said.
Mills emphasized Friday her budget rejects “broad-based tax changes,” such as income and sales tax hikes, while also not drawing from a “rainy day fund” that was essentially maxed out last year at roughly $968 million.
New Hampshire taxes a pack of 20 cigarettes at $1.78, which could lead to Mainers flocking across the border if the higher tax takes effect, said Curtis Picard, CEO of the Retail Association of Maine. That could lead to less revenue than projected for Maine.
“Consumers are pretty aware of what things cost these days,” Picard said.
The leader of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a national nonprofit that supports a flavored tobacco ban in Maine, lauded Mills’ plan Friday by saying it will save lives and money. Still, plenty of lobbying and spending from tobacco interests have swayed past Maine proposals.
“The evidence is clear that increasing the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products is one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use, especially among kids,” Yolonda C. Richardson, the campaign’s CEO, said.
Interest groups on opposite sides of the political spectrum were also not rallying behind the tax changes. The conservative Maine Policy Institute called it another example of Mills breaking her 2022 campaign promise to not raise taxes.
The liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy criticized the cuts or lack of additional investments in various health care and child care programs that Mills said would help close the funding gap. James Myall, the center’s economic policy analyst, said they “have some reservations about it.”
Asked if she thinks the tax increases have enough support to pass, Mills said Friday she was “not going to handicap it at this moment.”
“Nobody’s taken a vote on anything,” she added.
Maine
Increasing tobacco tax, AI protections among 2025 Maine health priorities
Health experts and advocates are prioritizing a wide range of issues in the upcoming legislative session, spanning from the tobacco tax and artificial intelligence protections to measures that address children’s behavioral health, medical cannabis and workforce shortages.
Matt Wellington, associate director of the Maine Public Health Association, said his organization will push to increase the tobacco tax, which he said has not been increased in 20 years, in order to fund efforts to reduce rates of cancer.
Maine has a higher cancer incidence rate than the national average, yet one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the region.
“One in three Mainers will face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime,” Wellington said. “We’re putting a big emphasis on educating lawmakers about all of the tools at our disposal to prevent cancer and to reduce the incidence of cancer in our state.”
MPHA also supports efforts to update landlord-tenant regulations to create safer housing that can handle extreme weather events and high heat days by requiring air conditioning and making sure water damage is covered to prevent mold.
Wellington also emphasized expanding the breadth of issues local boards of health are allowed to weigh in on beyond the current scope of nuisance issues such as rodents, and establishing a testing, tracking and tracing requirement for the medical cannabis program.
Dr. Henk Goorhuis, co-chair of the Maine Medical Association legislative committee, said he is concerned about the use of artificial intelligence in denial of prior authorizations by health insurance companies and said there are some steps the state could take.
Both Goorhuis and Dr. Scott Hanson, MMA president, emphasized stronger gun safety protections.
“The Maine Medical Association, and the Maine Gun Safety Coalition and the American Academy of Pediatricians … we’re all not convinced that Maine’s system is as good as it can be,” Hanson said.
Goorhuis added that while he thinks Maine has made progress on reproductive autonomy, it will be important to watch what could happen at the federal level and whether there will be repercussions here in Maine.
Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, and Arthur Phillips, the economic policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, both said they are working on an omnibus bill to grow the essential care and support workforce and close gaps in care.
Maurer said this bill will include a pay raise for Mainers caring for older adults and people with intellectual and physical disabilities; an effort to study gaps in care; the use of technology to monitor how people are getting care; and the creation of a universal worker credential.
Phillips said he hopes lawmakers will pursue reimbursement for wages at 140 percent of minimum wage. A report he published this summer estimated that the state needs an additional 2,300 full-time care workers, and called for the Medicaid reimbursement rate for direct care to be increased.
Maurer said Area Agencies on Aging are “overburdened” with demand for services and at least three have waitlists for Meals on Wheels. She is pushing for a bill that would increase funding for these agencies and the services they provide.
John Brautigam, with Legal Services for Maine Elders, said his organization is focused on making sure the Medicare Savings Program expansion is implemented as intended.
He’s following consumer protection initiatives, including those relating to medical debt collection, and supports the proposed regulations for assisted housing programs, which will go to lawmakers this session.
Brautigam said he’s also advocating for legislation that will protect older Mainers’ housing, adequate funding for civil legal service providers and possible steps to restructure the probate court system to bring it in line with the state’s other courts.
Jeffrey Austin, vice president of government affairs for the Maine Hospital Association, said he’s focused on protecting the federal 340B program, which permits eligible providers, such as nonprofit hospitals and federally qualified health centers, to purchase certain drugs at a discount.
Austin said this program is crucial for serving certain populations, including the uninsured, but the pharmaceutical industry has been trying to “erode” the program. Maine hospitals lost roughly $75 million last year due to challenges to the program, he said.
Katie Fullam Harris, chief government affairs officer for MaineHealth, also highlighted protecting 340B. She said that although it’s a federal program, there are some steps Maine could take to protect it at a local level, as other states have done.
Both Austin and Harris said there is more work to be done on providing behavioral health services for children so they aren’t stuck in hospital emergency rooms or psychiatric units. Harris said there will potentially be multiple bills that aim to increase in-home support systems and create more residential capacity.
Austin said there’s a second aspect of Mainers getting stuck in hospitals: older adults with nowhere to be discharged. Improving the long-term care eligibility process will make this more effective. For example, there’s currently a mileage limit on how far away someone can be placed in long-term care, but that’s no longer realistic due to nursing home closures, he said.
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from the Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.
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