SUN JOURNAL • April 16, 2021
Anti-business politicians in the Maine Legislature are at it again, proposing laws to regulate faraway companies that, if applied to Maine’s own industries, would be devastating. Their latest idea is to make it illegal to raise the price of any prescription drug unless a nonprofit institute in Boston judges that there was “new clinical evidence to support the price increase.” Lumber prices have risen 130% since mid-April of 2020. Why hasn’t Maine’s Legislature banned price increases on forestry products? Or let’s make it illegal for lobstermen to raise prices. The most troubling aspect of the Legislature’s price control proposal is that it demonstrates a stunning lack of business knowledge. ~ William Smith, Pioneer Institute, Boston