Pushing policy | Tarren Bragdon takes over as CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center
In 1996, just 11 days past his 21st birthday, Tarren Bragdon became the youngest person elected to the Maine House of Representatives when he was sworn in to represent District 119 in Bangor. Now, at 32, he's replacing Bill Becker as CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank in Portland that advocates free market public policies in health care, education and the economy.
But youth isn't the only thing Bragdon is bringing to the table: He's also carrying a two-pronged plan to strengthen the center's statewide and online presence.
Since becoming the nonprofit's second CEO in January, Bragdon has been working on boosting the MHPC's visibility through increased programming. He'll be increasing the number of functions — from book signings to conferences — MPHC hosts, and spreading the word about a monthly forum series in his hometown of Bangor called the "Maine Prosperity Luncheon," launched at the end of last year and modeled after the success of a similar Portland event. Bragdon says the MHPC's outreach efforts have widened the organization's audience and influence — the Democratic chair of the Senate's tax committee was present at one of the first Bangor luncheons. "[People] may disagree with our policy recommendations, but gaining credibility is really key with small businesses and individuals," he says.
Bragdon also will be putting his computer science degree from the University of Maine to good use, with plans to beef up the organization's website in the next two months by adding multimedia content, including audio and video clips from the organization's conferences and staff presentations. The organization also just debuted a new website, www.mainevotes.org, that tracks how legislators are voting.
The MHPC also is in the midst of developing the Maine Government Integrity Project, an online database of state contracts and grants that will allow the average citizen to see how the state spends its money — information that individuals would otherwise have to file requests and pay for. The website is set to go live in April and be updated quarterly. "With the recession and hard budget times, that kind of openness is really necessary," Bragdon says. "Household budgets are being squeezed, and people want to see the state being as frugal as they are."
Bragdon's policy focus primarily lies in health care reform. During his two terms as a House representative, he served on the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. He then went on to do policy research and analysis for Maine Senate President Richard Bennett, before joining the MHPC in 2002. He also testified in 2006 and 2007 on New York state health care legislation as a health policy analyst for The Empire Center for New York State Policy, an offshoot of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He was a member of the Health Action Team that in 2003 advised Gov. John Baldacci on the Dirigo initiative, and soon after became an early opponent of the health care reform plan.
Bragdon's move to CEO marks the end of his five-year tenure as the MHPC's director of health reform initiatives — but not the end of his interest in health care reform. Health care will become an increasingly important topic of conversation in Maine, Bragdon says, as Maine's population continues to age. The MHPC last year wrote model legislation for a health care reform initiative that would allow any insurance company licensed in New England to sell its plans in Maine, which inspired a lobby group to collect signatures to have the legislation put on the 2009 ballot. Bragdon believes this kind of free market reform is starting to catch on in Maine. "The rhetoric is changing, and I think we've been a part of that," he says.
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