Leader of the pack: House Speaker Ryan Fecteau sets an example for young Democrats

By most measures, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau had a strong session.

His commission to remove barriers to affordable housing and encourage diversity is already at work. He helped steer state money toward the state’s underfunded vocational-technical programs – something he observed first-hand as a student representative on the Biddeford School Board.

Fecteau helped provide full funding for state aid programs to schools and municipalities – the first time that’s happened – as the Legislature and fellow Democrats distributed nearly $1 billion in surplus from an unexpectedly strong state economy and another $1 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

But it wasn’t all bread and roses. As chair of the Legislative Council, he presided over stormy meetings where pandemic restrictions were hotly debated. He disciplined half a dozen Republicans and one Libertarian who defied mask mandates at the Statehouse.

And he occasionally acted as mediator between Senate President Troy Jackson and Gov. Janet Mills, who clashed repeatedly.

And he did all this before turning 30.

In the meteoric way of House leadership careers, Fecteau was elected just past the minimum age of 21, chaired the Labor Committee in his second term, was chosen assistant leader in his third, and became speaker in his fourth. As of 2022, when term limits kick in, he’ll be out of a job.

Along the way, he registered many firsts – the first openly gay speaker, the first to grow up in public housing, and the first Franco-American to lead the House since John Martin did so at age 31 in 1974 – in his fifth House term. Martin, now 81, whom Fecteau considers a mentor, is also serving his fourth consecutive House term, among 23 overall.  

In an interview at a downtown Biddeford cafe-bookstore, Fecteau discussed his legislative work, his home towns – he lived across the river in Saco until middle school – and what the future might hold for young Democrats like himself, who have become increasingly numerous, especially in the House.

Activist student

Fecteau’s political involvement began early. He applied to become the Biddeford School Board student member and was chosen by the superintendent. He served both his junior and senior years in the non-voting position, at a crucial moment for the city schools.

Urged on by Mayor and former legislator Joanne Twomey, and Councilor Susan Deschambault, now a state senator, the city put a $34 million bond issue on the ballot to renovate its nearly 60-year-old high school.

It was considered daring; the entire bond would be locally funded since the project wasn’t high enough on the state construction list. But Fecteau and other student leaders thought something had to be done.

“There were air quality problems, people were convinced we had mold, and almost everything was out of date,” he said. The superintendent was cautious, but Fecteau decided it was time to move ahead.

“We were out there campaigning every day, with buttons and signs, and we went door-to-door,” he said.

It worked; in November 2009, the bond passed with 66 percent of the vote.

That fall, Fecteau departed for undergraduate work at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Earlier, his neighbor, Rep. Paulette Beaudoin, who was known by the French “meme,” had invited him to shadow her at the Statehouse. The experience percolated.

At college, Fecteau discovered that the administration had “a resistance to student groups,” and that piqued his organizing instincts. Up to this point, Fecteau was “a Republican in ideology,” influenced by his grandmother, “a party member all her life.”

Then, “I discovered I was gay,” he said, and soon “I realized this wasn’t the party for me.” He also saw that many peers going to college “had written Maine off.” They “kept telling me ‘I can’t go back to Maine,’ that “possibilities existed in Boston, and California, and every other state, but not back home.”

Fecteau disagreed, and by the time he returned he’d already filed to run for Beaudoin’s term-limited seat. No other candidates stayed in the race.

Balancing local control

At the Affordable Housing Commission’s first meeting in early August – co-chaired by Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop – Fecteau heard about how even well-intentioned land use regulations can drive up the price of housing and decrease availability.

“In Scarborough,” – a particularly fast-growing town – “there’s a set number of building permits, and that’s it,” he said. In Durham, and many other towns, large lot sizes prevent construction “of almost anything except a three-bedroom house” because of land costs.

Fecteau doesn’t minimize the challenges of crafting regulations for local ordinances “in a state that lives by local control,” but he thinks there can be a balance. He said he’s encouraged by a current debate over an affordable housing project in Cape Elizabeth – a town with very few apartments or low-income residents – and thinks it’s moving in the right direction.

Asked about President Joe Biden’s work to date, Fecteau brought up student loan debt – a personal concern. Until another extension was granted for a repayment moratorium beyond Oct. 1, he was trying to figure out how to come up with $700 a month in his personal budget; he’s hoping for a more permanent proposal soon from the administration.

Making payments before the pandemic “was a real struggle,” Fecteau said. “It’s crazy. Interest is accruing from the day you get the loan, all through the time you’re in school.”

The level of infrastructure investment, state and federal, has his enthusiastic support. He recalls that, in the previous Legislature, “We thought it was amazing we got Republicans to agree to a $15 million broadband bond.”

Two years later, “We have $150 million in the budget and another $100 million from the federal government.” Rural Mainers “will finally be connected,” he said.

Fecteau hasn’t seriously studied his options after his term expires. Like many legislators, he has a second job, working for Catalyst, a Washington, D.C., data firm.

He’s taking a look at the Biddeford Senate seat – Deschambault is term-limited, too – but hasn’t decided.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 21,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to take a wider view of the world.”

Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, commentator, reporter, and author since 1984. His latest book is “First Franco: Albert Beliveau in Law, Politics and Love.” Visit  douglasrooks.weebly.com/#/ or e-mail [email protected].