A natural reaction of frustrated taxpayers to bonds, like those on November's ballot, is to say no more money, not until you State House slackers learn to live like the rest of us.

Admittedly, the Legislature hasn't done much lately for taxpayers to feel fatter in the wallet. School consolidation is years from realizing real savings, and the $10.1 million now being trimmed by Appropriations will probably be felt like the breeze from a butterfly's wings inside a $6 billion state budget.

But lawmakers won't experience epiphanies if the bonds - Questions 2,3 and 4 - are rejected. Instead, several worthy endeavors will feel the wrath. The trio of bonds will earmark $55 million for economic development, $43.5 million for higher education and $35.5 million for conservation and public projects, respectively.

We urge yes votes on Questions 2, 3 and 4.

Question 2, the $55 million economic development bond, allocates $50 million through the Maine Technology Institute for competitive grants targeting emerging technologies, such as precision manufacturing, marine sciences, forestry/agriculture, biotechnology, composites, etc.

Maine cannot afford to have its economic future dictated to it, and must direct investment into areas primed for growth. Making funds available for competitive grants, with an eye toward eligibility for further matching funds, appears an ambitious, yet sensible, strategy to prod development.

That said, taxpayers must feel this money is well-distributed. Maine's economic development programs have been criticized for lack of accountability; though officials now seem to have gotten that message, it would behoove them to ensure the disbursement of these funds is monitored - and tightly audited.

Question 3 would allocate $43.5 million into Maine's institutions of higher education for brick-and-mortar improvements. In this, voters should have no quibble. The community college system is thankfully bursting at its seams, while all university facilities across Maine have facility needs.

Locally, funds from this bond are targeted to support renovations and expansions at L-A College in Lewiston, and $1.4 million in renovations at Central Maine Community College in Auburn.

Question 4, though the smallest of the bond proposals, has the widest reach. It authorizes borrowing $35.5 million for a variety of conservation and community enhancement projects, notable among them $5 million for riverfront redevelopment, a proposal spearheaded by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston.

The laudable, but chronically underfunded, Land for Maine's Future program would receive an injection of $17 million from this bond. For two decades, LMF has made the most of its allocations, using its intermittent funding to leverage more than $100 million of other dollars for public conservation.

The bond's other targets - working waterfront protection, public infrastructure projects, parks and historic sites, and agricultural water sources - all have merit.

In June, voters approved $113 million in bond funds for Maine's pressing, present need: improving transportation infrastructure. On Nov. 6, voters should take the next step: investing in Maine's future.