Legislators get to work on a borrowing package.

AUGUSTA (AP) – Legislative leaders met on the eve of Thursday’s special session in hopes of nailing down an agreement on a bond package, which has eluded them in weeks of off-and-on discussions.

But with no deal in sight, leaders from both parties left the door open for further bargaining and said they remain committed to borrowing for badly needed public projects.

Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis said he was optimistic an agreement can be reached.

“I’ve got to think that when we leave here, we’ll have done the right thing and done the people’s business,” said the Sangerville Republican.

Senate President Beverly Daggett sounded a similar theme following a Wednesday-morning meeting to search for middle ground, and said an agreement might not come until Thursday, when lawmakers are scheduled to convene at 1 p.m.

“I think we are well aware of the importance of putting bonds on the ballot,” said the Augusta Democrat. “The investment in Maine’s infrastructure is absolutely a priority.”

Since before the mid-June close of the regular session, Democrats and Republicans have been unable to agree on a final bottom line for the borrowing package. The majority party has lined up behind a $93.8 million total and Republicans propose an $88.2 million sum.

The two sides are also at odds on the sizes of some components of the package, notably the transportation portion. Democrats want to earmark $60.8 million for highways, bridges, ferries, ports and other transportation projects, while the GOP seeks a higher bonding total of $62.5 million.

The bond package also includes environmental and educational projects.

Republicans say that although their bonding limit is $5.6 million smaller than the Democrats’, the GOP package would draw down $20 million more in matching money.

Republicans were trying to persuade the majority party to let the House and Senate vote separately on each of the elements of the bond package rather than on the entire package at once.

“The Democrats are using the all-or-nothing approach to garner the required two-thirds majority for projects that would have no hope of winning approval as stand-alone measures,” the House GOP Office said in a statement.

Daggett said Democrats believe that because the package was negotiated as a unified agreement, its pieces should not be voted on separately. She also said allowing separate votes would open the door to “cherry picking” by lawmakers for their favorite causes.

Legislative approval would send the bond issued to voters on Nov. 4.

Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who has been involved in talks all along, plans to address legislative Democrats Thursday morning and Republicans at noon, an hour before the session is scheduled to start.

“He’ll talk about the opportunity to bond now, with low interest rates, and the need for the bonds,” said the governor’s spokesman, Lee Umphrey.

Baldacci has expressed no interest in changing his proposal to boost Maine’s share of local school costs, the other major item on Thursday’s agenda.

His bill, which won a 10-3 endorsement last week of the Taxation Committee, will compete with a ballot proposal backed by the Maine Municipal Association seeking to boost the state’s share of public school funding to 55 percent.

Baldacci’s proposal calls for a phased-in approach and annual caps on increases in local school spending.

Portland Democratic lawmakers failed to persuade Baldacci earlier this week to agree to changes that would commit more money to the schools and get it to them faster.

Those proposals, and others advanced by Republicans, could surface during House and Senate votes Thursday.

AP-ES-08-20-03 1543EDT