AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci, addressing close to 400 business, social and political leaders at a Maine Development Foundation forum, took a greatest hits approach Thursday rather than offer a new composition.

Eight months into his first term as Maine’s chief executive, the Bangor Democrat devoted equal emphasis to describing the early accomplishments of his administration and listing his upcoming challenges.

Baldacci recounted successes in winning passage of major budget-balancing legislation, enactment of an overhaul of the state’s health care system and voter approval of a $60 million bond package in June that he said was designed to spur the economy.

The next steps to better Maine, he suggested, would be approval of additional state borrowing, adoption of a phased-in increase of state aid to local schools as a way to curb property tax hikes and defeat of a referendum proposal to authorize an Indian gambling casino.

The meeting at the Augusta Civic Center marked the 25th anniversary of the Maine Development Foundation, a public-private partnership that was created in 1978 as a private nonprofit corporation to promote Maine’s economy.

Receiving the organization’s 2003 Kenneth M. Curtis Leadership Maine award was Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe, a Portland Democrat who formerly served as speaker of the Maine House of Representatives.

Sounding a familiar theme with well-practiced language, Baldacci said on issues ranging from health care to economic development that progress has begun but will take more time to pay off fully.

The governor also reiterated his call for consolidation or regional restructuring of public sector units around the state.

“We can’t afford all of the government or all of the different levels,” he said in his remarks.

Baldacci attributed much of the accomplishments during his first legislative session as governor to cooperation among lawmakers and others of various political persuasions.

Issues demanding attention, he said, had been “too critical for us to splinter off into the partisan divide.”

The Maine Development Foundation says its 300 members represent businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, municipalities and government agencies throughout the state.

AP-ES-09-04-03 1456EDT