AUGUSTA (AP) – Still something of a handicapper’s headache, the likelihood of another special legislative session may be increasing.

Ranking Democratic and Republican legislators have been talking and so too to them has been Gov. John Baldacci.

Under fire for not taking more expansive action on tax relief, top state politicians have been discussing what they might be able to agree on in terms of new state borrowing initiatives.

Baldacci spelled out his inclination Monday.

In remarks prepared for a luncheon attended by corporate leaders interested in land conservation, the governor restated his desire to replenish the Land for Maine’s Future program. But he also indicated he still hoped for additional borrowing.

“As I said during my campaign for governor, we have done great work in conservation as a state and we need to do more. I have pledged to ask the Legislature and Maine voters to approve an additional $100 million to the Land for Maine’s Future program,” he said in his prepared remarks for the Corporate Conservation Council of Maine meeting.

“Given our state’s difficult finances, this is going to take a tremendous amount of work – but we are up to it.”

Baldacci’s prepared remarks had him in referendum campaign mode, with a tone of chief executive determination. His referendum record to date has been mixed.

“You know that the Maine Legislature adjourned this spring without taking action on my bond package. Along with a land bond, there are transportation and environmental bonds needed.

“I have initiated conversations with the leaders of both parties in the Legislature during the past two weeks to press for an agreement on a package of bonds that will include land, transportation and environmental needs,” Baldacci said.

The governor said he was ready to summon lawmakers back to the capital this summer “as soon as a consensus is reached.”

House and Senate majorities of two-thirds are needed to put borrowing proposals before state voters. That means majority Democrats, even if united, would need some support from Republicans, many of whom have expressed reservations about the amount of contemplated new bonding.

Touching specifically on state conservation funding through the Land for Maine’s Future program, Baldacci noted that “the funds voted by the people of Maine in 1999 have all been committed – and to truly wonderful projects throughout the state.

“Since its inception, there have been 120 LMF projects completed, hundreds of thousands of acres of land spread through every Maine county. They provide recreational access for our citizens and visitors; they protect our wildlife and they preserve the best that is Maine.

“It makes good fiscal sense to fund this work. While we typically point to the amount of federal matching funds a transportation bond can attract, few realize that the 1999 land bond attracted three dollars of private and federal match for every single LMF dollar committed,” Baldacci said.

State Treasurer Dale McCormick said Monday three rating agencies have assigned their highest rating to $190 million in general obligation tax anticipation notes.

McCormick said so-called TANs are being issued to boost the General Fund’s cash flow in fiscal 2005, which begins July 1.

“The state’s fiscal condition is improving, McCormick said in a statement. “This year’s tax anticipation note is $85 million less than last year,” she said.

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