Investment will attract $300 million in matching funds for Maine projects.

At the end of July, the Legislature passed with overwhelming bipartisan support a bond package that will use $83 million in state investments to leverage more than $300 million in matching federal funds. The goals of the package are to create jobs, stimulate Maine’s economy and preserve Maine’s natural landscape and heritage.

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I had the honor to work on this bond package and recommend it to the full Legislature. Although Democratic leadership wanted the package to be larger, to create more jobs and spur greater economic development, while Republican leadership wanted a smaller package that did not invest as much into new jobs or infrastructure building, we ended up with a package that will at least serve as a good start and address the projects that everyone agrees are most urgent.

The bond package we passed will send five separate questions to the voters this November, with each addressing one of the following categories: transportation, economic development, education, environment and The Land for Maine’s Future.

Some key benefits of the package include:

• $33.1 million to fund transportation projects, including road and bridge repairs, ferry upgrades and pedestrian and bike trails;

• $12 million to fund the popular “Land for Maine’s Future” program, which protects public access to and conservation of natural landscapes in Maine and will initiate a pilot program to protect the working waterfront;

• $20 million to fund economic development projects, including research and development funding for biomedical and marine resource firms, funding to establish the Lewiston-Auburn College Career Center and other career centers within the University of Maine System and in Washington County, and statewide venture capital funding for small businesses with growth potential;

• $9 million for higher education, including building renovations on Maine’s community and four-year college campuses; and

• $8.9 million for environmental projects, including $3.5 million for upgrades to public sewer and water systems statewide.

According to the state planning office, these projects will leverage more than $300 million in federal matching funds, and create more than 4,000 jobs in Maine.

I take issue with one particular legislator and his criticism of bonds and the positive benefits they have on our state. Rep. Scott Lansley, a Republican who represents Sabattus and Greene, printed a scathing column in this paper before the bond package came to a vote.

Rep. Lansley does not believe that bonds are good for Maine; most of the general public and almost the entire Legislature would beg to differ. Maine voters recognize that bonds are proven to create jobs, make necessary infrastructure improvements that save money down the road, and move Maine forward in research and development and education pursuits. A vote against bonds is a vote against all of these things; Rep. Lansley apparently does not believe that job creation and investing in local communities is the right direction for our state to take.

During the bond negotiations, I was encouraged to see many legislators from both sides of the aisle join us in the Appropriations Committee for the discussion. As we worked late into the night, many of our colleagues stayed right there with us, working to craft a package that would create the most jobs and encourage growth.

I never saw Rep. Lansley in the Appropriations Committee room participating in the bond discussions, and this is his first term as a legislator, so I’m not sure where he is getting his information from on the subject.

This November, voters in our community and other communities across the state will have the opportunity to support, as they have done so many times in the past, these worthy and effective programs.

This is a good beginning to what I believe will be a larger discussion on what we can do to create jobs, advance Maine’s standing nationally in business development and research, continue to lead nationally in creative initiatives in education and environmental policy, and build a more prosperous future for our state.

Rep. Margaret Craven, Lewiston, represents District 74.

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