AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci proposed a $397 million bond package Monday that would go before Maine voters in June and November. The bulk of the funds are slated for transportation, research and development, conservation and the environment, and higher education, and seen as investments for the state’s future, Baldacci said.

Two Androscoggin County senators hope the funds the governor announced with his bond package Monday will be included with two bonds they have proposed to clean up and develop Maine’s rivers.

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, is backing a $25 million bond that aims to preserve and develop riverfront communities. Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, is backing a $40 million bond to prevent sewage runoff into the rivers. Both will be heard in front of the Appropriations Committee next week.

In Baldacci’s package, the state would foot $5 million for rivers, with equal matching funds. Also, the state would foot $20 million for wastewater treatment plant construction grants, with $58 million matching.

In a packed news conference Monday, Baldacci announced the general breakdown:

• $131 million for transportation

• $131 million for research and development, and business growth

• $97.4 million for conservation, and environment and quality places

• $33 million for higher education.

The money would be distributed over three years and paid back in 10.

“Our colleges are bursting at the seams,” Baldacci said during his remarks. “My plan will invest in the lab space and classrooms we need to meet the demands of a growing number of students, and of an economy that seeks a highly skilled work force.”

He said these funds will also create jobs and fix roads.

“My plan is aggressive, but also affordable,” he said.

Transportation bonds would go before voters in June, Baldacci said, and the rest voted on in November. But first, lawmakers in both houses need to approve the bond issues by at least two-thirds margins before going to voters.

Baldacci said it has been three years since the state has gotten any bond money. This year, $352 million in bonds will retire.

Rotundo said Monday that she supported the governor’s plan. It “helps preserve a quality of life that makes Maine unique,” she said. “They all address different pieces of a strong economy.”

Senate Republicans disagreed with the governor’s priorities, according to a statement from the minority office. It cited Department of Transportation data that at least $150 million was needed to fix the roads.

“The governor has called for the Legislature to negotiate a comprehensive bond package, which would leave Maine’s unsafe infrastructure vulnerable to deal making and politicking,” according to the statement.

Baldacci said during the news conference that he was sure that some in the Legislature would like more money toward different items, but “there’s only one cash register, and it’s in my office. We’ve got to get this passed, and out to the voters.”

Rotundo said the river bond issue is important because Maine has so much at stake in its natural resources. Years ago, people avoided the Androscoggin River because of the stench, but now it is an important economic center, she said.

“Half of the population lives in a community on a river,” she said.

Rotundo’s river bond bill would put funds toward revitalizing waterfront downtown communities.

“With clean rivers we can attract people from all over the country to fish,” she said. “We can simultaneously maintain the quality of life with increased economic development if we use the rivers wisely.”

L-A is an example of a community that is already starting to thrive because of the river, she said, with a Hilton and riverfront condominiums built.

With his proposed bond bill, Nutting said Monday that the funds would go into an account for municipalities to fix their sewage systems. The problem occurs every time there is heavy rain, he said. This ends up affecting the tourism and lobstering industries.

He cited a Department of Environmental Protection study that found Lewiston-Auburn has the third most sewage runoff, with hundreds of millions of gallons per year. The first and second places are held by Portland and Bangor-Brewer.

L-A city councils, along with surrounding communities, have had the funds to fix this, but instead put the money toward “extra parking garages, city offices and coliseums, rather than cleaning up pollution,” Nutting said.

Baldacci also stressed the importance of natural resources to the state, and hopes with the combination of more job opportunities, it will draw people in.

“We have those special qualities that people thirst for,” he said. “They come looking for our small towns and rejuvenated cities, and for the open spaces and the abundant natural resources we have worked hard to protect.”

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