Maine governor outlines $79-milion bond package for transportation

Maine Gov. John Baldacci provided the details of a $79-million bond proposal that includes money to save northern Maine's last major rail line and to fund transportation projects across the state, the Bangor Daily News reports. Pitching the bond package as a type of stimulus measure, Baldacci said the additional state borrowing would create or protect thousands of jobs in the state while investing in much-needed highway and infrastructure projects.

"We
can’t sit around and wait for the economy to improve," Baldacci said during a
news conference in his office. "We have to do our part, and these projects are
sorely needed to put people back to work."

The
package includes $31 million for highway or road projects, $9 million for port
or harbor improvements and $17 million for environmental and energy projects.

The
proposal also includes $17 million to purchase roughly 240 miles of rail lines
between Millinocket and Madawaska from the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic
Railway. The financially troubled railroad is seeking federal approval to
abandon the lines later this year.

If
approved by the Legislature, the $79 million in bonds will go to the voters
this June, joining three other bond proposals already appearing on ballot totaling
nearly $69 million. But first, the Baldacci administration will have to
convince some lawmakers – many seated across the political aisle – who are
leery of adding to the state’s debt load during a recession.

"It
doesn’t reflect the long-range planning regarding how we want to leave the
state for the next governor and the next Legislature," said Rep. Sawin Millet,
a Waterford Republican and a member of the budget-writing Appropriations and
Financial Affairs Committee.

The
governor’s announcement came roughly a week after the Legislature’s Democratic
leadership announced a $99 million bond proposal focused on similar
initiatives. It also coincided with mixed news on Maine’s financial situation
and the state of the economy.

Tax
revenues flowing into the state’s coffers were up slightly over projections,
allowing financial officials to trim the estimated budget hole from $438
million to roughly $360 million. Yet Maine’s unemployment rate inched higher,
rising from 8.1 percent in December to 8.2 percent in January, according to
preliminary figures released March 10. And on March 9, one of the country’s
major credit rating agencies – Standard and Poor’s – gave Maine a negative
outlook based on the state’s budget woes. S&P changed Maine’s outlook from "AA-stable"
to "AA-negative," a potential first step toward a lower credit rating.

"What
it says to the market is there are some problems here and we have concerns,"
said Karl Jacob, senior director of S&P’s state and local government group.
"If they are not addressed, the rating could be lowered."

Jacob
stressed that the negative outlook has little to do with Maine’s debt load,
which is low compared with other states. Instead, the revision was prompted by
the structural financial imbalance contributing to the state’s budget hole and
the fact that Maine depleted its reserve, or "Rainy Day Fund," last year to
plug an earlier hole. But a lower rating could affect the interest rates
attached to bonds, increasing the payoff costs.

Asked
about the effects of additional bonds on the state’s rating, Nicole Johnson, an
analyst with Moody’s public finance group, said, "It usually takes a pretty
significant event to affect a bond rating." Unlike other states, Maine does not
issue bonds to cover deficits, a practice that can affect bond ratings, Johnson
said.

The
administration estimates that the bonds will create nearly 1,900 jobs,
including 830 among highway crews, nearly 100 to build a new deep-water pier in
Portland and more than 300 from energy efficiency initiatives in the
manufacturing sector.