YES on Question 3

“Do you favor a $10 million bond issue to provide funding for the Adaptive Equipment Loan Program fund, which provides loans to individuals with disabilities to purchase adaptive equipment, and to small businesses to improve accessibility, and for improving accessibility and addressing related safety issues at the University of Maine System and at the State House?”

This is the sort of question that meets the test of whether to bond because it offers long-term capital improvements that will have direct benefits to the public. Voters can trust that this is $10 million well-spent.

The bond is broken into three pieces, with the majority, $6.5 million, going toward the University of Maine System. The money would improve safety at, for instance, Fogler Library at UMaine to better guard it against fire. The library is one of the most heavily used buildings on campus and houses a book collection worth millions — if it could be replaced. Yet its sprinkler system is inadequate and its shelving fails to meet fire codes. The bond is a basic investment in fire safety.

UMaine, which would also use funds in the bond to remove asbestos and upgrade elevators, is not the only campus helped, however. The University of Southern Maine would receive $1.7 million to make fire-safety improvements and increase access for the handicapped. Similar work would be financed through the bond at the universities in Farmington, Machias, Presque Isle and Fort Kent.

The second portion of the money, $2 million, would be used in Augusta at the State House to improve safety and provide better access. By making the seat of government more accessible to the handicapped and improving the sound system for the hard of hearing, Maine is including more of its citizens in the political process. This is a simple step toward fairness that should have been taken long ago.

The remaining money would go to the Finance Authority of Maine, which would administer a low-interest loan fund for adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, ramps and Braille signs. The fund has been operating since 1988, after the passage of a $5 million bond to provide individuals and small businesses with a way to help themselves and their customers and to meet disability laws. This year’s bond would add $1.5 million to the fund.

All of these projects need to be done. The bond request offers the quickest, most cost-effective way to get them completed. Questions 3 deserves the public’s support Nov. 4.