GOP stands firm against bonds session

AUGUSTA – Statements from Democratic leaders supporting the governor’s call for a special legislative session on a $55 million bond proposal were rebuffed Tuesday by State House Republicans who are inclined to consider only a very limited borrowing plan – if they consider one at all.

House GOP leader Joe Bruno of Raymond and Senate GOP leader Paul Davis of Sangerville said Democrats will have a long wait before they see Republicans return to the Capitol in the middle of the summer for a special session on the governor’s plan. Bruno said he was surveying his party’s 66 members in the House and that, thus far, most believe there’s “no need” for a special session and the rest are convinced $55 million is “just too high.”

“I would not be able to guarantee enough votes for a bond package from the replies I’m getting in our survey,” Bruno said.

That’s not good news for Gov. John Baldacci or majority Democrats in the Legislature. House and Senate Democratic leaders have stated they would agree to a special session on the $55 million borrowing plan providing the package receives a unanimous affirmative report from the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee and the necessary support from Republican leaders.

Baldacci plans to submit the new bond package to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee sometime next month. The plan is nearly half of what was proposed by Senate Democrats but still more than what Republicans were willing to approve earlier this year. According to the governor’s office, the new bond package would provide $30 million for the Land For Maine’s Future Program; $11.75 million targeted largely for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, but including about $2 million for port and ferry improvements; and a little more than $13 million for environmental upgrades with an emphasis on water quality improvements.

Borrowing proposals require two-thirds support in both the House and Senate to go out to referendum. Even if all 82 House Democrats and 18 Senate Democrats agreed on the shape of a bond package, they still would need the support of several Republicans to meet the supermajority threshold.

In April, Republicans said they would be willing “to talk” about a proposed $39 million bond package. Still, many also said they would be happier with something closer to $30 million than $40 million. During a Monday evening meeting of House Democrats in Augusta, lawmakers said they planned to hold incumbent GOP candidates seeking re-election responsible for the absence of a bond package on the November ballot if agreement cannot be reached.

House Democratic leader John Richardson, D-Brunswick, said Rep. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport and a member of the Appropriations Committee, likely would be under considerable pressure to approve the governor’s bonding plan for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge project in his district.

“But that bridge is already funded,” insisted Bruno on Tuesday. “The Department of Transportation said we already have the funding for it. I talked with the commissioner. The governor wants to replace some of the funding designated for the bridge that he used for something else. But the fact of the matter is, that project is already funded.”

“That’s not true,” countered Lee Umphrey, the governor’s communications director. “The proposal is a $10 million offset that the bridge took away from other projects. Without this money, those other projects will not happen.”

Bruno said some of the GOP lawmakers are also concerned over the future of the Land for Maine’s Future Program. But he has told them not to worry.

“From 1987 to 1999, there was a 12-year span where nothing happened [with the program],” he said. “All of a sudden from this year to next the whole LMF program’s going to fall apart? I don’t think so. That’s the kind of emotional rhetoric that the Democrats are best at.”

Contrary to Democratic assertions, Bruno also said lobbyists from the construction sector, who usually can be relied upon to campaign hard for transportation bonds like the $11.75 million proposal from the governor, are not overly concerned about skipping an election cycle.

“I’ve heard very little from the sand and gravel guys because there’s enough projects out there that they’re working on right now and that are funded for the year,” he said.

Davis said Democrats were “wasting their breath” expounding on the need for a special session dedicated to more borrowing at a time when “spending in Maine has been growing at more than twice the rate of inflation.” His assertion was challenged by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Joe Brannigan, D-Portland, who maintained a bond package is needed now since state spending already has been cut back sharply.

“The current biennial budget is increasing by less than 2 percent a year – below inflation, and not enough to maintain vital state programs,” Brannigan said. “If we put off needed investments that are normally done through bond issues, it will make it even more difficult to pass a responsible budget next year.”

Davis rejected Brannigan’s assertion for urgency on a fall bond package.

“What is it that we ‘must’ do now that can’t be done in January when the new Legislature convenes?” Davis asked. “I just don’t understand what the hurry is.”