RESEARCH & DIVIDENDS

Gov. John Baldacci this week presented a bond package that is reasonable, plays to the state’s strengths and fulfills some of its many needs. The emphasis on research and development is well placed as are the requests for money to strengthen traditional industries while also growing new ones.

Yesterday, the governor unveiled his $197.35 million package, an appropriate amount considering the state is set to retire $197.5 million in bonds this year and did not send out a bond package last year. Some will argue that this is not a good time to take on more debt. However, Maine’s state debt per capita is 30 percent below the national average. Further, bond money creates jobs, which in turn boosts the economy.

Nearly $55 million of the requested money would go to research and development, a proven economic development tool. The university system, for example, has received a 4-to-1 return on the research money it has been provided by the state. In the last year, the university system created more than 850 jobs with those funds.

These research funds would be divided between natural resource-based industries, such as forestry, agriculture, marine research and aquaculture, and biomedical research, a promising area for growth. As other states have already figured out, turning research at universities, private laboratories and hospitals into marketable products and services is good economic development. This bond package will support more of this translational research.

As the Speaker of the House, John Richardson said: “The future of Maine’s economy lies in the innovation found within the minds of Maine’s entrepreneurs. But to turn their ideas into action, state government must provide them with resources.”

He’s right and this package provides much-needed resources.

The package also includes money for career training, including $1 million for a business and career center in Washington County, a region hit especially hard by job losses. There is also money for community revitalization programs through the creative economy and for building renovations at the state’s universities and community colleges.

To re-fund the Land for Maine’s Future Program, which is nearly out of money for land preservation projects, the governor has proposed $50 million in the bond package.

There should be no debate over the $38 million allocated for transportation projects, including $12 million for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, which is currently under construction. This money funds needed repairs and construction, while also creating jobs. The same is true of $16.5 million that would go to improving drinking water and wastewater disposal systems and other environmental projects.

While there is room for compromise, the governor’s intention of boosting the economy through greater investment in research and development should not be lost.