Baldacci: Parties must unite in face of base crisis

AUGUSTA – Gov. John E. Baldacci called upon Democrats and Republicans at the State House to put aside their differences over remaining legislative issues Tuesday and unite to oppose the potential loss of 12,000 jobs as the result of proposed military base closures in Maine.

As he met with thousands of workers Monday at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Baldacci said he was reminded of the early days of his administration when he faced displaced papermakers at the Great Northern Paper Co. in Millinocket which had recently filed for bankruptcy.

“Just seeing the tears in their eyes and hearing the emotion in their voices, I said to myself, ‘John, this is your most important job'” said the governor. “I’ve got to focus on that and get other people to focus on that and get them to come together, Maine people cannot be divided and [lawmakers] cannot be partisan.”

The overwhelming consequences of losing, directly and indirectly, more than 1 percent of the state’s work force has prompted Baldacci to make mounting an effective campaign against the base closures his top priority for the next four months. Other issues, such as his $197 million bond proposal, and the soon-to-be-released Part 2 budget bill remain important, but pale by comparison to the massive implications of Friday’s announcement by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Minority Republicans and Democrats have been sparring since March when Democrats passed a $5.7 billion state budget on the strength of a partisan majority vote. Republicans accused Democrats of using their slightly superior numbers to avoid making responsible spending cuts. Democrats countered Republicans had no alternative and wanted simply to hold the minority party responsible for the difficult cuts needed to avoid the $450 million budget-balancing loan.

Republicans organized to help launch a people’s veto of the budget’s borrowing component. Democrats cried foul and accused the GOP of staging an end run around the Legislature to win at the ballot box what they couldn’t achieve in the House and Senate. Efforts to resolve outstanding issues between the parties in the coming budget talks have been cautiously offered by both sides in recent days.

Baldacci said Tuesday a step back from the partisan lines in the sand might be well advised and offered to help end the partisan squabbles in any way he could.

“My only word to them is: Do this for the state,” he said. “Come together, work together. Make the sacrifices and do the work that’s necessary. Right now, people in Maine don’t want to hear partisan bickering. They don’t want to hear back-biting. They don’t want ‘gotcha’ politics. They want leadership at this critical moment.”

The four major Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate couldn’t agree more with the governor Tuesday. Still, they couldn’t help but add their thoughts on the implications of the base closures that will likely become fodder in partisan debates during the remaining weeks of the session.

Senate Republican leader Paul Davis of Sangerville and House Republican leader David Bowles of Sanford said they too agreed with the governor’s emphasis on fighting for Maine jobs. But both added the Legislature would have to focus on the remaining budget and bond issues and especially the implication of losing sales tax and income tax revenues from the potential base closings.

“We are going to start seeing an immediate revenue impact and we will immediately see a reduction in revenues which should make us particularly mindful of the fact that the revenue projections on which the budget was based are probably going to be overstated and so we’re going to have to consider whether we should be addressing that now as opposed to next January when we could be in a crunch,” Bowles said.

House Speaker John Richardson, D-Brunswick and Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, also encouraged the governor’s call for bipartisanship. If Democrats are reluctant to acquiesce to GOP demands for spending cuts, they are equally determined to pass the governor’s bond package, which they maintain will be a job creator for the state. Bond proposals need Republican votes to earn the two-thirds majority support required to place the borrowing plan on the ballot. Republicans have thus far remained opposed to a bond package as large as the one offered by the governor.

“We have the potential of losing 12,000 jobs and the Margaret Chase Smith Center indicated the governor’s bond package would create 8,000 jobs,” Richardson said. “We need to stop playing politics with this bond proposal and come together as statesmen and ask, ‘What is the best thing to do for Maine?’ We need to stop considering the push-pull effect of the indebtedness and look at this more like an investment. We need to join hands, stop the political rhetoric and create as many jobs through the bonds as possible.”