AUGUSTA – State legislators Friday offered their support of efforts by community groups working to defend Maine’s military bases.

Dozens of lawmakers joined in a bipartisan display of unity at the State House. They praised local activists and pledged to make $100,000 available for the cause.

“We could not be prouder” of base proponents, said Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport.

House and Senate leaders also cited the backing being offered by Maine’s congressional delegation.

The Pentagon announced its list of proposed base closings and realignments on May 13.

The listings for Maine resulted from “an unfair decision made without the right amount of information,” said House Speaker John Richardson, D-Brunswick.

Pentagon recommendations call for closing the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on the New Hampshire border and a Defense Finance and Accounting Service center in northern Maine, as well as stripping aircraft and half of the military personnel from Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Hearings by the independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission are scheduled to begin next week. The commission will review the Pentagon’s recommendations and submit a final list to President Bush by Sept. 8. Bush and Congress can then accept or reject the list in its entirety.

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation issued a statement Friday lauding their allies in Augusta.

“This show of unified, bipartisan, bicameral support from the state Legislature and the governor will help to bolster our efforts in Congress and in the affected communities to fight the proposed base closings in Maine,” the statement said.

“Support from the state is necessary at all levels – from state and local government, community groups, and citizens – in order to send the strongest message possible to the BRAC commission about the value of Maine’s military facilities to national security and to our state.”

The administration of Gov. John Baldacci has cited estimates that closing the facilities in Kittery and Limestone and realigning the base in Brunswick would cost close to 12,000 jobs in Maine.