$20M Question 4 aims to boost jobs

Twenty million dollars is a significant amount of money, but there are other figures voters should consider when they determine whether Question 4 should be approved in the Nov. 8 statewide elections, according to supporters of the referendum question.

One of those figures is $44 million, the money Maine ostensibly would attract in matching funds from federal and private sources if Question 4 is approved. Another less exact figure, supporters have indicated, is the “thousands” of jobs that the state’s $20 million investment would help create.

Opponents of the referendum question, on the other hand, were hard to find. According to the state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, no one has filed with the state as a political action committee opposed to Question 4.

When the Legislature voted on the overall $83 million bond package in July, Lynn Bromley of South Portland was the only one of Maine’s 35 state senators to vote against the proposal, according to voting results listed on the state’s official Web site. In the state House of Representatives, only 14 out of 151 members opposed it.

Rep. Everett McLeod of Lee said Wednesday that he voted against the overall bond package because he was concerned about the total price tag.

“I’m a hard sell on bonds in good times,” he said. “Right now, we’re not looking at good times in the state of Maine.”

McLeod said, however, he supports approval of Question 4.

“I am in favor of creating jobs in the state of Maine,” he said. “We need to protect those in existence and create more if we can.”

Last week, at a Bangor press conference promoting the passage of Question 4, Gov. John Baldacci said that within the past five years, the state has invested $44 million in similar programs, drawing an additional $275 million to Maine in federal and private matching funds. This kind of investment has resulted in roughly 1,200 jobs being created in Maine and will help create more jobs if Question 4 is approved, he said.

Baldacci and other state economic development officials were out of Maine this week on a weeklong trade mission to France.

Janet Yancey-Wrona, director of Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of Innovation, said Monday that state bond money can be used only to help leverage matching funds from federal and private sources. For laboratories and research institutions, state investment in scientific equipment, building or infrastructure improvements helps attract researchers who in turn help draw federal research and development funds to Maine, she said.

Because no new state bonds have been authorized in Maine over the past few years, the state needs to make such investments to more effectively compete for federal and private research dollars, according to Yancey-Wrona.

“That support has fallen,” she said of the state’s investment. “We struggle to keep up on a national level.”

Two funds administered by DECD would receive a total of $12 million if Question 4 is approved. Of that money, $8 million would go to the Maine Biomedical Research Fund and $4 million to the Marine Infrastructure and Technology Fund.

Yancey-Wrona said there are only five entities in Maine allowed to apply to the biomedical research fund. Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and The Jackson Laboratory, two Bar Harbor institutions that have grown significantly in recent years, are two of them. The Foundation for Blood Research and Maine Medical Center Research Institute, both in Scarborough, and University of New England in the Portland area are the other eligible organizations.

The less-restrictive Marine Infrastructure and Technology Fund is open to private institutions, universities and state-run laboratories that conduct marine-related research, according to Yancey-Wrona.

Five million dollars would go toward the state’s higher-learning system. University of Maine would receive $2 million for its Laboratory for Surface Science Technology and $1 million to renovate Camden Hall on its Bangor campus for a graduate school in biomedical science. Another $2 million would go toward improvements at the career center at University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

The UM laboratory, also known as LASST, was founded in 1980 to further research in the broad area of surfaces and interfaces, thin films, microelectronic devices and sensor technology, according to a statement on the University of Maine Web site. The $2 million the lab would receive would be invested in “state-of-the-art microfabrication and nanotechnology equipment” for research and development activities, the statement indicated.

Three other entities each would receive $1 million. The Small Enterprise Growth Board would use the money to make equity investments in small Maine companies with high-growth potential. Maine State Cultural Affairs Council would use its share of the bond money and an anticipated $3 million in matching funds for capital improvements to libraries, museums, historical buildings and arts facilities. And Maine Department of Education would use its share to help develop the Sunrise Business and Career Center in Jonesboro.

Question 4:

“Do you favor a $20,000,000 bond issue to stimulate economic growth and job creation through investments in the Maine economy in anticipation of approximately $44,000,000 in federal and private funds for medical research and development; marine research and development; equity investments in small Maine companies with potential for high growth; the New Century Community Program for capital improvements to cultural resources; the renovation of Camden Hall on the University of Maine Bangor campus for a graduate school for biomedical science; the development of the Laboratory for Surface Science Technology; capital costs and equipment for the career center facility at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College; and the development of the Sunrise Business and Career Center in the Town of Jonesboro?”