Highway budget focus in Augusta Baldacci lauds voters for approving bond

AUGUSTA – Now that Maine voters have overwhelmingly approved a $113 million transportation bond issue, the Legislature is focusing on a two-year Highway Fund budget that fulfills more immediate needs on the state’s network of roads, bridges and other people- and freight-moving facilities.

Gov. John Baldacci and highway funding advocates were grateful for the voters’ strong approval of the long-term borrowing package Tuesday. With unofficial returns gathered by the Bangor Daily News from 622 of Maine’s 624 precincts, the bond package drew nearly 72 percent of the vote.

“These are wise and timely expenditures for Maine’s future, improving our way of life and economy,” Baldacci said, referring to the transportation bonds and $18.3 million in bonds for sewage-treatment and drinking water projects, which won voter approval with 64 percent voting yes.

With the bonds approved, attention shifted in the State House to the Highway Fund budget, which came up in the Senate on Wednesday but then was tabled.

The nearly $1.2 billion transportation spending package for the two-year period starting July 1 is separate from the state’s two-year, $6.3 billion General Fund budget, which covers other nontransportation expenses and was signed into law last week.

The highway budget comes up as some lawmakers and advocacy groups worry that transportation revenues are losing pace with needs and are expected to decline over time. What is viewed by many as a funding crisis is in large part because motorists are using more fuel-efficient vehicles. That cuts into fuel tax revenues, a staple of highway funding.

Hoping to address highway funding needs, the proposed two-year budget includes a provision for Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles, or GARVEE, bonds, which the state could issue in anticipation of expected federal transportation funds. At least 22 states have issued GARVEE bonds, according to officials in New Jersey, one state that has issued them.

Legislation separate from the budget, still being worked on in the Transportation Committee, also addresses longer-term funding needs.

The bill seeks to phase in a shift of some General Fund revenues to transportation, increasing gradually to a biennial total of more than $100 million within a decade. The legislation also calls for increases in registration and title fees, which supporters say are now below the New England average, as well as higher vanity and specialty license fees.

In addition, the bill seeks to shift larger shares of funding for state police from the Highway Fund to General Fund.

The bill sets goals to guide transportation investment, such as reconstruction of 734 miles of deficient arterial and major collector highways by 2027.