Proponents of a $60 million highway bond to fund road and bridge projects statewide are expected to do some heavy lobbying between now and when the Legislature comes back to work on a compromise that would freeze the gas tax in exchange for bonding approval.
The compromise passed the Senate by one vote Friday night, but has yet to come before the House, which defeated the original bond proposal 82-63 late last week.
The Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on May 22.
Republicans in the House and Senate have so far stayed together as a caucus and largely voted against the bond package, saying they had an agreement with Democratic leadership that no bonds would be passed this session.
“This isn’t about roads, this is about trust,” said Rep. David Bowles, the Republican leader in the House. He said a deal was struck in return for Republican support of the supplemental budget, and that deal needed to be honored.
That deal has put Republicans in the somewhat uncomfortable position of going against a transportation lobby they usually support.
Rep. Stan Moody, D-Manchester, who supports the bonds, said the reference to trust was misplaced.
“I’ve tried to keep faith with the people who put me here,” Moody said, and they want their roads repaired. “Walking in lockstep behind any political leader is not what I call keeping trust with your constituency.”
Rep. Ed Mazurek, D-Rockland, a member of the Transportation Committee, said, “The only losers are the citizens of Maine. They’re the ones that are going to be driving on this terrible road system.”
Sen. Christine Savage of Knox County and Sen. Mary Andrews of York County were the only two Republicans to vote for the bonds in the Senate; a handful of Republicans went back and forth in the House last week.
Savage, a 10-year member of the Transportation Committee, said the issue for her is road safety and she was never part of the quid-pro-quo with leadership.
Most Democratic party leaders and members of the Appropriations Committee – except for Sen. John Martin of Aroostook County – have stuck to that deal. But, Sen. Ken Gagnon, D-Kennebec County, the assistant majority leader, broke ranks and proposed the compromise Friday night. With his support, the bond passed the Senate 18-17.
Under the compromise, the tax on gasoline, which automatically goes up with the consumer price index every July 1, would be put on hold for this year. Gagnon said that’s worth about one penny a gallon or $7.8 million that drivers could save.
In exchange, legislators would agree to float a $60 million GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bond that allows states to bond in anticipation of future federal funds. The high-end estimate of interest on that bond is $24 million.
The bond money would be used to help fill a shortage in the state transportation budget that has forced more than 100 road and bridge projects off the work list for now.
“We’ll do the best we can,” said Gagnon in support of his proposal. “We’ll take care of the roads as best we can and draw down those federal funds as quickly as we can. And, try to save consumers a little bit at the pumps.”
Sen. Richard Nass, R-York County, who sits on the Appropriations Committee and was part of the deal with leadership, said the issue was fiscal responsibility.
“We still would be borrowing against future revenues,” he said of Gagnon’s proposed compromise. “Why would we want to use that stream of revenue now?” when GARVEE bonds are supposed to be used for emergencies. The only GARVEE bond the state has floated was for $48 million to fix the failing Waldo-Hancock bridge.
Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Hancock County, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, responded to Nass, saying he was trying not to sound angry.
“For those of you who think we’re not in an emergency situation presently and thus we don’t need to borrow, I can’t tell you strongly enough how mistaken you are. When the first highway fatality is blamed on bad roads, on poor road conditions, we’re in an emergency,” Damon said, and that is just a matter of time.
Damon and his committee co-chairman, Rep. Boyd Marley, D-Portland, sent out letters to officials in some of the 112 communities where road and bridge projects have been put off because of the budget shortage. Those letters went out April 18 in anticipation of the bond vote.
Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Hancock County, said his community got one of those letters and he knows there’s a lot of local concern over bad roads. Still he’s going to honor the agreement worked out by leadership and the Appropriations Committee.
“The Republican position has always been that major capital projects are the first priority for the use of bond proceeds, particularly roads and bridges,” he said. “Democrats have resisted that and used bonding capacity for program expenses.”
“Now, all of a sudden, in an election year, they’ve discovered there’s a long list of delayed projects that need attention,” Rosen said. “I think the voters want us to prudently manage the budget.”
Sen. Martin put the Republican’s plight succinctly.
“The sand and gravel crowd is usually supported by Republicans. What a turn of events…The very people who benefit from that crowd are voting against this,” Martin said.
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