News
Legislature
to tackle bond package
By Elizabeth Prata
Augusta--Whether you want to call it a do-over or
just finishing up leftover business, the Caucuses
from both parties met separately in Special Session
Monday to negotiate a bond package that will be presented
to the citizens in November. The originally proposed
amount of more than $130 million was negotiated down
to $82 million at Monday's caucuses. In the spirit
of a tenuous and uneasy truce, the bond package is
now set for review by the Appropriations Committee
on Monday, July 25. After that, the full legislature
will meet on July 29 to discuss and hopefully to vote
on the final package.
Rep. Mark Bryant (D-Windham) explained that the package
is a work in progress and could change after the Appropriations
Committee reviews it, and could change again when
the full legislature meets. "The final figure
could go up or could go down," he said. "But
I am happy that common ground was met and the two
parties came together and came up with an amount we
can all live with."
Rep. Susan Austin (R-Gray) was equally relieved that
the two parties had negotiated successfully enough
to "get below three figures." Rep. Austin
noted that the package was a work in progress, saying,
"When we debate it on the floor, the majority
party [Democrats] could propose amendments that significantly
change the bottom line figure." The bond would
need to be passed by a 2/3 majority but amendments
only need a simple majority, Rep. Austin said.
Asked whether the Democrats may amend the bond, Rep.
Bryant said that "There are always amendments,
always." He said that the focus is on jobs and
the bond is one way to do that. "We need to invest
more on Maine people with creating jobs," he
said.
With the state reporting a 72 million dollar surplus,
Republicans may move to use some of the surplus to
draw down the bottom line figure of the bond, but
Rep. Bryant did not see that happening. "I don't
see the surplus being used for the bond, that is probably
not going to happen," he said. Rep. Austin hopes
that it would be, "rather than re-taxing the
Maine people for years and years."
The Senate and House leadership were irked that reports
from journalists were published before Legislators
were ready to reveal the status of the bond package.
A memo was sent from the Senate President's Office,
Office of the Speaker of the House, Senate Democratic
Office, Senate Republican Office, the House Democratic
Office, and the House Republican Office on July 13,
2005 that stated in part, " It had been our joint
intention to present full details as well as the total
amount of the bond package agreed to by leadership
at caucuses on Monday, July 18. Only then would the
bond package total dollar amount, and the breakdown
of that amount, be released to the media."
"Unfortunately, some of the numbers, including
some incorrect numbers, have already been reported
by the press. Because the information is out there,
including some misinformation, we have jointly agreed
it would be best to share the numbers with you at
this time."
"Attached you will find a summary of the bond
proposal agreed to by Democratic and Republican leadership
earlier this week. Line-item detail will be available
at caucuses on Monday. We thank you for understanding
that this was not our original
intention, and that circumstances have forced our
hands."
The
State's Surplus and what they plan to do with it
From the Governor's Press Office, Governor John Baldacci
announced that at year end Maine's books closed with
a gross unappropriated surplus before any deductions
for budgeted com mitments of $75.2 million, including
$29.2 million in revenues over budget estimates.
Also included is $15 million in unexpended funds from
state agencies largely resulting from the impact of
the Governor's Executive Order limiting spending and
maximizing savings. Upon taking office, Governor Baldacci
faced a $1.2 billion shortfall, operating capital
and rainy day reserves totally depleted, and a tax
anticipation note (TAN) of $250 million. With a targeted
economic strategy, the Governor has succeeded in cutting
the structural gap and TAN in half. Reserves have
been increased from zero to $70.1 million (with $19.6
million added this year).
Of the $75.2 million, approximately $27.1 million
carried forward for Fiscal Year 2006 uses, and there
are several other significant year end commitments
(see below).
After all commitments have been satisfied, the State
of Maine has a net unappropriated surplus to be carried
forward into FY06 of approximately $6.5 million.
Charts
explaining Fiscal Year 2005 end surplus:
Where
the Surplus Comes From (in Millions)
$29.2
Revenues over budget estimates
15.0 Lapsed 05 balances resulting from Executive Order
limiting spending
27.1 In budgeted balance forward
3.9 Miscellaneous small prior period accounting adjustments
_____
$75.2 Gross unappropriated surplus before deductions
for budgeted commitments
How
Surplus is Distributed (in Millions)
$27.1
In budgeted balance forward (FY '06 appropriations
already approved by the Legislature)
48.1 Surplus Revenues and Lapsed Balances
41.5 Commitments Below (including reserves)
7.1 For Baxter Compensation Authority
6.5 General Fund Operating Capital
13.1 Budget Stabilization Fund
13.1 Retirement Allowance Fund
1.0 Loan Insurance Reserve Fund
0.349 Governor's Contingent Account
0.315 Micro-Enterprise Fund
6.6 FY '06 Unappropriated Surplus (available for appropriation
by the Legislature)
______
$75.2
