AUGUSTA — A top Democrat’s maneuver to force Gov. Paul LePage to issue a voter-approved housing bond passed the Maine House of Representatives Monday, but stiff Republican opposition could bode badly for the bill.
The $15 million bond was backed by 69 percent of voters in November, but LePage’s office says he’s holding it up to develop a plan around senior housing in Maine, the nation’s oldest state. It’s another standoff between legislators and LePage over borrowing after he held back $11.5 million in conservation bonds for much of the past year.
On Monday, an order from House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, directing a legislative committee to recommend a bill directing LePage to issue the bond passed the House in an 80-63 vote.
It faces action in the Republican-led Senate, where it could encounter resistance: Just three Republicans — Carol McElwee of Caribou, William Tuell of East Machias and Kevin Battle of South Portland — voted for it in the House after a contentious floor debate.
LePage has five years to issue the bonds, but he has opposed the idea since Eves introduced it last year. But the governor missed his 10-day deadline to veto it after it was passed by the Legislature.
The bond would be administered by the Maine State Housing Authority and it would be matched by $22.6 million in private and other funds to build more than 200 new housing units for low-income seniors and weatherization of more than 100 homes owned by low-income seniors.
At a Monday news conference alongside AARP Maine and other advocates, Eves said given LePage’s history on bonds, “we felt that it was extremely necessary” to try to force issuance of the housing bond.
“This bond isn’t going to solve all of our problems,” he said, “but not to do it is a failure of leadership and stands in the way of what 69 percent of Maine voters said they wanted to have happen.”
After the election, LePage said it’ll hurt the state’s credit rating. Then, he said earlier this month that he wants the private sector to pay for housing units and use bond money to create telemedicine units in each project.
On Monday, LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said the bond allocated money with “no plan” and that the administration is working with the Maine State Housing Authority to formulate one “that addresses the needs of our seniors and our homeless and veteran populations.”
It’s unclear whether that would be in the form of a plan from the housing authority, a bill or a proposed change to the bond bill. Bennett said those details are being worked out.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 20 and committee work is supposed to have ended. Eves said that deadline underscores the need for action. But House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, said on the floor that it’s late for an unnecessary maneuver.
He also said Mainers “expect us to be good stewards of their taxpayer dollars” and “I believe the chief executive will do that.”
“We don’t need this joint order to do that,” Fredette said.
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