Spending Bill Steers $15 Million Toward Maine Projects
OMNIBUS
Bangor Daily News
Drew FitzGerald
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 26, 2009
WASHINGTON – Maine stands to get more than $15 million for programs ranging from emergency response to blueberry research under a long-delayed $410 billion bill to fund government operations that passed the House Wednesday night.
The proposal combines nine separate spending bills that never came to a final vote during the last congressional session. The last Congress passed a continuing resolution that provides for funding until March 6. This bill would fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The House passed the bill 245-178 with 16 Republicans voting for it. Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, both voted for it.
“It’s probably not a perfect piece of legislation, but it was needed to get us going so we can start with the 2010 budget cycle,” Michaud said.
Though congressional leaders said they passed a stimulus bill with no earmarks, the late 2009 spending bill was full of funding for specific local projects. Michaud set aside several provisions for Maine, including funds for national parks, agricultural research and town utilities.
Among the provisions:
– The proposal includes $190,000 to help restore rail service between Brewer and Hancock, which would serve vacation destinations in Eastern Maine.
– The University of Maine would receive $1.4 million for research on lobsters, blueberry cultivation science and pest tracking for potato growers. The bill also provides $2.2 million for the New England Plant, Soil and Water Research Laboratory.
– The Maine Tidal Power Initiative, a relatively new program, would receive $951,500 to study possible locations for renewable tidal power plants in on the coast. The project is a collaboration between the Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Maine.
– Maine health care facilities stand to gain, with $114,000 allocated for Bucksport Regional Health Center and $209,000 for Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital in Greenville.
– The bill provides $200,000 for the Maine Warden Service to upgrade its search-and-rescue equipment. Michaud spokesman Ed Gilman said the service could use the money to buy night-vision goggles.
– At least $200,000 would go to the Maine Public Safety and Health Initiative, which assigns law enforcement to investigate drug trafficking and overdoses in the state.
Republican leaders blamed Democrats for passing what they called a bloated bill full of earmarks and called for a “spending freeze” in Washington.
“Congressional Democrats haven’t lost their appetite for spending in Washington,” National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Ken Spain said in a statement.
The funding was proposed last year, so freshman Pingree did not make her mark on the legislation. The bill now goes to the Senate.
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