By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Hamstrung by a governor who refuses to release voter-approved conservation bonds and who has now frozen their assets, members of the Land for Maine’s Future board want lawmakers to provide a legislative solution to their funding problems. Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves and Falmouth Sen. Cathy Read More
releasing land bonds
LePage Cabinet Members Again Skip Land for Maine’s Future Board Meeting
Board members express their frustration with the governor’s intervention as he tries to assert control over the state’s largest land conservation program. By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA –– Three of Gov. Paul LePage’s Cabinet members did not attend a board meeting for the Land for Maine’s Future program on Read More
LePage Has Halted Operating Funds for Land for Maine’s Future
The governor already has withheld $11.5 million in voter-approved bonds that have yet to be committed, but now has frozen the program’s existing cash on hand as well By Eric Russell, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Gov. Paul LePage has frozen operational spending within Land for Maine’s Future as his administration prepares to Read More
Governor LePage Tightens His Strangle Hold on the Land for Maine’s Future Program
By George Smith Bangor Daily News column Governor Paul LePage is withholding operating funds from the Land for Maine’s Future Program, strangling this important conservation program with more than 40 projects waiting for final funding. As one LMF Board member told me, “It just keeps getting worse.” The LMF Board now is struggling to get Read More
State Debates Where to Put Profits from Increased Timber Harvest
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine — A special legislative commission is taking a closer look at how the state can spend $8 million in funding generated from timber harvesting of public lands. Gov. Paul LePage has tried to use the money to pay for heating assistance for the elderly, but critics say Read More
LePage Vetoes Bill to Extend Authorization for Land Bonds
By Mal Leary, MPBN MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage says he has vetoed a measure he submitted last week that would have extended authorization of $6.5 million in Land for Maine’s Future bonds by seven months. But the version of the bill ultimately passed by lawmakers was a resolve directing LePage Read More
Lawmakers Should Take Bonds Out of LePage’s Hands
The governor’s overuse of political leverage creates a system of unchecked one-man rule. By The Editorial Board Maine Sunday Telegram editorial Nineteen bills that Gov. LePage did not veto dominated last week’s political news, but that should not distract attention from a single bill that he did veto. L.D. 1378, sponsored by Republican Sen. Roger Read More
LePage Vetoes Land for Maine’s Future Bond Bill
The measure seeks to force him to issue bonds for the conservation program. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — As expected, Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a bill Tuesday aimed at forcing him to sell $11.4 million in bonds for the Land for Maine’s Future program that he has been Read More
Fate of Land Bond Money Still Uncertain
WCSH-6 TV news story AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — A collection of conservation and other groups again Thursday called on Gov. Paul LePage to release money for land protection that was approved by Maine voters. More than $11 million for the Land for Maine’s Future program was passed in statewide bond issue voters in 2010 Read More
