EDITORIAL: Federal relief money will allow Maine to invest in its people and our future

May 6—The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.

As Bangor Daily News columnist David Farmer wrote earlier this week, Gov. Janet Mills' plan for investing the more than $1 billion in pandemic relief funds that the state is expected to soon receive from the federal government is about people.

"While the language of the plan is typical of policymakers — heavy on words like workforce, research and development, and infrastructure — the heart of the proposal is much simpler and easier to understand," Farmer wrote. "The American Rescue Plan (which passed without a single Republican vote in Congress) and the governor's ' Jobs and Recovery Plan' are about people and making their lives better."

It may sound hyperbolic to say that these funds are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-envision Maine, such a description is pretty accurate.

The $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan, which was passed by Democrats in Congress in March, amounts to roughly a quarter of Maine's annual budget. Another $3.2 billion from the rescue plan will come to Maine for various recovery efforts, including significant support for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, enhanced unemployment benefits, stimulus payments to families, and funds for businesses, counties and municipalities.

Together, this money will allow the state to make investments that have long been on wish lists but remained out of the realm of fiscal reality.

Mills, for example, proposes to make big investments in broadband, affordable housing, research and development, higher education and state parks. Such investments have been debated in Augusta for years and some funding has been allocated to these priorities. But, the scale of the rescue plan funds will allow the state to put substantial amounts of money to Maine's most pressing priorities — and those priorities must be focused on improving the lives of Mainers.

Smaller, but no less important, investments would be made to expand access to childcare, to lower health care costs for small businesses, to sustain Maine's farming, fishing and forestry industries, to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses, to attract and retain new workers and many other initiatives.

"This federal funding represents an unprecedented opportunity to address the longstanding challenges that have constrained our state's ability to thrive over the years. By encouraging innovative small business growth, investing in our workforce, and building essential infrastructure, like housing, child care and broadband, we can accelerate our recovery from the pandemic and build a stronger, more prosperous Maine," Mills said in a press release. "This plan will help us ensure that Maine is renowned as a place where you can get a good education, have a rewarding career that pays well, raise a happy and healthy family, and live comfortably in a community that you love."

As the governor explained Tuesday, her plan focuses on three goals: immediate economic recovery from the pandemic; long-term economic growth for Maine; and infrastructure revitalization.

We can quibble about some details about the plan, such as the choice to allocate federal funds to investments that could be made through bonds such as roads and bridges and R&D, and the need for oversight to ensure these funds are appropriately targeted and spent. But, overall, the governor's proposal, which is based on the 10-year economic strategy and recommendations from the Governor's Economic Recovery Committee, meets the three goals.

It is now up to the Legislature to consider the governor's proposal. In light of the federal funding and projections of state revenues being more than $900 million higher than expected in the next two years, Republicans in Augusta have proposed tax relief. This is complicated by the fact that the U.S. Treasury Department has said that American Rescue Plan funds cannot be used to pay for tax cuts.

Any changes the Legislature makes to this spending should be guided by the same goals, and an emphasis on improving the lives of Maine people.