LEPAGE SAYS ‘NO’ TO SMALL BUSINESS BOND

Bond targets small businesses and entrepreneurs to get products from lab to market

AUGUSTA –Governor Paul LePage on Tuesday vetoed a small business bond to help small and mid-size businesses expand and create jobs.

“There is a direct connection between this bill and getting Mainers working again and our economy growing,” said Senator Linda Valentino from Saco, the Senate Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Workforce and Economic Future. “The governor doesn’t have to take our word for it, he could’ve listened to the dozens of bankers, business owners, and economic experts who showed up to tell us the importance of this jobs bond. We’re investing in bread and butter programs that help our state’s small businesses get their products from lab to market.”

LD 1827 provides $12 million for small business loan programs through the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME). The FAME Regional Economic Development Revolving Loan Program  –  also known as the REDRLP and pronounced “red lip” – will receive $8 million for flexible loans to create jobs, revitalize downtowns, and strengthen Maine’s rural economy. The FAME Commercial Loan Insurance Program will receive $4 million to spur investment and innovation.

“Today the governor said ‘no’ to small business growth, ‘no’ to thousands of jobs and ‘no’ to hundreds of millions of dollars in new private investment,” said House Majority Leader Seth Berry of Bowdoinham, the House chair of the workforce committee. “Maine needs these jobs now more than ever. What is the governor — Maine’s CEO — thinking?”

According to FAME, these programs leverage more than $16 in private and other funds for each state dollar invested. FAME projects that the bond would create more than 10,000 jobs.  A recent independent analysis gave FAME’s Commercial Loan Insurance Program a 18.6 percent combined internal rate of return.

The measure received strong support from all parties, with a vote of 29 to 3 in the Senate and 123 to 23 in the House.

With 179 vetoes, Governor LePage has exceeded the number of vetoes by any other Governor, including the previous record holder, one-term Governor Jim Longley who issued 118 vetoes.

The Senate will take up the veto of LD 1827, “An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Support Maine Small Business and Job Creation,”when the Legislature reconvenes on May 1. Two-thirds, or 24 votes, is needed to override the veto.

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