Maine Maritime Academy funding parity debated as lawmakers weigh 5% annual boosts and broader study

Senator Nicole Grochowski opened the public hearing on LD 681, “An Act Regarding Public Higher Education Funding in the State,” urging lawmakers to address long‑standing funding disparities between Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) and Maine’s other public higher education systems. The bill would increase MMA’s annual state operating support by 5% per year on a phased basis until MMA reaches the lower percentage currently received by the University of Maine System or the Maine Community College System; it also includes a stakeholder commission to study public higher‑education funding.

“MMA gives the state its greatest pound for pound return on investment,” Grochowski told the committee, citing MMA graduates’ median earnings and workforce placements. Multiple witnesses, including alumni, trustees and students, testified in favor of the bill, arguing the academy receives about 23% of its operating budget from state funds while the other two public systems receive roughly 40%.

Interim (now sixteenth) President Johnson described MMA’s operating pressures and recent measures to reduce costs and expand programmatic revenue. Johnson said the academy has pursued partnerships, new shipyard and workforce programs, and a fundraising foundation; she reported capital and program investments such as a planned new state‑owned training ship and a Brunswick campus. Johnson said the academy’s historical state appropriation has not kept pace and described a negotiated federal/state cost‑share that reduced the academy’s share for a recent peer project from 20% to 10%.

Jana Waldron, MMA’s vice president for finance and administration, provided fiscal details. She said the academy carried a structural operating shortfall of about $4 million and had adopted a negative $1.9 million budget the prior year; she estimated the combined effects of the governor’s proposed 4% across‑the‑board adjustment and the bill’s proposed 5% uplift would amount to roughly $3 million in additional annual funding and raise MMA’s state support ratio toward about 27% of operations.

Witnesses emphasized recruitment and retention risks tied to compensation. A professor testifying online reported an internal poll in which 80% of faculty said they were considering or actively searching for other employment; he urged action to avoid losing staff who supervise key maritime and engineering programs. A staff IT specialist testified that some employees at MMA qualify for public benefits because wages lag local costs.

Alumni and trustees stressed MMA’s economic returns. Trustee and former Cal Maritime president Bill Eisenhardt and trustee Mark Gardner pointed to MMA’s unique role in workforce and maritime-sector training; trustee testimony cited employer reliance on MMA graduates for power‑plant and shipyard roles. Students described training voyages, internships and career placement outcomes and urged lawmakers not to underfund the institution that supplies skilled workers to Maine employers.

Union and higher‑education representatives also testified. The Maine Service Employees Association urged the committee to fund MMA so faculty and staff can be paid competitively. Representatives of the University of Maine System, Maine Education Association and Maine Independent Colleges Association testified neither for nor against the MMA‑specific portion but supported the bill’s commission to study funding across Maine’s institutions.

No formal vote was taken at the hearing. Committee members asked for fiscal details and comparisons of the precise dollar effects of the proposed percentage changes; Representative Kim Hagen asked for an estimate of the dollar value of a 5% increase and Waldron provided a rough $3 million figure when combined with other proposed increases. Members also flagged the commission language and noted a pending separate bill to study higher‑education policy.

Next steps: Committee staff were asked to prepare fiscal comparisons for a future work session, and the committee closed the public hearing.