Appropriations Committee advances amended $207.5M bond package to the floors after 8–5 vote

The Appropriations Committee voted 8–5 on March 27, 2026 to advance an amended bond package — LD 2094 as amended — totaling $207,522,412 that would bundle a set of previously separate bond proposals and send the package to the legislative floors for further consideration.

Representative Drew Khatien, who presented the package during the committee’s work session, said the single vehicle would let members in both chambers consider the measures together. "I'm gonna give you the total dollar number, of the packages of of $207,522,412," he said, then listed proposed allocations including $45,000,000 for agriculture, $20,000,000 for wastewater planning and construction (LD 25), $20,000,000 for residential sewer and water (LD 483), $20,000,000 for affordable and low-income housing programs (LD 690), $15,000,000 for municipal culvert improvements (LD 836), $18,522,412 for University of Maine system infrastructure (LD 1014), $65,000,000 for transportation needs, and $4,000,000 toward a Newport courthouse facility.

Opponents on the committee raised fiscal and timing concerns. Representative Ducharme said her caucus would oppose the package as presented and warned the proposal pushed against the committee’s stated bonding capacity: "It it feels to me like we have the ability it's it's like a credit card with a limit… before we go out the door, we're gonna run the credit card all the way to the limit, and then the next administration gets to take care of it," she said. Several members also questioned whether bond proceeds would address an immediate $13 million shortfall in the highway fund, with members noting timing and federal match implications for active projects.

Supporters argued the package targets a set of capital needs across the state and creates an opportunity for bipartisan cooperation. Senator Cameron Rennie said the investments "make really important investments, throughout the state in a way that bond packages don't always," citing rural housing and mobile-home infill as examples. Speakers who favored the package pointed to municipal relief for wastewater and culvert replacements, potential energy and maintenance savings at University of Maine campuses, and highway and bridge priorities.

During the session the mover read amendment language folding the individual LDs into LD 2094, with several reductions from original requests (for example, wastewater was reduced in the amendment from an earlier $50 million request to $20 million, and some originally larger housing and public-water requests were scaled back). The amendment also included a set-aside for a roughly 5,000-square-foot Newport courthouse and specified matching requirements for some municipal programs.

After discussion the committee debated a tabling motion proposed by Representative Ken Firdette but did not table the measure. Representative Khatien moved that the committee find LD 2094 "ought to pass as amended;" the motion was seconded by Senator Cameron Rennie. The committee then voted 8–5 to advance the amended package to the floors.

The committee record does not show individual names on the roll-call vote in the transcript; the meeting reflected both support and opposition across party lines and underscored unresolved questions about how bond proceeds would intersect with an unfinished supplemental budget and a shortfall in the highway fund. The package will next be considered on the floors of the Legislature.