“A jobs bond will give our economy a much needed shot in the arm,” said Rep. Emily Cain, the House Minority leader. “The best way to improve our economy is by making more investments that will help small businesses, job training and public education.”

Maine has lost more than 1,000 jobs since 2011 and was recently rated 50th for personal income growth according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The Legislature approved a total $95.6 million in bond proposals, which Democrats say will create immediate jobs now and set the foundation for economic growth in the future.

The bond proposal includes:

• $51 million for transportation improvements,
• $20 million for research and developments,
• $11.3 million for higher education,
• $7.9 million for water and waste water treatment; and
• $5 million for land conservation.

The proposals will be sent to the voters for approval on the November ballot.

“If we don’t make these public investments now, we will be missing an opportunity to create jobs,” said Rep. Peggy Rotundo, the lead House Democrat on the Appropriations committee. “Public investment will create jobs now and grow good-paying jobs for our future. We have the money to make targeted investments now.”

According to the non-partisan fiscal experts from the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review, the state has the capacity to make public investments in bonds for voters to approve. Debt service payments from 2013 to 2015 will decline by nearly $30 million, lowering the state’s payments on debt and increasing the capacity to borrow.

Maine has a track record of conservative bonding and has historically paid down its debt quickly. The state typically bonds for 10 years, not 20 or 30 as other states do. Debt service is typically between 4-7 percent of the General Fund.

“We need real investments that will improve our roads, bridges, and classrooms,” said Assistant Democratic Leader Justin Alfond, who added that Maine voters “deserve an opportunity to decide on the investment priorities for this state.”

Last year Republican lawmakers and Gov. Paul LePage refused to send a bond package to voters despite Democratic pressure for bonds to spur economic development and create jobs.

“It was completely reckless for the state of Maine not to bond last year,” said Sen. Cynthia Dill. “The need for infrastructure improvements was critical.”

According to Department of Labor statistics, Maine has lost 500 construction jobs from February to March this year alone.

“In the last year, Maine people have seen a continued drain on our jobs and income. Responsible bonding is a sure-fire way to get people back to work.” said Sen. Dawn Hill of York, who serves on the Appropriations committee.

Republican’s said they would not approve a bond package that was more than $100 million.

This year enough Republican lawmakers changed their position on a bond package.

“This is one of the keys to growth in the state of Maine,” said Sen. Chris Rector, a Republican. “I know we all want an economy that’s growing, that’s robust.”

Gov. LePage is out of the state and will review the bond proposal when he returns. If he approves of the bonds it will be up to voters to decide in November.

The informal discussion will highlight our evolving understanding of the ocean and the role of science in future ocean policy, and will focus on the consequences of environmental change, both in the Gulf of Maine and throughout the global ocean.

Know Technology is sponsoring a reception at the theater following the talk, with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The event is free and open to the public.

Before becoming Executive Director of Bigelow Laboratory in 2008, Graham Shimmield was director of the Scottish Association of Marine Science and the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory in Scotland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was Chairman of the European Census of Marine Life Program. As a marine geochemist, his research includes identifying indicators of ocean and climate change, and examining human impacts and contamination in coastal and deep seas.

Author and reporter Colin Woodard is an investigative journalist and commentator for The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram and a member of Bigelow Laboratory’s Board of Trustees. He worked as an award-winning correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, reported from more than fifty foreign countries and six continents, and lived for over four years in Eastern Europe. He is a member of the Sea Space Symposium, an association of leading ocean and space explorers, scientists, policy makers, and philanthropists.

Know Technology is a Camden- and Portland-based company providing network system design and IT solutions, security, and support services for medium-sized businesses in New England and throughout the United States.

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences conducts research ranging from microbial oceanography to large-scale ocean processes that affect global environmental conditions. Recognized as a leader in Maine’s emerging innovation economy, the Laboratory is spurring significant economic growth in the state through construction of a major Ocean Science and Education Campus in East Boothbay

In a vote of 128 to 4, state lawmakers in the Maine House voted to gave final passage to a measure that would protect students from bullying in Maine schools. The bill nearly passed into law in 2011 but was sent back to the Education Committee at the last minute in the face of opposition from the Christian Civic League.

“This is an incredible victory for Maine students,” said Morrison, who sponsored the bill and has strongly advocated for it after hearing from hundreds of students and parents in his district. “We have sent a strong message to students and parents across Maine: Bullying in our schools is unacceptable and we won’t tolerate it.”

The bill, LD 1237, “An Act to Prohibit Bullying and Cyberbullying in Schools,” requires the commissioner to develop a model policy to address bullying and cyberbullying for use in Maine schools. A copy of the model policy must be sent to each school administrative unit in the State and posted on the publicly accessible portion of the department’s website along with any training and instructional materials related to the policy.

In 2010, there were at least 14 suicides resulting from bullying nationally.

The National Education Association estimates that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. 71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school, and 56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.
The bill is expected to be approved in the Senate and must be signed into law by the governor.

A Republican House bill passed a bill today that would pay for the student loan fix by repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which provides support for hundreds of thousands of breast and cervical cancer screenings as well as childhood immunizations and screening newborns for birth defects. President Obama has stated he would veto the measure if it made it to his desk.

“It’s outrageous that Republican leadership is using the crisis of student debt as a tool in another attack on women and the entire middle class,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. “They are telling students struggling with debt that we can help you, but only if we take away funding for cervical and breast cancer screenings, childhood immunizations and birth defect treatments.”

“This is exactly why Americans are so fed up with Washington right now. I’m hopeful that we can put this day behind us and actually get to work. Students will pay the price if Congress doesn’t get its act together,” said Congressman Mike Michaud.

Michaud and Pingree are pushing to offset the cost of the student loan fix in other ways, such as eliminating tax subsidies for the five biggest oil companies.

Pingree said she’ll vote against a bill Republicans are bringing to the floor today that pays for lower interest rates with cuts to a fund to pay for preventative care established by the 2010 health care reform law. Democrats in the House have proposed paying for the lower interest rates by eliminating some tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

“Students and their families could owe thousands of dollars more starting this summer if we don’t do anything to stop a doubling of interest rates. We need to act but instead of making working families pay for it, how about asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit more or take back some of those giveaways to the big oil companies?” said Pingree.

The Telling Room, Portland’s community writing center, will hold its annual free conference May 4th at USM’s Abromson Center. The evening will feature the release of their sixth anthology of student writing and a live performance to showcase student writing, photography, and film created during the 2011-12 school year.

The theme of the event is ‘Searching for ME.’ Telling Room staff, community partners, teaching artists and volunteers will be on hand to run interactive writing, photography and printmaking activities for all ages. Performances begin at 8:00.

The evening precedes a professional development symposium on May 5th devoted to infusing the arts through multimodal creative literacy practices. As a designated “Imagination Intensive Community”, the Telling Room is embracing their role as a meeting place for students, professional K-12 teachers, artists, and writers.

Presenters include Eileen Landay of Brown University’s ArtsLiteracy Project; Kurt Wootton of Habla: The Center For Language And Culture; John Holdridge, The Telling Room’s Creative Director; and Cathleen Miller of the University of New England’s Maine Women Writers Collection. Online registration is available through the Maine Art Education Association at http://www.mainearted.org/MAEA/Spring_Conference.html.

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers. Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, they seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for their students’ stories.

“Americans owe more on student loans than they do on credit cards,” said Pingree. “And if Congress lets the interest rate double on July 1st, borrowers are going to have to come up with thousands of dollars more just to pay off that debt. At a time when families are already struggling to make ends meet, this is the last thing they need.”

If Congress doesn’t act, interest rates on federal student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1st.

Pingree has co-sponsored a bill that would make the low interest rates permanent, but House Republicans have refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

“Unfortunately Congressional leaders continue to insist on voting for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires but won’t even let us consider a bill that gives hard-working students and their families a little bit of help,” said Pingree.

Pingree has also co-sponsored the Student Loan Forgiveness Act, which would cap loan payments at ten percent of a borrowers discretionary income and forgive any remaining debt after ten years of payments.

“An education isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Pingree. “But it keeps getting further and further out of reach for many families and it’s time for Congress to act.”