Maine should borrow money if it helps businesses and nonprofit groups create new technology, grow jobs and jump-start more development. Research and development bond money — awarded competitively and with specific outcome guidelines — has shown it does just that.
The money helps improve the state’s long-term competitiveness by giving agencies the time and resources to innovate, whether it’s for Boothbay’s Biovation to speed up the commercialization of its wound-care products or for the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center to build and test offshore wind turbines.
Gov. Paul LePage wants the state to borrow and spend less — both fine goals — but merely deciding Maine ought to spend less without a job-creating capacity to do so is not helpful. In the case of a proposed $20 million R&D bond, the results of the spent money would be much greater than the original sum.
It’s good that he didn’t touch four other bond bills, but LePage acted shortsightedly in vetoing the R&D bond bill Friday. The Legislature should have greater sense and override the veto when it convenes Thursday.
After all, legislators previously reached a bipartisan agreement on the five bond proposals, totaling $96 million, for transportation projects, R&D, water and sewer infrastructure, higher education and the Land for Maine’s Future program. They would appear to be without principles if they changed their opinions to fall in line with LePage.
They should keep in mind that overriding the veto doesn’t necessarily mean the money for R&D — or any of the other projects — will be spent.
The borrowing proposals still need approval at the polls and then the public’s demand that the governor issue the bonds — as LePage has said he won’t issue any bonds until spending is “under control.” LePage perhaps should be more worried about the state’s ranking of 45th in 2010 for its technology and science work force, as technology-based growth drives economic success.
Legislators also should keep in mind the facts. In his veto message, LePage wrote that the majority of the R&D funds have gone to government programs and nonprofit groups in the past.
“Taxpayer dollars should go toward R&D only when we can demonstrate a specific return on that investment. That return must be measured in taxes and jobs. Both of those rightly come in the private sector,” he wrote.
He’s correct that the majority of recent R&D money has not gone to the private sector. Maine tends to send a greater percentage of R&D funding to universities and nonprofit research laboratories than the nation does.
That’s because the state has fewer large R&D intensive corporations, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development. In any event, the overall amount of R&D funding in Maine is so pathetically small — Maine universities rank 45th in R&D — that comparing Maine’s really tiny public sector R&D with its even tinier private sector R&D is largely besides the point.
It would be beneficial for more R&D funding to go to private companies, but that certainly won’t happen if there’s no R&D money to begin with. Maine spent half a century denying the need for R&D investment when other states invested heavily, and so it barely allowed for a private sector to grow here. And no agency exists in a vacuum; researchers at universities frequently create technologies or products that are used by private companies.
Still, regardless of whether the money is awarded to businesses or nonprofit groups, the agencies have demonstrated R&D’s worth. Of the $53 million approved for multiyear projects since 2007, about half that money was reimbursed as of June 2011, according to the Maine Technology Institute, which awards R&D grants through the Maine Technology Asset Fund.
In the same time frame, the Maine Technology Asset Fund reported that 12 new products or services were developed; 51 new patents or similar types of intellectual property protection were completed; 289 new jobs were created; and 303 existing jobs were preserved.
Many projects are just getting started and will continue to grow. In 2011, private companies receiving R&D money experienced an overall employment increase of 4.5 percent over the previous year.
LePage said he wants to create jobs. There they are.
289 new jobs for $53 million… That’s only $183,000 per job.
Overhead??
Tons of overhead apparently.
Just a pork barrel for Emily Cain’s constituents.
Emily Cain’s constituents are the highly-educated, scientists, engineers, innovators, and real job creators. As opposed to Paul LeBUFFOON’s constituents who are corporate toadie job killers, the ignorant, and the dumb.
Tinserblic – please look up “constituent” in the dictionary. Thanks.
These are unfortunate misunderstandings of the benefits to the state that could come from the R&D bond issue if ever submitted to voters and if allowed by the Governor to be implemented. To be sure, if the bill were for purely vocational training–or for athletic scholarships and facilities–both the Governor and the public would approve it overwhelmingly. Mainers often don’t appreciate what it will take to bring the state remotely close to other New England states in economic development. (Of course John (Pierce Atwood) Baldacci will now see to that.)
Who wrote this
This bill should not be overridden by the Maine State Legislature. It should be vetoed. Go to the Maine People Before Politics website, and you fill find a true explanation of why. Maine has a bond debt of $100 million dollars to be paid in 2012–we do not need more at this time.
Ya, but keep giving job killing tax cuts to the already-rich at both the state and federal level, right? So your corporate masters who have bought and paid for your radical TeaPublican Party guys can keep hiding their money in the Cayman Islands and pay half the tax rates YOU pay yourself. TeaPublicans are corporate toadie job killers and the most fiscally irresponsible creatures who’ve every set foot on the planet. They constantly run up huge deficits with their budget-busting tax giveaways to the corporate-SOCIALIST bloated military industrial complex, the corporate-SOCIALIST oil corporations, and on and on. You then stand there and lament job-creating bonds with great matching funds and low interest rates which will improve our science and technology sectors and our infrastructure. But then again why should anyone be surprised. The dark-ages TeaRadicals reject both science and reason, let alone fiscal responsibility. Mainers, if you care about your money and jobs, NEVER vote for job killing TeaPublicans like, for example, Paul LeBUFFOON or Mittens Romney: the corporate toadie kings of the job killers.
Lepage says he wont allow Bonds until spending is under control!
Who’s control?
His?
I have to disagree with this editorial. I think that the Maine Legislature should go back into session and do pretty much what they have done during the last two years. Decide everything along party lines. That should take all of 5 minutes. Then after all of the leaders have had their face time in front of the cameras the Tea Party Parrot Republicans can all go over to the Blaine House and have a victory party. They can go around slapping each other on the back and give each other praise for what a wonderful job they have all done for the people of Maine, opps strike that people of Maine stuff. I meant special interest. Kevin Raye can get up and tell them all how wonderful that he is and that they are. Then Bob Nutting can do the same thing. I think it is only fair for Governor Paul Richard LePage to teach them all how to draw smiley faces. Maybe he could even do some face painting to show off his artistic talents. Of course there would have to be food and who better to prepare it then the Blaine House Chef. I think all The Tea Party Parrot Republican Legislators should have their picture taken with LePage as well. Heck maybe even the BDN could supply the photographer. Perhaps after they have all had their fill of free food and drink they could all take one last trip through the State House. And then they could all leave Augusta never to return again as members of the Legislature. They have spent this entire session of the Legislature doing the bidding of ALEC, MHPC, The Insurance Industry as well as kissing LePage’s well publicized butt. Now it is time to go back home and face the voters that they have done their best to toss under the bus. November will be upon us soon and we can finally put an end to this Tea Party Parrot experiment.
You had me right up to the point where they all go home. Nutting should go to jail!
You are right he should have but letting him skate was done under the previous administration.
You folks are just plain sad. You have nothing more to say than insults, false accusations, lies and ridicule. You have nothing.
You are a far left liberal wingnut, who it seems can not wait until the state returns to those fiscally responsible days of Democratic leadership of spend, spend, spend. Sounds like a person “from away” who lives in southern Maine.
Okay let’s take your response one at a time. I have been a registered republican since 1967 and in fact I voted for LePage in 2010. I have no desire to go backwards for any reason, especially not to the 1950’s like a lot of Tea Party Parrots. As far as being “from away” I was born and brought up on Bangor’s East Side, attended the Old Abe Lincoln School , then Elm St. , Fruit St. which the principal Jim McLean wanted called Eastside Elementary, Garland St. Jr. High. and Bangor High. I currently live in Hampden most of the year except for the 4-5 months I live in Florida in the winter. If you ever decide to go into the weather forecasting business I hope you do a lot better then you have in your assumptions about me. Polly want a cracker?
“create”, “grow”, and “jumpstart”. All buzzwords we are all to familiar with that has been adding to the $100 million we already owe. What part of “get control of debt first” don’t people understand. There is a thing called “debt to income ratio”. If we ran our household budgets this way, we would all be bankrupt.
Companies milk this funding source for years and often never create a product or service that returns a profit. I’m not inherently against providing stimulus funding but I am against corporate welfare. Any business enterprise that isn’t making it on their own in 3 years should no longer be eligible for these programs. That goes for federal dollars too.
From many of the comments listed, I can tell that the people eliciting them do not understand that the Taxed Enough Already group was formed to protect the rights of Americans and Mainers. It seems that too many have forgotten this since 2009.
Did anyone tell LiarPage that “R&D” stands for research and development not Republican and Democrat? If the bill just said “R” he would have passed it on in a second. But what do you expect from someone that thinks the earth is only 6,000 years old and Dino’s and man walked the earth together. Mmmmmmmmm going to cook me some dinosaur steaks for tonight. LOL!