Question 1: What is Maine expected to spend on paying back its bonds in the next few years? 

 

The projections in the governor’s budget request show just over $217 million in bond repayments for 2025 and 2026.

 

That means roughly $1 in every $50 the state government spends out of its General Fund the next two years will be on bonds. 

 

Almost $40 million of the debt will be interest payments.

 

That’s slightly better than we’ve seen in the past two biennial budget requests - typically we had been looking at $50 million in interest for a two-year span.

 

Question 2: But the forecast in the governor’s budget doesn’t actually include most of Maine’s bonds, right?

 

Correct.

 

Maine law only requires the governor’s budget request to list the bond debt of the state’s General Fund. That’s what funds state agencies, and when you hear about lawmakers debating the budget, that’s usually what they’re referring to.

 

But the budget isn’t mentioning the other bond debt the state has on its books. There’s money they’ve borrowed for construction and maintenance of state buildings, money MaineHousing borrowed to build affordable housing, and much more.

 

As of last summer those other bonds added over $4 billion to the total. We’re still waiting on another official update.

 

Question 3: How often are bonds approved when they’re put on the ballot for voters?

 

In the last 20 years, Maine has put 47 different bonds on Election Day ballots for voters to approve. 45 of them passed.

 

But in the last few years, we’re seeing the frequency and dollar total decrease.

 

Last November of course the most expensive bond on the ballot was only for $30 million. And for two years before that there were no bonds on the ballot.

 

But before that we had seven years in a row where the ballot had at least one bond worth over $100 million or close to it. 

 

Question 4: Besides bond debt, what else did the budget tell us about the next five years?

 

The budget also includes the latest numbers from the Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, an independent group that meets twice a year to make projections about Maine’s economy.

 

They’re predicting that Maine’s economic growth will slow a bit. Salaries increased by 6% in 2024, but the commission expects that to drop to 4% this year and stay that way through 2029.

 

The commission said the drop is due to high inflation, high costs for heating and other energy, and more. They also predicted a lack of housing and childcare in Maine could slow the state’s population growth.