As stimulus money arrives, Maine tries to keep track of use
4/4/09 | 23 comments
Reporter's Notebook

As stimulus money arrives, Maine tries to keep track of use


By Kevin Miller
BDN Staff

AUGUSTA, Maine — The doors to the federal bank seemed to swing wide open this week as announcement after announcement came from Washington, D.C., about economic stimulus cash headed Maine’s way.

For a small state like Maine, the numbers were eye-catching, to say the least.

— $100 million for renovations to federal buildings, including $53 million for the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor.

— $100 million more to help rural Mainers purchase homes.

— $48 million for the state’s public schools.

And that’s just a partial list.

With so much money flowing so fast, there are concerns that some of those taxpayer dollars will be squandered, or end up in the pockets of people who didn’t do a thing to help get the economy back on track.

Officials in both Augusta and Washington have set up systems to make sure all of that taxpayer money is spent appropriately, and that the public can track where it’s going.

As part of that effort, Maine plans to launch a fraud alert hot line in the coming weeks that would allow residents to report questionable use of the stimulus dollars. The hot line would supplement a state Web site, www.maine.gov/recovery, that will feature details of all of the stimulus money coming into Maine, eventually including the names of the contractors carrying out the work and the number of jobs created.

The exact details, such as who would receive the complaints first, are still being hashed out, state Finance Commissioner Ryan Low said Friday. But the idea behind the hot line, he said, was to make it easier for people to report suspected fraud.

The one state agency that is already putting stimulus money to work — and feeling the heat of public scrutiny — is the Department of Transportation.

“This is the most looked-after money that I’ve ever seen,” DOT Commissioner David Cole said. “We’re having constant meetings with the feds.”

Maine was the first state in the nation to meet the White House’s request to file plans detailing how it would spend at least 50 percent of the $131 million it will receive in transportation-related economic recovery money. (Administration officials said Friday that Maine was also the first state to file for Clean Water Act stimulus funding).

Construction crews are already busy redoing Interstate 295 lanes south of Augusta — a project that state and federal DOT officials said was critical due to worsening structural integrity problems. But the project has angered some Mainers who regularly drive on roads in much more obvious states of disrepair.

One gray area is how, if at all, states will be involved in ensuring the accountability and transparency of stimulus money doled out directly by the federal government, such as the $53 million renovations of Bangor’s federal courthouse.

Low said guidance from Washington on that issue could come Friday. Gov. John Baldacci’s spokesman David Farmer also cited that uncertainty as an example of the challenges of putting in place the transparency and accountability systems when things are in flux.

“I think we have been doing a pretty good job staying on top of it, but you want to stay on top,” Farmer said.

In Washington this week, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced legislation to increase accessibility to stimulus funds by adding information such as application deadlines and funding eligibility to the federal Web site, recovery.gov.

Sen. Richard Rosen, a Bucksport Republican who serves on the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, said abuses will inevitably happen across the nation but that no state wants to be caught in that limelight.

“I think we are lucky in Maine that we don’t have some of the corrupt practices that you may see … in some other states,” Rosen said.

Plus, Rosen added, Maine is small enough that everyone knows everybody else and what’s happening in town.

Chances are, Mainers will be watching.

Coming next week

Here’s a sampling of the issues on the Legislature’s agenda next week:

— A hearing Monday on a bill, LD 814, to close the “gun show loophole” that allows private sales of firearms at shows without a background check. The parent of a teenager killed in the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado is expected to address the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

— A work session on Monday on a slew of bills aiming to increase Maine’s energy independence in the Energy Futures Committee.

— A rally ans public hearing on Monday and work session on Wednesday in the Health and Human Services Committee on a bill, LD 1078, to reform Maine’s long-term care system.

— A public hearing Wednesday in the Marine Resources Committee on a bill, LD 345, to regulate rockweed harvesting in Cobscook Bay.

— Hearings Monday in State and Local Government on bills dealing with size of the Legislature, the length of legislative sessions and term limits.

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Comments
23 comments on this item
On 4/3/09 at 10:43 PM, nattybell wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

TRY to keep track?

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On 4/3/09 at 11:05 PM, nattybell wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thank you BDN for the info on the upcoming agenda and the news about the hotline sounds like a good idea, does this hotline go to Washington or just the State of Maine...and yes, we will all be watching what happens, and it is good hear that the DOT is already being closly observed. I hope that this is the same with the rest of the money though.

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On 4/4/09 at 5:42 AM, Inland wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 4/4/09 at 7:25 AM, wallyo wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Can I buy my new house in Florida please. Thanks for the help from another poor rural Mainer.

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On 4/4/09 at 8:01 AM, Tikitorch wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

nattybell.. you took the words right out of my mouth!! TRY to keep track.. They should be MADE to keep track!

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On 4/4/09 at 8:29 AM, Chris1943 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Same here!

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On 4/4/09 at 8:32 AM, Chris1943 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sledman, I agree... how about some of those funds being made available to poor rural homeowners who would like to make repairs and /or improvements on the homes they are already paying for ( out of their own pockets) but can't afford to make because of all of the money going to help OTHER people obtain what they themselves can't afford.

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On 4/4/09 at 8:44 AM, eastmainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The State of Maine should know where EVERY dollar goes. It shouldn't be hard to keep track of WHERE it goes. They make it sound like everyone just goes in and grabs a handfull of money and runs with it. Who decides where it goes ???? Shouldn't it be thought out instead of spending it as quickly as possible like it may vanish if you don't do it right now. One of the things Maine should do is pay the small hospitals the millions they are owed from the Mainecare program. Maybe some of the hospitals could keep their employees working then.

I suppose people should have help getting financing for their homes , but for the state to buy them for them is ridiculous. If they can't afford to buy them they probably can't afford the taxes, upkeep etc.. on them either. And why only rural Mainers anyway ? If one lives in a city they don't need to have a home ???

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On 4/4/09 at 9:30 AM, ckc1996 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Tries to keep track of use?

What a huge waste of money, how is this actually stimulating the economy in a long term way?

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On 4/4/09 at 9:36 AM, BucksportMom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Chris1943: EXACTLY! Seeing as how many current homeowners are already rural and struggling to keep that home... What qualifies as RURAL? Maine is virtually a rural state, excepting Portland. Even Bangor is simply a "glorified" rural area (and I don't mean that in a negative way- it's one of the things I love about Maine- no real cities) And in any case, why should those living in a city be disqualified? It often makes more economic sense to live in a city if you have less money because you are closer to services; medical. groceries, etc.

If you are poor and live in the country, maybe you need a car more than home ownership.

What kind of assistance is this exactly? For WHOM EXACTLY? Just for FIRST TIME buyers? Why should I work so hard, pay my taxes as mandated by law, have to assist those who don't? I want to know the criteria for this assistance.

Maybe I should dump the house I can barely hold on to (sell, foreclose, whatever) and buy another home, (at a bargain, given that it's a buyers market because then I'll be a rural person in Maine needing to purchase a home! Will that qualify me? Hey, I'm paying the taxes already, might as well sign up for this deal.

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On 4/4/09 at 11:32 AM, JWBooth wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Right. The same people who gave us the $56-million DHHS-CNSI computer system debacle with the $200-million in 'lost' payments are now going to keep track of where all this stimulus money goes.

We're NOT SUPPOSED to know where this money goes. The object of the whole exercise is to let the party faithful and their buddies STEAL the stimulus funds with impunity.

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On 4/4/09 at 11:50 AM, Blaine wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

$53 million to renovate the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor; seems like they could build a new one for that price. Oh, this is the government – no expense spared, just fire up the printing press.

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On 4/4/09 at 1:49 PM, BobByn wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

53 million??!! Talk about peeing money away!

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On 4/4/09 at 2:37 PM, BigBertha wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This is all about socialism!!!

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On 4/4/09 at 3:50 PM, 1wonders wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

What good will it do to give out money for home loans when there are no jobs for people to pay mortgages?

The priorities are not straight. Maine needs money spent to create more jobs not put more people into foreclosure

and bankruptcy. Fix federal buildings? Oh yes federal employees need to work in a pleasant environment. ( Sarcasm)

While the low and middle class go there to ask for help because they have NO JOBS. Unbelievable

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On 4/4/09 at 4:52 PM, katahdinfan101 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Have you noticed that people are outraged about the work being done on I -295 because the roads aren't as bad as other roads in Maine? Yes, the real geniuses at DOT are deciding they know more than the actuall people that ride the roads. So now that we VOICED our anger about the project what does the Government do about it? Exactly what they wanted to do. Thats why this involvement by citizens is all CRAP. We can voice what we want and then they do what they want anyway. 37 f'ing million on 12 miles of road, yeah thats what we need to do.

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On 4/4/09 at 5:14 PM, makemyday wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

BigBertha how come nobody sees this? We better wake up. $53 mil to renovate a building. Don't you think this money could be spent more wisely. Just throw it away pretty soon we will be in the Great,Great depression anad everybody will be so surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!

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On 4/4/09 at 6:35 PM, nattybell wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Remember when building a Federal building the bricks cost $800 dollars a piece folks, and the pencils they use to work on the blueprints and what not well...they must be up to about $20 a piece now....

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On 4/4/09 at 6:46 PM, nattybell wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

JOBSJOBSJOBSJOBSJOBSJOBSJOBSJOBSJOBS

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On 4/5/09 at 12:31 AM, mousehunt wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Waste money is our answer to no jobs in Maine?How many people will fixing up the federal building put to work.Maybe fifty at the most. Send me some money and I will have that new house built and pay off the land .And you the tax payer will pay the bill.Thank you I will vote for who ever gives me the most money.

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On 4/5/09 at 7:38 AM, safedman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hammer your reps everyday. Make them post where this money is going and give you a link to monitor.

Alot of this cash will find its way into the pockets of out leaders...mark our words

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On 4/5/09 at 6:50 PM, acadian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I like this articles title...What have they got a new bag of jelly beans? One for you ...two for me

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On 4/6/09 at 12:51 PM, nattybell wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

(laughing)

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