No movement in standoff putting $110M of transportation bonds at risk
Neither side is budging in the standoff between Gov. Paul LePage and State Treasurer Terry Hayes over her selection of a Dallas-based law firm to oversee the state's bonds as they go to market.
The dispute is putting $110 million in authorized but unissued transportation bonds, which are scheduled to be sold in early June, at risk of not being sold in time for Maine contractors with projects scheduled for the summer and fall construction season.
The Portland Press Herald reported that LePage in a radio interview on WVOM-FM in Bangor on Tuesday reiterated his position that Hayes should rewrite the RFP to allow more competition from Maine firms. The newspaper reported that LePage told the hosts of the “George Hale/Ric Tyler Show”: “They were specifically aiming it at one law firm, which was the existing firm that has the contract now.”
Hayes defends her actions
Hayes issued a written statement on Tuesday defending her actions and including a detailed explanation of the process her office followed in selecting Dallas-based Locke Lord LLP over the only other bidder, Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP in Augusta. She noted that the losing bidder did not file an appeal of the bid award announced in March.
“The Governor wants Treasury to reissue the RFP for bond counsel,” she wrote. “I have refused. Re-issuing the RFP will unnecessarily delay the bond sale, further shortening our already brief construction season. The Governor’s claims about the RFP process are not accurate. There is no need for a ‘do over.’ … The only missing element is the total amount approved for the sale from the Governor.”
What’s at stake?
In the statement her office sent to Mainebiz, Hayes said the sale of $110 million in voter-approved transportation bonds scheduled for early June would be matched by money from various state and federal programs “making the total investment this summer and fall over $600 million.”
“That’s over $120 million per month for the remainder of the 2017 construction season,” she wrote. “According to the Department of Transportation, this money will fund 4,500 construction jobs. These jobs produce the infrastructure improvements we all know are necessary. The wages paid represent grocery money and living expenses for Maine families.”
She said her office is “fully prepared to proceed with the bond sale, as scheduled, during the week of June 5” and has completed all the necessary steps required of the state treasury department. “The only missing element is the total amount approved for the sale from the Governor,” she wrote. “Once the Governor provides the total, the sale can move forward.
Every day of hesitation and delay creates uncertainty and stress for thousands of Mainers, both of which are avoidable. It’s time to move forward with the 2017 construction season.”
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