For Immediate Release

Date: 03/11/13

"It is encouraging to see that Democrat leadership has finally come around to realizing the importance of paying the $484 million owed to Maine's hospitals. Governor Paul LePage has been working on his plan that would use liquor contract money to retire Maine's hospital debt for six months, while the Democrats waited until a half hour before the public hearing on the bill to release their plan.

"I find it interesting that in their news release, the Democrats call the Governor's proposal to use bonding to pay the debt a 'borrowing scheme' that would put Maine taxpayers at the mercy of Wall Street. Yet a few paragraphs later, they refer to bonding for other projects as 'key economic investments.'

"I call on the Democrats to end their delay tactics and move this issue along in a timely fashion so we can pay the hospitals and issue bonds that have been held back because of this unpaid debt."

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Contact:
Jim Cyr
Maine Senate Republicans
Tel: (207) 287-1505
Fax: (207) 287-1527