Modernizing Maine’s Infrastructure:
The success of Maine’s middle class depends on investing in the things they need every day, like reliable and safe transportation, accessible child care, and affordable high-speed internet. Governor Mills is committed to modernizing Maine’s outdated infrastructure to better serve both residents and visitors. Since taking office she has made historic investments in:
- Broadband Infrastructure: Governor Mills proposed and secured voter approval of a $15 million bond proposal for broadband, the first new investment in internet expansion in more than a decade. That bond has already been used to fund broadband infrastructure in almost 1,000 locations. She also funded the construction of permanent internet infrastructure to bring high-speed broadband to more than 730 students across rural Maine during the pandemic. Governor Mills also signed into law the new Maine Connectivity Authority to advance the deployment of affordable, high speed broadband access across Maine. With more than $150 million in investments from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and the federal American Rescue Plan, the Connectivity Authority is poised to significantly advance broadband access across Maine.
- Transportation Infrastructure: Governor Mills signed a biennial budget that dedicated another $50 million to the Maine Department of Transportation for capital projects being constructed in 2021 and stipulated that MaineDOT receive 20 percent of unappropriated surplus, which amounted to $55.9 million last year. This means additional state support to MaineDOT in 2021 was nearly $106 million – an unprecedented General Fund investment to improve Maine’s transportation infrastructure. Governor Mills also joined President Joe Biden, Biden Administration officials, fellow governors, members of Congress, and others at the White House earlier this year for the signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which will provide an estimated $2.4 billion in additional transportation funding to the State of Maine.
- Clean Water Infrastructure: Under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $50 million in clean drinking water and municipal wastewater infrastructure projects, helping to leverage local American Rescue Plan funds and to accelerate the timeline of these essential local projects that protect public health, provide community benefits, reduce the burden for local ratepayers, and support construction jobs.
- State Park Infrastructure: Under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $50 million in capital maintenance and improvement needs at Maine State Parks to keep up with historic numbers of visitors, the first meaningful investment in decades.
- Child Care Infrastructure: Under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $20 million to help Maine communities renovate, expand, or build new child care facilities and expand public pre-K education programs. This is part of the Governor’s historic Child Care Plan for Maine that utilizes approximately $120 million in dedicated child care American Rescue Plan funds, on top of $50 million in previous COVID-19 pandemic assistance, to help Maine’s child care system recover, support worker retention, and improve child care quality, accessibility, and affordability over the long-term.
- Maine’s Heritage Industries Infrastructure: With federal American Rescue Plan Act funding under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $10 million to allow Maine seafood dealers and processors to upgrade their infrastructure; $20 million to help Maine farmers and food processers upgrade their infrastructure; and $20 to Maine loggers, foresters, lumber yards, and other members of Maine’s forest products sector to help these businesses recover financial losses caused by the pandemic, develop new wood products, and upgrade infrastructure to strengthen supply chain and sell products to new markets. Governor Mills also previously awarded $18 million in CARES Act relief grants to more than 600 farms, food processors, food producers, and food banks and pantries across Maine.
- Community Infrastructure Vulnerable to Climate Change: Under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $20 million to create a “Infrastructure Adaptation Fund” to support local, regional, and state infrastructure projects to make communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.
- Municipal Energy Infrastructure: Under her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, Governor Mills has invested $50 million in energy efficiency with support for residential weatherization and efficiency upgrades, matching funds for municipal efficiency projects, and industry and business efficiency incentives.
- EV Infrastructure: Governor Mills and Efficiency Maine Trust announced a set of initiatives to expand the use of electric vehicles across Maine in an effort to reduce the state’s carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels. The initiatives, which include the creation of financial incentives to purchase electric vehicles and the installation of at least 50 public vehicle charging stations, are in part the result of a $5.1 million settlement won by then-Attorney General Mills against Volkswagen. Governor Mills’ Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan also makes an $8 million investment in expanding public charging stations across the State of Maine. Under Governor Mills, Maine has reached a record number of electric vehicle registrations (5,677) and sales rebates (1,220), and public EV charging stations (246).
- School Infrastructure: Governor Mills recapitalized the School Revolving Loan Fund which provides critical funding to repair crumbling school infrastructure.