AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers will be back in Augusta to work on a state borrowing package and a proposal to create a mental health wing at the Maine State Prison.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature is returning for a special session Thursday to vote on the $149.5 million bond package for roads and education. The proposal was hammered out by Republican Gov. Paul LePage and Democratic leaders and is expected to get the two-thirds majority approval for passage.

Lawmakers will also consider legislation to create a prison mental health wing. LePage is backing the bill as a way to help the Riverview Psychiatric Center which is in danger of losing $20 million in federal funding due to overcrowding and understaffing.

But some say the bill won’t address all the problems facing the hospital.


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