AUGUSTA — With Maine’s top-of-the-ticket races sucking all the air out of the room, most folks don’t know much about the six bond issue questions we will see on the ballot when we go in the voting booth Nov. 4. But if you care about Maine’s economic future, please read on.

The concept of bonding may seem arcane and complex. But it is really no different from the borrowing decisions we make in our own personal lives to pay for major purchases such as a house.

Just as a home can be a wise investment in our family’s future, targeted investments by government can make for a better future for Maine. In a perfect world, we would all “pay as we go” with no borrowing, but bonding is a recognition that when an expenditure (like road construction or a new school) provides benefits for years ahead, borrowing can make sense.

This year’s bond proposals are the Legislature’s attempt to focus on applied research and development to provide incentives for the growth of high-wage, high-demand jobs in Maine. If we did not appreciate the need for that before, the recent Verso plant closing has sure reminded us.

I was proud to help develop this package as a member of the Legislature’s Workforce Development Committee. We learned that states that make a consistent and long-term commitment to R&D generally see their economies prosper; those states that don’t end up falling behind. Maine is Exhibit A: We are last in New England in this kind of investment, and we have the lagging per capita income to prove it.

This year’s package is a good step toward turning this around. With interest rates near historic lows, the timing could not be better.

So, what are the six questions?

• Question 2 will provide $8 million to support Maine’s growing agricultural sector and build a state-of-the-art animal and plant diagnostic lab at the University of Maine. The lab will help support our farmers and monitor the health threats posed by ticks, mosquitos and bedbugs.

• Question 3 will provide $12 million to replenish programs at the Finance Authority of Maine that are proven winners in creating Maine jobs. Of this, $4 million will insure parts of loans to small businesses; $8 million will be lent through regional entities to accomplish the same purpose – more jobs. Both programs will leverage many times more dollars in private investment.

•n Question 4 will provide $10 million, to be matched by $11 million in other public and private funding, to continue the growth of our genetic research sector in Maine. The Jackson Laboratory is the likely site for this project, which will increase employment in the search for cures to cancer and the diseases of aging.

• Question 5 continues the emphasis on this successful genetic research sector of the Maine economy. This bond will provide up to $3 million to modernize and expand a bio lab that concentrates on tissue repair and regeneration. The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory is a likely site for this work. Again, high-paying jobs to keep our kids in Maine and attract in-migration. More good news: The project will leverage almost twice as many additional federal and private dollars.

• Question 6 will help continue our state’s commitment to maintaining our pristine environment by providing $10 million for the drinking water revolving loan fund and investments in waste-water treatment, wetland restoration and upgrades to culvert and stream crossings. Federal funds will match this investment at least 5-1.

• Lastly, Question 7 provides $7 million, to be matched by private funds, to invest in Maine’s critical marine economy. Whether it is helping grow aquaculture or incenting value-added processing plants, this investment will help us to play to some of our strengths: 3,500 miles of coastline and our rich fisheries.

I can assure you that these proposals were not chosen randomly; they were vetted against many other suggestions and ideas from around the state. In our view, they are the best of the best – a targeted, affordable series of investments that will give us a good bang for the buck.

The package received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature. This level of borrowing is well within our means. If passed, our total debt service will still remain among the lowest per capita in the country.

In sum, people often ask, “What can we do to improve the Maine economy?” I think this bond package is part of the answer.

— Special to the Press Herald