Augusta -
Maine's new state treasurer is vowing to try to persuade Governor Paul LePage to sell bonds that were approved by voters in November.
After being sworn into office Monday in a State House ceremony, Neria Douglass said it's time for the governor to allow $64 million worth of bonds to be sold that were approved by voters. The bond money is earmarked for transportation projects, land conservation, public drinking water systems, and wastewater treatment facilities.
Douglas said releasing the bonds would help Maine's economy and follow the wishes of voters.
LePage chuckled at the comment. He has said he won't allow the bonds to be sold until the state's financial condition improves.
Besides Douglass, incoming Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, Attorney General Janet Mills, and State Auditor Pola Buckley were also sworn into office.
Mills and Dunlap were swept out of those positions after Republicans seized control of the House and Senate. After the Democrats took back control in November, it allowed Dunlap and Mills to flip the script on Charles Summers and William Schneider, who just two years ago replaced them. "Today I guess I'm sort of living proof that the state of Maine generally believes in recycling," Mills joked while delivering her prepared remarks. "I hope my return brings more wisdom than cynicism, more incite than mere boldness or bravado."
Dunlap returns to Augusta after his failed run at the Democratic nomination for Maine's U.S. Senate seat. "The decision to stand as once again as Secretary of State did not come easily. The setbacks and disappointments of the past two years gave me great pause in seeking another elected office," Dunlap said Monday. But he added the encouragement of his close friends and family convinced him to come back to public service. "I am proud to stand before you today as the 49th Maine Secretary of State and pledge to you all atop my sacred oath that I will do all within the power that you have entrusted me with to be a resource to you."
The legislative session begins in earnest on Tuesday.
(The Associated Press Contributed To This Story)
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