FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 30, 2018
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
office: 626-8404/ cell: 441-7638

Secretary Dunlap to determine order of bond questions on November ballot

AUGUSTA – Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap will draw the order of the bond questions for this November’s ballot on Thursday.

The November 6, 2018 referendum ballot will include one citizen’s initiative question and four bond questions. Ballot questions are listed by category, with the placement within each category determined by luck of the draw. Citizens’ initiatives are listed before bond issues.

The drawing for the order of the four bond questions will take place on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 2:15 p.m. in Secretary Dunlap’s office at the Nash School Building, 103 Sewall St., Augusta. The drawing is open to the public.

Question 1, the only citizen-initiated referendum question on the November ballot, is:

• An Act To Establish Universal Home Care for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities.
  
  “Do you want to create the Universal Home Care Program to provide home-based assistance to people with disabilities and senior citizens, regardless of income, funded by a new 3.8% tax on individuals and families with Maine wage and adjusted gross income above the amount subject to Social Security taxes, which is $128,400 in 2018?”

The bond questions, to be listed as Questions 2-5, are:

• An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Build Maine’s Workforce Development Capacity by Modernizing and Improving the Facilities and Infrastructure of Maine’s Public Universities and Community Colleges  (Two questions)
  
  “Do you favor a $49,000,000 bond issue to be matched by at least $49,000,000 in private and public funds to modernize and improve the facilities and infrastructure of Maine's public universities in order to expand workforce development capacity and to attract and retain students to strengthen Maine's economy and future workforce?”
  
  “Do you favor a $15,000,000 bond issue to improve educational programs by upgrading facilities at all 7 of Maine's community colleges in order to provide Maine people with access to high-skill, low-cost technical and career education?”
  
  
• An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Improve Multimodal Facilities, Highways and Bridges and Municipal Culverts
  
  “Do you favor a $106,000,000 bond issue, including $101,000,000 for construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of highways and bridges and for facilities and equipment related to ports, piers, harbors, marine transportation, freight and passenger railroads, aviation, transit and bicycle and pedestrian trails, to be used to match an estimated $137,000,000 in federal and other funds, and $5,000,000 for the upgrade of municipal culverts at stream crossings?”
  
  
• An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Fund Wastewater Infrastructure Projects
  
  “Do you favor a $30,000,000 bond issue to improve water quality, support the planning and construction of wastewater treatment facilities and assist homeowners whose homes are served by substandard or malfunctioning wastewater treatment systems?”

A non-partisan citizens’ guide to the election will be posted on the  Upcoming Elections page in the fall. The State of Maine’s General and Referendum Election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.