Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 J U N E 2 9 , 2 0 1 5 Maine graduates, will use the grant to prototype a fi re-retardant and water- resistant thermal insulation foam board. e company said it will be the fi rst of its kind to be 100% eco-friendly. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Pleasant Point Reservation Housing Authority $410,710 to support the protection of the waste water treatment plant at the Passamaquoddy Tribe Pleasant Point Reservation. Maine Savings in Bangor announced its membership grew to 27,064 members in 2014 and total assets surpassed $300 million for the fi rst time in the credit union's history. This represents a 2.5% growth of members and a 14.2% increase in assets. In addition, the credit union announced its RedWallet checking accounts have experienced a 63% increase in net new checking accounts between June 2014 and May 2015. In its fi rst year, the program paid more than $180,000 in rewards to members in the form of ATM refunds, cash back, tunes and interest. KEEP IT SIMPLE ACA Compliant Plans Retirement Plans Benefits Administration Talk with Norton. 800.777.5244 www.TalkWithNorton.com Specialists in business insurance and employee benefits Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network ® , Member FINRA / SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Investment advisory services may be offered through Commonwealth Financial Network, a Registered Investment Adviser, and/or Norton Financial Services, a Maine and New Hampshire-Licensed Investment Adviser. Investment advisory services, and TPA services offered by Norton are separate and unrelated to Commonwealth. Fixed Insurance products and services offered through Norton or CES Insurance Agency. 275 U.S. Route One, Cumberland Foreside, ME 04110 "W hat a long strange trip it's been" is one way you could describe the fi rst session of the 127 th Legislature. From start to fi nish there's been lots of drama and complicated politi- cal maneuverings that have made several controversial bills constantly moving targets. At press time on June 24, it technically still wasn't fi nished, with lawmakers voting early that morning to return on June 30 to address unfi nished business. Among the items awaiting lawmakers when they return from their one-week recess is the likely override vote on Gov. Paul LePage's expected veto of the biennial state budget, comple- tion of the state bonding plan for the next two years and bills that include a proposal to create a Cabinet-level energy commissioner. Even that extension might not be enough to close the book on the fi rst session, since lawmakers already plan to come back on July 16 to deal with any late vetoes LePage might make on approved bills not yet signed into law. e session's statutory adjourn- ment date was June 17, but LePage's veto of several dozen bills and his 64 line-item budget vetoes forced a one- week extension to give the Maine House of Representatives and the Senate time to take two roll-call votes on each and every veto, once for each year in the two-year budget. LePage didn't exactly endear him- self to lawmakers with that approach, openly telling State House report- ers his unprecedented number of line-item vetoes on the bipartisan $6.7 billion two-year budget was a deliberate eff ort to "waste a little of [lawmakers'] time." He also staged a bit of street theater to underscore his displeasure with that budget, squeezing a rubber pig he took from beneath a Christmas tree arranged outside his offi ce and decorated with ornaments adorned with photos of lawmakers who apparently irk him. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle easily overturned the budget line- item vetoes, sending the 700-page $6.7 billion budget back to LePage for his signature. at seems unlikely, given his characterization of it as a "business- as-usual budget." A budget must be in place by July 1 in order to avoid a shutdown of state government. e bipartisan budget includes a middle-class tax cut that's fully paid for, with 75% going to the bottom 90% of families. It makes the earned income tax credit refundable up to 5%. New Markets tax credits bill dies LD 297, legislation that originally would have doubled the aggregate cap on loans made through the New Markets Capital Investment Program from $250 million to $500 million, ended up as a dead bill. One sticking point was that Republicans and Democrats couldn't reach agreement on closing a loophole in the program allowing one-day loans for the benefi t of investors that a Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram investigative story by Whit Richardson revealed had been used as part of Cate Street Capital's fi nancing for its ultimately unsuccessful eff ort to revitalize the Great Northern Paper Mill in East Millinocket. P O L I T I C S & C O. B Y J A M E S M C C A R T H Y It ain't over in Augusta 'til it's over

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