Senate approves hospital debt payment plan
Without debate or a roll call vote, the Maine Senate passed a bill to pay back the state's $183.5 million in Medicaid debt by borrowing against projected revenues from a renegotiated wholesale liquor distribution contract.
The Sun Journal reported the Senate passed the bill late Wednesday, sending it along for approval by the House.
The bill is largely the same as a proposal put forward by Gov. Paul LePage near the start of the legislative session, in January.
Earlier this year, LePage said passage of a plan to settle the state's hospital debt would make him comfortable releasing $105 million in voter-approved bonds for transportation and other projects and $100 million in a revenue bond for a new prison in Windham.
In March, LePage proposed a separate $100 million transportation bond package that he said would also hinge on the Legislature approving a plan to repay the state's hospital debt.
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