UNE seeks dental school bond
Officials at the University of New England are encouraging lawmakers to approve a $5 million bond to help fund the first dental school in Maine.
UNE President Danielle Ripich and Associate Vice President William Chance met with legislators earlier this week to push the bond idea for the dental school, expected to cost $20 million to launch, according to the Portland Press Herald. Michael Saxl, managing principal of Maine Street Solutions LLC, a public relations and government affairs arm of Portland law firm Verrill Dana, accompanied the UNE officials. Though lawmakers supported starting a dental school in Maine, the bond request may have come too late to be included in this year's package, which is expected to shrink as lawmakers tackle the state budget, David Farmer, Baldacci's deputy chief of staff, told the paper. The university also failed to submit a bill for the request, forcing legislators to find a way to combine it with an existing proposal.
UNE officials originally planned to submit the $5 million request for next session's bond proposal, but changed the plan after a bond package in the next session seemed unlikely, Chance told the paper. The school has already secured more than $7 million in private donations for the dental school, which it hopes to open by fall 2011. Legislators will start reviewing bond package proposals after they pass a statewide budget, which is slated to happen next week, the Press Herald reported.
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