Maine Governor Janet Mills authorized on January 15 the sale of $15 million in bonds to construct and repair affordable homes for seniors. A ballot measure calling for the sale of the bonds for senior housing was approved by nearly 70% of Maine voters in 2015, but the bonds were never released by the former governor. The bond revenue will help pay for the construction of at least 225 affordable homes and for the weatherization and repairs of existing homes for seniors. The victory is the result of ongoing organizing and advocacy efforts led by the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, an NLIHC state partner.
The senior affordable housing bonds were originally authorized by the legislature in 2015 and approved by Maine voters that November. Former Governor Paul LePage refused to release them, however, citing a variety of unsubstantiated political and financial reasons. The Maine Affordable Housing Coalition and legislative champions met with Governor LePage to try to persuade him to release the bonds but were unsuccessful.
Members of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition raised the issue of the bonds during the gubernatorial elections of 2018. Governor Mills agreed both during and after the elections to release the bonds. At the authorizing event at the State House on January 15, Governor Mills told a packed hall of advocates that the release of the bonds was long overdue, and the new revenue would help to address the state’s significant housing needs. She also pledged that her administration would take steps to authorize the sale of all voter-approved bonds in a timelier manner in the future.
The new bond revenue will help address the shortage of nearly 9,000 homes affordable and available to Maine’s low-income seniors, doubling the construction of such homes. The new construction will also provide jobs for hundreds of Maine construction workers and increase investments in the state’s rural communities. Similar investments will be needed to be made in future years, however, to overcome the state’s shortage of affordable housing.
“This week’s action by Governor Mills in releasing the long-delayed senior housing bond means that Maine’s voters are finally being heard, and hundreds of seniors around the state with acute housing challenges will benefit as a result,” said Greg Payne, director of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition and chair of the NLIHC board of directors. “We are grateful that Maine’s construction professionals can now get to work, building the safe, quality, affordable homes that older Mainers need and deserve.”