Anyone who’s ever been annoyed by a pot-hole ridden road, worried about structural integrity while crossing a bridge or wished they could find work in the construction industry will be displeased to know that our state leaders are continuing to play politics with transportation improvements for the state.

It was last March when Gov. Paul LePage admitted that he was holding hostage $104 million in voter-authorized bonds for transportation infrastructure improvements. This was his tactic to get the Democrat-controlled House and Senate to agree to his plan to pay down the state’s hospital debt.

Payback of the debt has now been approved, using proceeds from state liquor sales based on a new contract, and that bill was signed by the governor on June 14.

Instead of keeping his word to release those bonds, however, the governor last Tuesday made a last-minute push for his bill, LD 1095, An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Improve Highways, Bridges and Multimodal Facilities. The bill had been introduced in March and would provide $100 million for reconstruction and rehabilitation of highways and bridges and for facilities or equipment related to ports, harbors, marine transportation, freight and passenger railroads, aviation and transit, according to a statement from the governor’s office, matched by an estimated $154 million in federal and other funds.

Republican legislators tried to force a vote on this bill after midnight following a day-long session of addressing the governor’s modern-day record of vetoed bills.

By pushing for his own $100 million transportation bill, it appears the governor was trying to sweep in and save the day, ultimately taking credit not only for the hospital payback but for the construction monies he has held back for months.

Construction season begins in April, so LePage’s refusal to issue the bonds of past years has already cost Maine crews another season of jobs and income. The governor purports to have his sights set on job creation, but by refusing to invest, he’s actually costing us jobs.

The Democrats, rather than give Gov. LePage the satisfaction of passing his bill, have said they want to put off discussion of bonds until they reconvene in September, so transportation needs can be considered alongside other proposed bonds. That’ll be an awfully short window to agree upon and prepare bond proposals for voters in November, especially considering the way our Legislature is working these days.

Even so, after months of the governor holding job-creating construction bonds hostage, the Republicans are hardly in a position to accuse Democrats now of holding up infrastructure improvements and costing Mainers jobs by refusing this bill.

Caught in the middle of this political power struggle, however, are the construction workers and all the people who use or depend on the roads and bridges. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to give the other side the appearance of a “win,” so they continue to fight it out while our roads crumble and bridges decay, and all the while it’s the people of Maine who are paying the price. How many times do Maine voters need to say “yes” to infrastructure repairs before the work is OK’d by Augusta?

We agree that other bond issues need to be considered as the state looks at where to invest, but infrastructure improvements are a given ”“ the maintenance needs to be done. That’s one of the roles of government upon which just about everyone can agree. Other bond issues will undoubtedly be more contentious, from education to research and development funding, and we don’t need transportation improvements tied up in that mess.

If Democrats don’t want to give LePage the victory by passing his bill, that’s fine, but both sides should be able to agree that some infrastructure improvement funding needs to be approved in time to pass in November, so the jobs can be awarded and begin next spring.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.