© 2024 Maine Public

Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

$141M budget surplus pushes Maine's rainy day fund to record high

The State House is seen at dawn during the final week of winter, Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Augusta, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
The State House is seen at dawn during the final week of winter, Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Augusta, Maine.

Maine's budget stabilization fund has reached a record high and the maximum under state law after the state finished the 2023 fiscal year with a $141 million surplus.

The stabilization fund, also known as the rainy day fund, is used to backfill revenue shortfalls during an economic downturn. And at nearly $970 million, it's as flush as it has ever been.

The surplus also means that priority initiatives outlined in the so-called cascade will also receive a boost in funding, including a total of $65 million to various affordable housing programs that the Legislature added to the cascade this year.

Funding for road and bridge projects will also see a modest increase in funding as a result of the surplus.

Journalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.