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Advocates Call for Release of $15 Million in Senior Housing Bonds

The Democrat-controlled Maine House of Representatives has passed a joint order designed to force the release of $15 million in bonds intended to help provide affordable housing for Maine seniors.

Maine voters overwhelmingly passed to bonds in November which, at the time, Gov. Paul LePage said was a mistake that could hurt the state’s credit rating.

On Monday morning advocates held a press conference demanding that LePage release the bonds.

State retiree Rena Heath from Hallowell says that since she retired 12 years ago, everything has gone up except her income.

“And I have friends that say to me, ‘What is going to happen when I can’t afford my house?’” she says. “I can’t afford it anymore. I have a friend that I hear this from every night when I call her in Freeport.”

The joint order passed by the House of Representatives now goes on to the GOP-controlled Senate. The press conference was organized by AARP.

This story will be updated.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.