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Trish Riley is the chair of the University of Maine System board of trustees.

The University of Maine System is an engine of educational attainment and economic mobility.

Now is the time for the Legislature to fund it adequately.

Building on her past support, Gov. Janet Mills proposed a 4 percent annual appropriation increase for our system in her final biennial budget. Last month, three-quarters of the Maine House and the entire state Senate endorsed this essential funding .

But the recently enacted continuing services budget for fiscal year 2026-27 flat funds the university system, exacerbating dec

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