AUGUSTA — Senator Chip Curry, D-Belfast, introduced Tuesday a bill to create a nonpartisan research institute to provide the Legislature with information and policy options to improve Maine’s economy. LD 1517, “An Act To Establish the Maine Workforce, Research, Development and Student Achievement Institute,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee (IDEA). “In IDEA, we work on some of the biggest and most challenging issues facing our state,” said Sen. Curry, senate chair of the committee. “For example, developing a larger, more skilled workforce requires more workforce housing options, increased broadband coverage, expanded access to affordable child care and more. These issues are complex, and nobody is an expert in all of them. By providing credible, objective research about what things are like in Maine right now, and about emerging trends and policies that are working in other states, the institute will help the Legislature craft better policies to make a difference in Mainers’ lives.”