“From Madawaska to Eliot, 99% of Maine’s working families got a tax break from President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which passed Congress with the support of Maine’s entire delegation,” said MECEP Executive Director Christopher “Kit” St. John. “On average, these families received $995 in tax savings; for example, families with an average income of just over $39,000 paid $610 less in federal taxes in 2009. This is money families can use to buy clothes for their kids, repair a leaky water heater or pay for any number of family necessities, and in turn, their spending provides a tremendous boost the recovering Maine and American economies need.”
The CTJ analysis of the ARRA tax cuts found that all Maine working families with annual incomes of between $12,000 and $61,000 or less received a tax cut of between $490 and $735. CTJ defines working families as those with taxpayers who earn an income.
“CTJ stressed that the ARRA put additional cash in the pockets of people who were not working last year, including income and health care protection for the unemployed and a one-time $250 payment to those who depend on Social Security,” St. John said. “By expanding the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, it also provides relief to workers who pay payroll taxes and other state and local taxes but do not earn enough to have any federal income tax liability. The incomes of Maine’s middle and low income families have lagged behind the more affluent for most of the last decade and they were hardest hit by the Great Recession.”
Founded in 1979, CTJ is a 501 (c)(4) public interest research and advocacy organization which focuses on the impact of federal, state and local tax policies on . CTJ describes its mission as “to give ordinary people a greater voice in the development of tax laws.”
MECEP works on these same issues here in Maine and is the state’s leading non-profit research and policy development organization working toward “a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy; vital communities; rich civic engagement; and a healthy environment.” The new CTJ report is available here: President Obama Cut Taxes for 99% of Working Families in Maine in 2009.
