Taxes and Budget Distributional Analysis: “Better Deal” Provides Bigger Tax Cuts for Most Mainers while Increasing Investment in Education and Other Critical Services “The Better Deal for Maine plan would cut taxes, on average, for the bottom 95% of Maine taxpayers. It would reduce taxes more than the governor’s plan, […] MECEP Posted April 15, 2015 Tags Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Taxes and Budget Testimony in Support of LD 501: An Act to Amend the Estate Tax Laws “The estate tax is one of the best tools for ensuring that all Maine children, regardless of how wealthy their parents or grandparents were, have the opportunity […] MECEP Posted March 30, 2015 Tags Estate Tax
Taxes and Budget Testimony in Support of LD 575: An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine’s Working Families “By expanding the sales tax to recreation and amusement services and using the revenue to double the homestead exemption, this bill would provide millions of dollars in […] MECEP Posted March 30, 2015 Tags Property Tax, Taxes
Jobs and Income Testimony in Support of LD 843, An Act to Raise the Minimum Wage and Index It to the National Average Wage “An increase in Maine’s minimum wage is long overdue. Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage in Maine is lower than it was forty years ago. Wages for […] MECEP Posted March 23, 2015 Tags Incomes, Minimum Wage
Education Testimony at Hearing on LD 1842: An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program While I oppose the elimination of the TANF good cause provision, I am especially concerned by the proposed elimination of the Parents as Scholars (PAS) program. PAS […] MECEP Posted March 25, 2014 Tags Education, Higher Education, TANF
Maine’s Economy Testimony at Hearing on LD 1819: Resolve, To Create the Task Force To End Student Hunger in Maine MECEP has working on issues related to student hunger going back to 2010 when we researched and published “Child Hunger Doesn’t End with the School Year.” In […] MECEP Posted March 21, 2014 Tags Children, Education, Food Insecurity, K-12 Education
Taxes and Budget Testimony at Hearing on Supplemental Budget Proposals for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015 I applaud your efforts to address Maine’s current budget challenges and your willingness to put a range of ideas on the table. Proposed Alternatives Cuts to K-12 […] MECEP Posted March 5, 2014 Tags Budget
Jobs and Income, Maine’s Economy The Income Gap between Those at the Very Top of the Economic Ladder and Everyone Else Is Growing Wider EPI finds that between 2009 and 2011, the top one percent in Maine captured 60 percent of all income growth (Augusta, Maine) From 2009 to 2011, the […] Posted February 19, 2014 Tags Incomes, Inequality
Jobs and Income State-by-State Job Growth January 2011-December 2013 Tables provide state-by-state data on both total job growth and private sector job growth. State-by-State Job Growth January 2011-December 2013 MECEP Posted February 19, 2014 Tags Employment, Jobs
Taxes and Budget Testimony at Hearing on LD 1751 An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine Residents As economists Michael Allen and Dick Woodbury wrote in their 2006 evaluation of Maine’s “Circuit Breaker” property tax relief program, “[the circuit breaker] does more than any […] MECEP Posted February 19, 2014 Tags Property Tax, Tax Fairness, Taxes