Jobs and Income Department of Defense moves to protect service members and their families from abusive creditors A soldier returns from a tour of duty in Afghanistan to find his car repossessed in his absence. A sailor on patrol in the Persian Gulf receives […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted July 23, 2015 Tags Consumer Protection, Federal
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Bonds: Building blocks for a stronger Maine economy “Maine has a lot of work to do in order to keep up with our rapidly changing world and to compete successfully in the global marketplace. Implementing […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted July 13, 2015 Tags Bonds, Infrastructure
Jobs and Income New overtime regulation changes are welcome “Two days ago, President Obama announced that he’s taking the easiest route to fixing this loophole. He is updating the standards so that employers cannot deny overtime […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted July 2, 2015 Tags Federal, Job Quality, Overtime
Maine’s Economy Legislators can help working families by overriding bonds release bill veto “Governor LePage has it all wrong when he says LMF is only for the rich. LMF very specifically helps working families. In particular, it keeps farm lands in […] Jody Harris Posted June 30, 2015 Tags Bonds, Revenue
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Budget deal includes refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income Mainers “Combined with Maine’s circuit breaker property tax relief program, which was renamed and converted to a refundable income tax credit two years ago, there will now be […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted June 30, 2015 Tags Budget, EITC, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Jobs and Income Protecting Mainers from unscrupulous debt collectors “There has been an explosion of debt collection companies known as debt buyers in recent years. Debt-buyers buy old debt that creditors have written off as uncollectable. […] Jody Harris Posted June 29, 2015 Tags Consumer Protection
Health Care Mainers win in King v. Burwell The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell ensures that over 60,000 Mainers, will continue to be able to afford health insurance under the Affordable Care […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted June 26, 2015 Tags Affordable Care Act, Health Care
Maine’s Economy Retirement crisis: Mainers in part-time and low-wage jobs face living out their retirement years in poverty “One-third of workers in America have no retirement savings and those who have savings, do not have enough to live comfortably. Of those closest to retirement (age 55-64), one […] Jody Harris Posted June 24, 2015 Tags Infrastructure, Jobs
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Latest Budget Deal modestly improves Maine’s tax system progressivity, future revenue adequacy less certain Today, state legislators released details of a budget deal that, if passed, would avoid a state government shutdown. The deal includes significant changes to Maine’s tax code. […] Garrett Martin Posted June 16, 2015 Tags Budget, Revenue, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Immigrants: Honesty, not incendiary political rhetoric “Governor LePage is wrong to deny Maine families the help they need to provide for basic needs as they legally wait for their applications to be processed. […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted June 15, 2015 Tags Economy, Immigration