Taxes and Budget Coalition of Maine groups demands roll-back of LePage tax breaks for wealthy With state budget negotiations on the horizon, a newly formed coalition of 22 Maine organizations and elected officials, called the Prosperity Coalition, held a press conference Thursday […] Beacon Posted May 10, 2019 Tags Revenue, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness
Jobs and Income Gideon’s bill would make Maine a national leader on paid family leave If passed, the program would cover 95 percent of private employees and offer up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, as well as 20 weeks of […] Beacon Posted April 19, 2019 Tags Job Quality, Paid Sick Days
Taxes and Budget Firefighters, city officials say Mills’ budget shortchanges municipalities With the cut to revenue sharing, Mills may end up continuing the legacy of her predecessor, Governor LePage, who shifted state tax reliance away from the income […] Beacon Posted March 20, 2019 Tags Budget
Jobs and Income Maine Republicans attempt to roll back wages for younger workers During Monday’s hearing before the legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee, proponents of Maine’s minimum wage law pointed to economic data showing how the state has fared overall […] Beacon Posted March 18, 2019 Tags Minimum Wage, Wages
Jobs and Income Analysis: GOP plan would reduce paid sick protections for 190,000 Maine workers An initial analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy found that 57,000 Maine workers who would be covered by Sen. Millett’s bill would be denied any ability to […] Beacon Posted March 12, 2019 Tags Paid Sick Days
Taxes and Budget Experts say repealing estate tax cut for millionaires key to fixing Maine’s wealth gap A legislative effort to undo massive estate tax cuts passed by former Gov. Paul LePage was praised by tax fairness advocates and policy experts at a public […] Beacon Posted March 7, 2019 Tags Estate Tax, Taxes
Jobs and Income Restaurant licenses, sales, jobs, wages and hours all up after Maine’s tipped wage hike As policy analyst James Myall with the Maine Center for Economic Policy points out, if increasing servers’ wages would cause restaurants and bars to close, as Republican […] Beacon Posted March 6, 2019 Tags Jobs, Minimum Wage, Wages
Jobs and Income Mainers testify that state’s lack of paid sick days is ‘arcane and insane’ In a packed public hearing before the state legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee Monday, Maine workers, employers and advocates argued in favor of a proposal for a […] Beacon Posted February 25, 2019 Tags Job Quality, Paid Sick Days
Bills considered to protect, restrict Maine voters’ referendum rights Sarah Austin, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said Maine’s ballot process allows for a level of direct democracy not found in some […] Beacon Posted February 21, 2019 Tags Inequality
Taxes and Budget Mills’ budget proposal prioritizes health, education while leaving LePage’s tax cuts for the wealthy Some policy analysts who believe the proposal is moderate in scope hope lawmakers will press the new governor to take a bolder stance as the budget debate […] Beacon Posted February 8, 2019 Tags Budget, Education, Health Care, Tax Breaks, Taxes