Mills avoids tax hikes, boosts school aid in $8 billion spending plan hit from left and right

The half-measures in the budget will frustrate progressives. The Maine Center for Economic Policy advocated a budget outline that would use surpluses and a $518 million income tax hike on people making more than $100,000 to fully fund schools and other items.

Garrett Martin, the group’s executive director, said while Mills’ proposal dedicates important revenue to health care and education, it “locks in LePage-era tax policy” and Maine needs “a practical conversation about revenue” if education and tax relief programs are to be fully funded.

Click here to read the full story, published February 8, 2019, in the Bangor Daily News.