Taxes and Budget Maine counties are spending COVID relief funds on more police and jails Maura Pillsbury, an analyst for the Maine Center for Economic Policy specializing in tax expenditures and local issues, has tracked ARPA funds by monitoring budget meetings at […] Beacon Posted October 3, 2022 Tags Coronavirus, Local
Taxes and Budget MDP responds to LePage Florida property tax breaks Maine Democratic Party members are calling Lepage’s alleged actions “hypocritical” due to his reported push to phase out Maine’s income tax, and a previous push to eliminate […] Fox Bangor Posted September 26, 2022 Tags Property Tax, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Taxes and Budget How Paul LePage, Running to Lead Maine, Benefited From Florida Tax Breaks While he was governor, Mr. LePage tried to eliminate Maine’s homestead exemption, a proposal that would have denied an estimated 213,000 Mainers benefits similar to those he […] New York Times Posted September 24, 2022 Tags Budget, Taxes
Health Care Medicaid expansion, COVID relief helped Maine reach record levels of health coverage in 2021 Census data released last week shows that just under 78,000 Mainers (about 5.7%) lacked health insurance in 2021. That’s the lowest share of uninsured people dating back to 1988, […] Beacon Posted September 20, 2022 Tags Coronavirus, Health Care, Medicaid
Health Care Census data: Health insurance coverage in Maine at record levels This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2021 poverty, income, and health data from its Current Population and American Community Surveys (CPS and ACS). Overall, the new national and state […] Posted September 15, 2022 Tags Child Tax Credit, Economic Security, EITC, Health Care, Medicaid
Jobs and Income Jackson Lab to build onsite child care facility According to employee surveys conducted by the lab, the second largest issue they face – right after housing – is day care. Those findings echo similar sentiments […] Mount Desert Islander Posted September 14, 2022 Tags Children, Economic Security, Job Quality
Jobs and Income Maine's minimum wage will rise to $13.80 next year Under a provision of a state law that went into effect last year, Maine’s minimum wage will be adjusted annually based on the cost of living index […] Maine Public Posted September 13, 2022 Tags Economic Security, Inflation, Job Quality, Minimum Wage, Wages
Jobs and Income, Taxes and Budget Cost emerges as early hurdle to Maine paid-leave plans A separate estimate assumes $192 million in benefits would be paid out annually from the fund, according to economic policy analyst James Myall at the liberal Maine Center for […] Bangor Daily News Posted September 13, 2022 Tags Budget, Job Quality, Jobs, Paid Sick Days
Taxes and Budget Families, advocates demand accountability after string of deaths in Maine prisons and jails Advocates at the rally argued that the rise in prison and jail deaths is related to decades of policy decisions in Maine that have resulted in a […] Beacon Posted September 12, 2022 Tags Budget, Health Care, Inequality
Maine’s Economy Two months ahead of Election Day, Maine Gov. Janet Mills defends economic record Maine’s gross domestic product growth under Mills, 2.4%, is above the national average, 1.7%, while under LePage, GDP growth, .9%, was below the national average, 2.6%, according […] WMTW Posted September 8, 2022 Tags Economy