Taxes and Budget Legislative watchdog finds Maine seed capital program needs fixing Maine spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year in business tax incentives. Because allocating money for this purpose reduces potential investments in other priorities including education […] Maura Pillsbury Posted September 21, 2021 Tags Budget, Tax Breaks, Taxes
Taxes and Budget State lawmakers make unprecedented investments in Maine communities and families this session Lawmakers delivered unprecedented resources to Maine people and communities this year as federal dollars and strong state tax revenues supported historic levels of investment in response to […] Sarah Austin Posted September 10, 2021 Tags Budget, Caregiving, Children, Education, Higher Education
Jobs and Income Latest data shows up to 95,000 Mainers risk losing unemployment benefits this week As noted by Maine Center for Economic Policy in a previous article, September 4 marks the end of new federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs enacted by Congress […] James Myall Posted September 6, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Economic Security, Federal, Unemployment, Wages
Education The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is broken — let’s fix it Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in 2007 to provide public service workers with student debt relief in exchange for a decade of service […] MECEP Posted September 1, 2021 Tags Education, Federal, Higher Education, Student Debt
Jobs and Income Progress for Maine Workers in the first part of the 130th Legislature After a particularly difficult year for Maine workers — during which many people labored under intense pressure and the looming threat of the COVID-19 pandemic — the […] James Myall Posted September 1, 2021 Tags Inequality, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage, Overtime, Paid Sick Days, Wages
Taxes and Budget Story of the Session: the fight for tax fairness Mixed success The 130th Maine Legislature’s record on tax fairness is mixed. During one of the most chaotic and turbulent sessions in recent memory, the legislature was […] Ryan Tipping Posted August 16, 2021 Tags Budget, EITC, Estate Tax, Revenue, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Jobs and Income, Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Investing in state employees will grow Maine’s economy and address the gender pay gap A busy legislative session wrapped up with an urgent issue unresolved: the future of public sector work in Maine. After years of being underpaid and working in […] Arthur Phillips Posted August 12, 2021 Tags Budget, Economy, Inequality, Job Quality, Jobs, Wages
Taxes and Budget Improved Child Tax Credit benefits all Mainers The Biden Administration’s expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) provides guaranteed income to 90 percent of Maine families and will cut child poverty nearly in half. […] MECEP Posted August 10, 2021 Tags Child Tax Credit, Children, Economic Security, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Jobs and Income Nearly 86,000 Mainers at risk of losing unemployment benefits in less than a month Unless Congress acts quickly, the expiration of temporary federal expansions to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system will push almost 86,000 Mainers off an economic cliff in early […] James Myall Posted August 4, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Economic Security, Federal, Unemployment, Wages
Taxes and Budget Legislature forms working group on tax expenditure review process The Maine Legislature is forming a working group to evaluate the State’s process for reviewing tax expenditures – a broad set of policies and programs that have […] Maura Pillsbury Posted July 29, 2021 Tags Revenue, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes