Jobs and Income Maine State Government Is Already at Its Smallest Size in 20 Years (line graph) Mark Sullivan Posted July 28, 2016 Tags Employment
Maine’s Economy How payday lenders skirt the law The facts about how payday lenders trap working families in debt are shocking: 19 million families use payday loans each year. One in four of those borrowers […] Jody Harris Posted July 20, 2016 Tags Consumer Protection, Federal
Maine’s Economy Women have higher poverty rates in retirement than men Recently, my colleague Jody Harris posted about how devious payday lenders prey heavily on women. She added that, “Women continue to earn less than their male counterparts, and […] Mark Sullivan Posted July 13, 2016 Tags Inequality, Poverty
Maine’s Economy Poverty rates by demographic category, in 2013, for women and men, age 65 and older (bar chart) Mark Sullivan Posted July 13, 2016 Tags Poverty
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Closing the door on ineffective tax loopholes in Maine: Important challenges lay ahead Maine offers 192 different tax loopholes for individuals and corporations. These tax breaks are a form of backdoor spending that cost the state almost $2.2 billion in […] Marpheen Chann-Berry Posted July 7, 2016 Tags Economy, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Maine’s Economy Predatory lenders disproportionately target women, new study shows It’s Shark Week. No, not the Discovery Channel’s homage to the denizens of the deep, but rather the annual media storm from consumer advocates who oppose the […] Jody Harris Posted June 29, 2016 Tags Consumer Protection, Federal, Inequality
Maine’s Economy BDN reports dire consequences for Maine children from LePage assault on TANF In a painstakingly detailed investigation, the Bangor Daily News (BDN) has pulled back the curtain, exposing the LePage administration’s maneuvering to undermine the federally funded Temporary Assistance to […] Mark Sullivan Posted June 23, 2016 Tags Economy, TANF
Maine’s Economy Maine's TANF caseload, 2005-2016 (line graph) Mark Sullivan Posted June 23, 2016 Tags TANF
Maine’s Economy New poll reveals overwhelming support for strict regulation of payday lenders More than seven out of ten Americans want stronger regulation to rein in the predatory practices of payday lenders according to a survey released on June 15. […] Mark Sullivan Posted June 21, 2016 Tags Consumer Protection, Federal
Jobs and Income Maine May jobs numbers contain mixed news The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released state employment numbers for May, revealing that Maine was among the majority of states which experienced no statistically-significant […] James Myall Posted June 17, 2016 Tags Jobs, Recession, Unemployment