FEATURED REPORT

Policy Brief: The 2018 LePage Tax Bill

On March 1, Gov. Paul LePage’s Administration presented a tax bill to the Legislature designed to mirror at the state level some of the reforms enacted by passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at the federal level. The proposal is framed as simple conformity with federal law but goes much further than routine and technical updates to Maine’s own tax code.

The LePage Tax Bill costs $88 million over the remainder of the current two-year budget cycle, and $115 million over the next biennium. Much like the federal law, the governor’s proposal focuses on tax breaks for profitable businesses and wealthier families and offers little to low and moderate-income Mainers. For example, the bottom one-fifth of Maine households would receive a one-dollar tax cut on average under the governor’s proposal.

Read the full report HERE.

Other Publications

State of Working Maine 2017 (executive summary)
State of Working Maine 2017 (full report)
September 17, 2017
 
Affordable Care Act Repeal Would be a Disaster for Maine (executive summary)
Affordable Care Act Repeal Would be a Disaster for Maine (full report)
January 19, 2017
 
Lost Federal Funds: Lost Opportunities for Maine (Executive Summary)
Lost Federal Funds: Lost Opportunities for Maine
March 21, 2017
Since 2011, Maine has forfeited over $1.9 billion in available federal resources that could have helped protect Mainers’ health and well-being, promote tax fairness, and boost the state’s economy.
 
Moving Maine Students to the Head of the Class (Executive Summary)
Moving Maine Students to the Head of the Class
September 19, 2016
Shoring up state funding for schools by cleaning up Maine’s tax code will promote opportunity for all Maine children MECEP finds that a three percent tax on income above $200,000 dedicated to K-12 education will increase state funding for schools, promote tax fairness, help promote greater opportunity for low-income students, and level the playing field between property-poor and property-rich towns.
 
Restoring the Value of Work (executive summary)
Restoring the Value of Work (full report)
August 17, 2016
This November, Maine voters will consider a ballot initiative to raise the state minimum wage incrementally to $12 an hour by 2020 and gradually increase the subminimum wage for tipped workers until it equals the minimum wage for non-tipped workers by 2026.
 
Fix Maine’s EITC to Reward Work and Reduce Poverty
April 27, 2015
 
Honoring Maine’s Veterans: Serving Better Those Who Served (Executive Summary)
Honoring Maine’s Veterans: Serving Better Those Who Served (Full Report)
May 7, 2015
 
Maine’s Public College Affordability Crisis (Executive Summary)
Maine’s Public College Affordability Crisis (full report)
April 6, 2015

Unprecedented Opportunity: Federal Health Care Funds Will Deliver 4,400 Jobs and $500,000,000 in Annual Economic Activity to Maine by 2016
January 14, 2014
 
Executive Summary, Maine’s Labor Market Recovery: Far from Complete
Maine’s Labor Market Recovery: Far from Complete (Full Report)
April 1, 2014
 
Federal Health Care Funding Makes Dollars and Sense for Maine
March 12, 2013
 
Executive Summary: State of Working Maine in 2013
State of Working Maine in 2013  (full report)
November 25, 2013
 
The Consequences of Maine’s Income Tax Cuts (Executive Summary)
The Consequences of Maine’s Income Tax Cuts
October 16, 2012
 

Buying Locally Pays Big Dividends for Maine’s Economy

December 5, 2011