Health Care Maine has a chance to correct injustice by expanding health care to New Mainers with low incomes All Mainers — no matter where they come from or what they look like — deserve access to affordable health care. MaineCare offers affordable health care coverage […] James Myall Posted April 16, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Health Care, Inequality, Racial Equity
Jobs and Income Increasing Maine’s minimum wage to $16 would boost wages for more than 350,000 Mainers Mainers’ wages have risen in recent years thanks in part to increases in the minimum wage approved by voters in 2016. Those increases have led to raises […] James Myall Posted April 12, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Economic Security, Job Quality, Minimum Wage, Wages
Jobs and Income Anti-minimum wage bills would cut Mainers’ wages by $193 million, with big impact on essential workers A strong minimum wage supports Maine’s workers and creates an economy that is stronger for all of us. But year after year, opponents of the minimum wage […] James Myall Posted April 12, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Economic Security, Job Quality, Minimum Wage, Wages
Education COVID compounds Maine’s education debt crisis. The time to act is now. MECEP economic policy analyst James Myall contributed to this blog post. There was a student loan crisis before the pandemic, now it is even worse. Despite gains in recent […] Jody Harris Posted April 9, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Education, Higher Education, Student Debt
Maine’s Economy Transformative “American Rescue Plan” will deliver $6 billion to Maine’s economy The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act recently approved by Congress will deliver roughly $6 billion to Maine’s economy, according to recent MECEP analysis. The top initiatives that will support Maine’s economic […] James Myall Posted April 2, 2021 Tags Children, Coronavirus, Economic Security, Economy, Education, EITC, Federal, Housing, Infrastructure, K-12 Education, SNAP, Taxes, Unemployment
Taxes and Budget With baseline budget settled, lawmakers must shift focus to Maine's long-term recovery AUGUSTA, MAINE — Garrett Martin, executive director at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, released the following statement after the Maine Legislature approved a baseline biennial budget […] Posted March 30, 2021 Tags Budget, Coronavirus, Economic Security
Taxes and Budget MECEP statement on 'Back-to-Basics' budget AUGUSTA, MAINE — Garrett Martin, executive director at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, released the following statement about the ‘Back-to-Basics’ budget plan under consideration in the Maine […] Posted March 25, 2021 Tags Budget, Coronavirus, Jobs
Taxes and Budget Analyst: COVID relief provision seeks to ensure funds are spent on services, not tax cuts The federal provision doesn’t entirely prevent state officials from cutting taxes. Some scenarios, such as slashing one tax but offsetting it with a tax increase, wouldn’t be […] Beacon Posted March 16, 2021 Tags Budget, Coronavirus, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Maine’s Economy MECEP applauds passage of American Rescue Plan to provide much-needed relief to Mainers AUGUSTA, MAINE — The Maine Center for Economic Policy applauds the passage today of the American Rescue Plan. This legislation is the kind of action the country […] Posted March 10, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Economic Security, Federal
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget Why is Maine’s revenue picture better than expected? Past recessions wreaked havoc on Maine’s state budget and the COVID recession was expected to do the same. While Maine’s current revenue forecast, finalized in early December […] Sarah Austin Posted March 5, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Federal, Recession, Revenue, Taxes