Jobs and Income Maine nears making farmworkers eligible for minimum wage “Workers in Maine’s agriculture industry, disproportionately Black, Latino, and Indigenous Mainers, have been subject to exemptions from basic labor laws that make them much more likely to […] Beacon Posted July 10, 2023 Tags Immigration, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage, Racial Equity
Maine’s Economy, Taxes and Budget About that tax ranking… Note: Updated April 15, 2024 As lawmakers debate tax credits, cuts, and subsidies, we often hear Maine’s tax policy compared with other states. State-by-state rankings and “listicles” […] MECEP Posted May 30, 2023 Tags Budget, Child Tax Credit, EITC, Income Tax, Inequality, Property Tax, Racial Equity, Sales Tax, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Tax Havens, Taxes
Jobs and Income Farmworkers deserve the same rights as all workers Workers are the engine of the economy, and they all deserve dignity, respect, and to be able to take care of themselves and their loved ones. Yet, […] Arthur Phillips Posted May 2, 2023 Tags Economic Security, Job Quality, Jobs, Racial Equity, Unions, Wages
Jobs and Income Rent-a-bank schemes would undercut Maine’s borrower protections Maine has a long tradition of consumer protection, drawing on a shared commitment to transparency and fairness for borrowers. Lawmakers recently extended Maine’s track record by shoring […] Arthur Phillips Posted April 10, 2023 Tags Consumer Protection, Economic Security, Predatory Lending, Racial Equity
Health Care, Taxes and Budget Maine lawmakers push to expand MaineCare to some non-citizens “With some of the previous expansions of MaineCare, the federal government has born a lot of the cost,” Maine Center for Economic Policy Analyst James Myall said. […] Fox 23 Posted March 28, 2023 Tags Health Care, Racial Equity, Taxes
Maine’s Economy Antiracist Public Policy in Maine: Reflecting on a Troubling Past for a Better Future The episode of Maine Policy Matter covers an article by James Myall, a policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy. The article, “Race and Public […] Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center Posted March 1, 2023 Tags Racial Equity
Health Care Will legislators undo LePage’s rollback and restore health coverage to low-income immigrants? “New Mainers are particularly likely to work in grocery stores and care homes, restaurant kitchens and hotels — many of the industries which are currently struggling to […] Beacon Posted February 27, 2023 Tags Health Care, Racial Equity
Editorial: It’s past time to stop editing MLK’s words and ideas The Bangor Daily News was the source of a national uproar on Monday when it reprinted a deeply-edited, heavily-sanitized version of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” […] Beacon Posted January 17, 2023 Tags Inequality, Racial Equity
Education Federal student debt cancellation helps 177,000 Mainers who need help the most Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) celebrates President Biden’s plan to forgive federal student loans — up to $20,000 for people who went to college on Pell […] Posted August 24, 2022 Tags Economic Security, Economy, Education, Federal, Incomes, Jobs, Racial Equity, Student Debt
Overturning Roe undermines Americans’ economic security The US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade strikes a calamitous blow against decades of legal precedent, dangerously impacting health, privacy, and self-determination for millions of […] Posted June 24, 2022 Tags Economic Security, Health Care, Inequality, Racial Equity