Spending & Tax Reform in Maine

The following item appears in todays Kennebec Journal (8/21/03) and addresses the main reason why the Maine Legislature is in special session today.Oracle
================================================= By Sen. Ken Blais:
"Maine's Residents Deserve Real Spending Reform" While it is unclear what the final form will be for the competing measure, one thing is very clear: Governor John Baldacci's current proposal fails to address the most significant tax challenge facing Maine, a challenge the governor himself defined in his inaugural speech when he said "State spending is out of line with state revenues. ..." The majority leader in the House said recently that a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate, and a Democrat in the governor's office, provided the 121st Legislature with "a great opportunity and a great responsibility." Unfortunately, the scenario the state's majority party has laid out for this special session shirks responsibility for real tax reform by ignoring state spending and instead shifting the focus on municipalities already overburdened by state mandates. Looking back, the path of missed opportunities has been well traveled this session. The Legislature missed an opportunity for real spending reform when the majority party and the governor pushed through a budget loaded with increased license fees, budget gimmicks, and a raid on the retirement fund. And the Legislature missed an opportunity on health care reform when it ignored proven ways to lower the cost of health insurance, and instead voted to spend $53 million to create a new "health care" bureaucracy dependent on new taxes, risky new Medicaid schemes, and continued cost shifting from one group to another. At the same time the governor was telling Maine's taxpayers Dirigo Health would make health insurance more affordable, he was signing legislation for new health care mandates calculated to increase insurance costs for families by $362 per year. Now, the governor and majority party are telling us that tax "reform" amounts to a spending cap that will punish towns and cities in Maine for standing up to state cost shifting. Responsible reform begins with state spending reform, restricting the ability of the Legislature to spend more tax dollars than Maine people can afford to pay. As the governor said in his inaugural remarks, "Our tax system is out of date and out of line with the meager incomes of so many Maine people." So, what does real tax reform look like? Senate Republicans have proposed a competing measure that accomplishes three critically important components of tax reform: € limit state spending; € reduce dependence on income taxes; and € make it more difficult for the Legislature to raise, broaden or create new taxes. The Senate Republican plan would amend the governor's measure to limit state spending to the growth in wages. It just makes common sense that state government spending should never be allowed to grow faster than your paycheck. Next, if revenues -- also known as your tax dollars --come in at a higher rate, then that money should be returned to the taxpayer in the form of lower income tax rates. Tax reform must also include a mechanism to limit the ability of government to pass along spending increases in the form of higher fees and taxes by a simple majority. The Senate Republican plan proposes to require a two-thirds majority to raise taxes or license fees. Only with those measures in place will it be responsible to use projected increases in state revenue to meet the state's obligation to fund 55 percent of essential education programs and services statewide. Without the spending and tax controls, the revenue pledged to meet school funding obligations will lead to another crisis and demands for more taxes. While politicians rely on a short public memory, we all should consider that the last time a Democratic governor promised major reform to reduce property taxes was in 1974. The solution then was to put in place Maine's income tax system and the promise then was to reduce property tax for education by 20 percent. And now, here we find ourselves nearly 30 years later with the highest overall state tax burden in nation, and inordinate share of our overall state tax responsibility falling on property taxpayers. Maine's people deserve real spending reform, right now, not 30 years from now. Sen. Ken Blais (R-Litchfield) sits on the Labor Committee and represents parts of Kennebec and Androscoggin counties in the Maine Senate. Sen. Richard Nass (R-Acton) represents parts of York County in the Maine Senate and serves on the Legislature's Taxation Committee.

That was my Senator that wrote that. :)

I'm quite surprised Mr. Travers that the posting doesn't appear to have generated that much membership interest, it would seem. Don't our friends on here care about what is taking place right at this moment in Augusta?Oracle