Coalition of Maine groups demands roll-back of LePage tax breaks for wealthy

With state budget negotiations on the horizon, a newly formed coalition of 22 Maine organizations and elected officials, called the Prosperity Coalition, held a press conference Thursday advocating for rolling back the tax cuts for the wealthy passed during the LePage era that have cost the state $864 million in revenue.

“This year, we can choose to keep Governor LePage’s tax breaks, and all the waste they create, or we can ask everyone to pay their fair share so we can invest in our communities and build a stronger, more secure economy for all Mainers,” said Garrett Martin, the executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP).

Participants praised some aspects of Democratic Governor Janet Mills’ budget proposal, but faulted it for leaving in place a tax system rigged in favor of the wealthy.

“Tax cuts made during the LePage Administration tilted our tax code in favor of the wealthiest while doing real harm to our public education system, “ said Crystal Ward, a retired Lewiston High School teacher and the legislative chairperson for the MEA Retired Mainers chapter. “Mainers have voted three times to invest in our public schools, including in 2016 when they voted not only to fund our schools, but to raise taxes on the wealthiest Mainers to pay for it. Instead, budget after budget has underfunded our schools and cut taxes for the wealthiest, leaving educators to make do with less.”

Many of the ideas on display at the event were drawn from MECEP’s Prosperity Budget, released in January, that advises lawmakers to counter former Gov. Paul LePage’s “lopsided tax cuts that made it harder for our state to invest in people and communities” by moving towards a progressive tax policy which fully funds schools, grows quality jobs with quality benefits including earned paid sick days, expands access to health care, modernizes infrastructure and creates valuable public services.

“I come from generational poverty, and Maine’s public services and benefits made a difference in my future,” said Cheryl Golek, a small business owner living in Harpswell. She explained that while the wealthiest continue to get helping hand, many who endure on poverty wages are forced to pay more in taxes while the rich pay less.

“When we invest in people, whether that’s a low-income single mom like I was or the new immigrant trying to build a better life in our state, we not only lift-up individuals, we also strengthen our economy and communities,” she said.

Currently, the top 1 percent of income earners in Maine pay the lowest effective state and local tax rate of any group.

Founding members of the Prosperity Coalition include Alliance for Retired Americans, Food AND Medicine, Maine Equal Justice, Maine Education Association, Maine Student Action, Maine AFL-CIO, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, Maine Council of Churches, Maine Center for Economic Policy, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, Moral Movement Maine, Maine People’s Alliance (of which Beacon is a project), Maine Small Business Coalition, Maine Women’s Lobby, Maine State Employees Association-SEIU Local 1989, New Mainers Business & Service Providers Association, and Oxford Hills Indivisible; as well as Portland City Councilors Pious Ali, Justin Costa and Jill Duson, Lewiston City Councilor Jim Lysen, and RSU 34 School Board member Moriah Geer.

(MECEP Executive Director Garrett Martin speaking at the Prosperity Coalition press conference, via MECEP)