Jackson responds to tax conformity public hearing

AUGUSTA–The Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Taxation held a public hearing the LD 1655, the LePage Administration tax ‘conformity’ proposal. A wholesale acceptance of the Republican rewrite of the federal tax code at the state level would have negative consequences on working families, including a $236 million dollar tax increase on Mainers.

While the LePage proposal is framed as simple conformity with federal law, it actually goes much further than routine and technical updates to Maine’s own tax code, according to analysis from the Maine Center for Economic Policy. The LePage Tax Bill costs $88 million over the remainder of the current two-year budget cycle and $115 million over the next biennium. The governor’s proposal prioritizes tax breaks for the very businesses and wealthy families that have already benefited from generous federal tax cuts and offers little to hard-working low and moderate-income Mainers.

Senate Democratic Leader Troy Jackson:

“To be clear, there is no requirement that Maine conform to the federal tax code. However, the changes made to the tax code at the federal level in favor of wealthy individuals and corporations raise taxes to the tune of more than $300 on the average Maine family. And both Republicans and Democrats agree that we must do something to fix this mess. The difference is who we are looking out for. The governor’s proposal once again favors the wealthy few at the expense of working-class people. And Democrats are not buying it.

We’re not interested in amending Maine’s tax code on behalf of large businesses, out-of-state corporations and a handful of wealthy individuals. It’s not in the best interest of our state or our people. After the public hearing today, our focus remains the same: to create a fair and reasonable tax code that works for all Mainers.”

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