{"id":2993,"date":"2018-04-18T10:09:39","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T14:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suitupmaine.org\/?p=2993"},"modified":"2019-03-23T22:45:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T02:45:06","slug":"taxes-maine-oppose-tax-breaks-wealthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suitupmaine.org\/taxes-maine-oppose-tax-breaks-wealthy\/","title":{"rendered":"TAXES IN MAINE: Approve Democrats’ amendment to tax conformity"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gov. LePage’s tax bill would slash taxes for corporations and the wealthy while leaving the state unable to fund important initiatives. Democrats have offered an amendment that supports working families. UPDATE 4\/19:<\/strong><\/span> Republicans chose to leave Augusta before their work was done. A special session may be called by House and Senate leadership. Contact your legislators and tell them you expect them to finish the work we sent them to Augusta to do, including voting YES on the majority amendment for LD 1655.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Trump Administration & Federal Government Working Group<\/a> and\u00a0Maine Center for Economic Policy<\/a> C2A<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE ISSUE<\/span><\/h4>\n

The LePage administration recently released <\/span>proposals<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>conform state-level income taxation<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>the Trump tax cut law<\/span><\/a> that passed in December. Not surprisingly, his plans favor wealthy individuals and profitable corporations while ignoring critical public needs. Among the <\/span>highlights<\/span><\/a>, some profitable businesses would avoid paying state taxes at all, and some of these would receive $18 million in tax breaks for capital investments made outside of Maine. In addition, the top 1% would receive an average tax break of $557, while the bottom fifth of Maine households would receive $1. Meanwhile, multimillionaire heirs would benefit from a tax exemption on their inheritance that would bring it to eleven times what it was just a few years ago. These kinds of tax benefits <\/span>don\u2019t create jobs or boost the economy<\/span><\/a>. LePage\u2019s tax conformity bill, <\/span>LD 1655<\/span><\/a>, would result in a <\/span>loss of $88 billion<\/span><\/a> in the state coffers over the rest of the 2-year budget cycle and even more in future years. Voters have repeatedly shown that they want to see higher state support for <\/span>education<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>health care<\/span><\/a>, but this bill would severely reduce revenues the state will need to address these and other needs, such as broadband, the opioid crisis, environmental protections, or infrastructure. The <\/span>brief<\/span><\/a> by the Maine Center for Economic Policy contains additional information.\u00a0Democrats have offered an amendment<\/a> that supports working families by expanding\u00a0tax credits and providing property tax relief for homeowners and renters. There are no overall tax increases to the wealthy Mainers and businesses who received the majority of the tax cuts under Trump’s tax plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE ACTION<\/span><\/h4>\n

UPDATE 4\/19: <\/span><\/strong>Republicans chose to leave Augusta before their work was done. A special session may be called by House and Senate leadership. Stay tuned for updates. Contact your legislators<\/strong> and tell them you expect them to finish the work we sent them to Augusta to do, including voting YES on the majority amendment for LD 1655. Not sure who your legislators are?\u00a0Find them and their contact information here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

TALKING POINTS<\/span><\/h4>\n