Jobs and Income ‘Embarrassing and shameful’: Advocates blast Mills’ veto of farmworker rights bill “Continuing the current system of sub-minimum wages for farmworkers means that about one quarter of Maine’s agricultural workers will continue to live in poverty,” said Arthur Phillips, […] Beacon Posted July 20, 2023 Tags Incomes, Inequality, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage, Racial Equity, Wages
Jobs and Income Budget committee funds bills to increase paltry legislator pay, implement drug policy reforms While LD 1155 was approved by AFA, a number of workers rights-related reforms failed to receive funding. One such measure was LD 1376, a bill to increase the state’s […] Beacon Posted July 13, 2023 Tags Health Care, Incomes, Job Quality, Jobs
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
Health Care, Taxes and Budget Campaign to extend MaineCare coverage to all eligible noncitizens vows to fight on “Maine should be a place where all of us, regardless of background or origin, can get health care when we need it. Unfortunately, this week the Maine […] Beacon Posted June 28, 2023 Tags Health Care, Immigration, Medicaid
Jobs and Income Maine could join growing list of states with a $15 minimum wage — unless Mills objects Some economists have argued that raising the state’s current minimum wage of $13.80 to $15 would create a meaningful increase to workers’ paychecks and help many working […] Beacon Posted June 14, 2023 Tags Incomes, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage
Taxes and Budget The window for balancing Maine’s tax code this session may be closing Proponents said amending Maine’s income tax is the most direct way to inject more fairness into the state’s tax code, while helping to fund critical needs such as […] Beacon Posted June 7, 2023 Tags Budget, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Jobs and Income, Taxes and Budget Mills’ proposal to cut paid family leave benefits could make it unusable for low-wage workers Proponents of the bill say Mills’ plan would make the program potentially unusable for many low-income workers who wouldn’t be able to make ends meet with such […] Beacon Posted June 1, 2023 Tags Paid Family and Medical Leave
Jobs and Income, Taxes and Budget A cautionary tale from Connecticut as Maine lawmakers weigh privatizing paid leave James Myall, an analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, also cautioned against having a private administrator of a state paid leave program, pointing to the […] Beacon Posted June 1, 2023 Tags Paid Family and Medical Leave
Taxes and Budget Effort to undo LePage’s estate tax cut for millionaires returns to Augusta Between 1973 and 2015, according to the Maine Center for Economic Policy, the top 1% of Maine families captured 42% of all income growth, leaving just 57% for the […] Beacon Posted May 18, 2023 Tags Estate Tax, Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Taxes and Budget Podcast: Are corporate tax breaks worth it? Probably not. As Gov. Janet Mills looks to “modernize” the Pine Tree Empowerment Zone corporate tax credit program, Esther and Ben are joined by Maura Pillsbury of the Maine […] Beacon Posted May 11, 2023 Tags Tax Breaks, Tax Fairness, Taxes