The Maine Legislature made some good budget moves — funding child care, school meals, boosting the child tax credit for young kids, and supporting affordable housing through progressive taxes and a phased-out pension deduction for high earners. They also partially reversed some of the Governor’s proposed cuts, including cost-of-living adjustments for direct care workers. But lawmakers missed the biggest opportunities to prioritize tax fairness. Instead of including popular long-term solutions that ask the wealthy and big corporations to pay their share, they largely stuck with the Governor’s plan — relying too much on one-time funds and regressive revenue.
“Lawmakers made progress, but Governor Mills blocked the bold tax reforms Maine needs,” said MECEP President and CEO Garrett Martin. “A majority of Maine voters and lawmakers recognize that taxing the rich is the financially responsible and morally right thing to do. Maine families deserve lasting solutions — not budgets that tiptoe around those with the most power and wealth while asking more of the rest of us.”
With federal cuts looming, costs rising and the economy slowing under Trump-era policies, Maine needs bold steps to protect essential services. MECEP hopes the legislature acts on the tax fairness measures available to them when they reconvene to tackle these challenges.
