Slashing state budget would slow Maine’s recovery, report warns

If state lawmakers take the same path that their predecessors took in the aftermath of the Great Recession, Maine may once again see a slower recovery from the current economic crisis than states that choose to increase state funding and protect public-sector jobs from being cut.

A new report by the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) shows that from 2009 to 2015, as the country was recovering, states that maintained or increased public-sector jobs outperformed states that cut them. 

“During that time frame, Maine cut one in every 20 state and local jobs and private-sector job growth was the fourth-worst in the country, growing just 4.4 percent — less than half the 9.2 percent national average,” wrote report author, MECEP policy analyst Sarah Austin.

Click here to read the full story, first published September 30, 2020, in Beacon.