The Free Press: Think Tank Releases Blueprint to Fully Fund Education, Medicaid & Lower Property Taxes
media mentionTax cuts passed by the Maine Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage over the past eight years will cost the state $864 million in revenue in the next biennium, according to an analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. At the same time the state continues to ignore its legal obligations to fully fund education, Medicaid expansion and revenue sharing. But the two think tanks also estimate that just $643.5 million would be enough to provide 55 percent of the cost of education to towns, expand health care coverage to 70,000 low-income Mainers and fully fund the state’s mandatory contribution to local services such as public safety, road maintenance, clean water and fire protection.