Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Maine

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Put Maine Families’ Incomes At Risk

February 22, 2025 • By ITEP Staff

Proposed Medicaid cuts could affect over 400,000 Mainers, especially children, older adults, and families with low income, reducing access to essential health care and economic stability. Read more.  

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Impacts of Proposed Income Tax Rate Reduction

March 30, 2023 • By ITEP Staff

House and Senate Republicans are demanding income tax cuts be part of the budget, and Democrats in the legislature were right to make sure they didn’t have the tools to threaten a state shutdown to get them. As the legislature prepares to pass a current services budget to avoid a stalemate in June that could […]

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: New Tax Relief Plan Will Disproportionately Benefit Wealthy Seniors

August 30, 2022 • By ITEP Staff

This year, lawmakers included a tax change in the state’s budget that will significantly expand tax benefits for pension recipients in Maine. Beginning in 2023, pension recipients will be allowed to exempt up to $25,000 in pension income from state income taxes, and that amount will increase to $35,000 for tax years 2025 and after. […]

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Tax Policy Options: Maine Needs Progressive Revenue Solutions to Build a Stronger, Fairer Future

January 27, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Generally, the sales tax is regressive. The poorest one-fifth of families pay a share of their income in Maine sales taxes that is nearly nine times larger than the top 1 percent. Poorer households pay larger shares of their income in sales taxes than wealthy households in part because wealthier households save a larger percent […]

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Maine Reaches Tax Fairness Milestone

September 26, 2019 • By Guest Blogger

Lawmakers in Maine this year took bold steps toward making the state’s tax system fairer. Their actions demonstrate that political will can dramatically alter state tax policy landscape to improve economic well-being for low-income families while also ensuring the wealthy pay a fairer share.

ITEP Work in Action  

MECEP: NEW REPORT: Maine reaches new milestone on the road to tax fairness

September 4, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Starting in 2020 and for the first time in decades, the Mainers who earn the least will no longer pay a larger share of their income to state and local taxes than those who earn the most, according to a policy brief published today by the Maine Center for Economic Policy.

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Many States Move Toward Higher Taxes on the Rich; Lower Taxes on Poor People

July 18, 2019 • By Meg Wiehe

Several states this year proposed or enacted tax policies that would require high-income households and/or businesses to pay more in taxes. After years of policymaking that slashed taxes for wealthy households and deprived states of revenue to adequately fund public services, this is a necessary and welcome reversal.

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: To Fund Shared Prosperity, We Must End LePage-Era Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest

February 6, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

For years under Gov. Paul LePage, budget-busting tax cuts robbed our state of the revenue we need to build a stronger, fairer economy. Tax cuts delivered windfalls to the wealthiest households in our state, making it harder for our schools and communities to make ends meet. Read more

ITEP Work in Action  

Maine Center for Economic Policy: The Prosperity Budget

January 15, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Where State of Working Maine 2018 investigated the nature of work in the modern economy and made recommendations to reaffirm our values of fairness and respect in the workplace, the Prosperity Budget examines the opportunity to leverage state budget and tax policy to build a stronger economy where every Mainer has an equal opportunity to […]