Maine Center for Economic Policy: Now is the Time for Tax Reform: Can LD 1088 Deliver?
ITEP Work in ActionTaxes are central to our individual and collective well-being. Taxes provide the revenue that supports the physical infrastructure, the education, health care, and environmental protections that we have collectively decided are essential to keep our communities and families thriving. Still, the way government collects taxes has significant implications for the reliability and fairness of the system.
Maine’s tax system is unnecessarily volatile. This volatility contributes to recurring budget shortfalls1 and is exacerbated during economic downturns. While the Legislature has spent much of this session wrestling with large projected shortfalls caused primarily by the global economic crisis, discussion of tax reform as embodied by L.D. 1088 will figure prominently in the weeks ahead. This presents an important opportunity to assess our current tax structure with a view toward improving its efficacy and its fairness for all Maine people.