Dear House Democrats,
Here are the week’s must-read news stories and a
new section on press on our members. You’ll also find talking points on
tax fairness and sequester and the LePage budget proposal impact
handout. Please feel free to use these to inform your
conversations with local media and constituents.
We continue to hear great things about the forums
you are having around the state. Keep up the good work. Please see your
aide if you need help.
As a reminder, our weekly communications conference call will take place at
9:30 a.m. Friday. Please join in if you’re able and help Ann and
Jodi plan our communications strategy for the coming week. The
number for the call is
(661) 673-8600 and the access code is 503017.
Best,
Seth and Jeff
MUST-READ STORIES
Competition fierce in Maine, even for low-wage jobs
Maine’s finance chief says freeze on state workers’ pay makes it hard to recruit employees
A SAMPLING OF PRESS ON OUR MEMBERS
Bangor lawmakers seek to avoid another bath salts scourge by proposing synthetic pot ban
LePage voucher plan for low-income pupils is met with concerns
TAX FAIRNESS
The governor is going to raise property taxes on the middle class in order to reduce taxes on the wealthy.
Republicans ordered up a tax break largely for the
wealthy without knowing how they were going to pay for it. Now, the
governor is passing the tab to middle-class Mainers through property tax
hikes in his proposed budget.
Democrats want the wealthy to pay their fair share.
People making more than $250,000 a year can afford to pay as least as
much per dollar as those making $48,000.
A single mother of two making minimum wage pays 17
percent of her income in state and local taxes. Someone making $350,000
or more pays just 10 percent. Maine’s tax system is already unfair
and under the governor’s budget it would get
far worse.
The Republican-led Legislature in 2011 passed
nearly half a billion ($434 million) in tax cuts that largely benefit
the wealthy. Two of every three dollars in the tax breaks go to the
wealthiest 20 percent of Mainers.
Direct state support to local governments (school
funding, revenue sharing, local road assistance, etc.) as a percentage
of total state revenue is already at decades-long lows. If the
governor’s budget is passed, the tax shift will be even
worse.
It’s time to close loopholes that allow top earners
to game the systems and leave working and middle-class Mainers to pick
up the tab.
It’s time to make our tax code fairer.
SEQUESTER
Sequester is the worst possible result of the
obstructionism we’ve seen from Republicans in Washington. We need
lawmakers to work together to strengthen our economy – not deal it a
blow.
Our economy will be dealt a blow if these cuts go forward on March 1.
Maine will lose enormous amounts of funding for education, public safety, health care and job training.
·
The sequester pulls $2.7 million in
funding for K-12 education and an additional $2.6 million from programs
for children with disabilities.
·
About 740 fewer children will receive
vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus and flu.
Dollar for dollar, there is no better public health investment than
immunization for kids. It pays for itself in spades
with a lifetime of improved health.
·
The vital programs facing cuts
include assistance for seniors, services for the victims of domestic
violence, child care, law enforcement and infectious disease programs
and natural disasters response.
·
National Guard readiness would be at
risk. Six hundred civilian employees of the U.S. Department of Defense
in Maine could be furloughed.