The ink isn’t even dry on today’s ballots, but petitions to put three citizen initiatives on the November 2009 ballot have already been delivered to Augusta, according to a press release from the Maine Heritage Policy Center.
The Portland-based conservative think tank wrote the three initiatives and Maine Leads, an Augusta-based citizen group, collected about 200,000 signatures, which were delivered yesterday to the Maine Secretary of State’s office. The petitions include An Act to Provide Tax Relief, which is a revised Taxpayer Bill of Rights that would give voters final say on all state tax increases; An Act To Decrease the Automobile Excise Tax and Promote Energy Efficiency, which is an initiative that would decrease the automobile excise tax by 50% for the first five years and push the purchase of hybrid vehicles by eliminating the sales tax and excise tax for the first three years; and An Act to Expand Affordable Health Insurance Choices in Maine, which would allow Mainers to purchase private health care insurance plans in any of the five New England states, a situation that supporters say will improve Mainers’ access to affordable health care.
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