Democrats push alternative to LePage budget
Legislative Democrats have proposed an alternative to Gov. Paul LePage's $6.3 billion budget plan, calling for the state to delay income tax and estate tax cuts approved two years ago.
MPBN reported that Democratic leaders unveiled the plan in a press conference Wednesday as the Legislature's appropriations committee has about one month left before Maine's next two-year budget takes effect.
Proponents say those tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy and point out that suspending the cuts will bring in around $400 million in revenue to the state. That would allow lawmakers to avoid the suspension of municipal revenue sharing proposed by Gov. LePage, which municipal leaders across the state have roundly denounced as a displacement of the state's financial burden onto local governments and local property taxpayers.
But Republican leaders question those figures and argued that cuts to the income tax also benefit Mainers making $19,000 or more.
The state's next two-year budget will go into effect starting July 1.
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