Diamond: Business incentives on the table
In their attempt to adjust the state budget to reflect decreasing revenues, lawmakers are looking at cuts in everything, including the $180 million in tax incentives paid to Maine businesses.
"[Business leaders] should be worried," Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, co-chairman of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee told Capitol News Service. "We have to look at everything; there are no sacred cows anymore around here."
At the state level, tax expenditures for economic development range from more than $65 million a year for the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program to $300,000 a year for the sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment used for research, according to the news service. Several business leaders acknowledged that lawmakers should be fair in making cuts, but they should also maintain a broader view of positioning the state for economic recovery. The full Legislature must vote on a revised budget in January.
Diamond said his committee will review economic development programs. He expects the panel will ask the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee for recommendations.
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