State lawmakers yesterday agreed to fund the state’s Dirigo Health program by doubling wine and beer taxes and putting a new tax on soda, according to State House News Service.
Gov. John Baldacci is expected to sign the bill at 2:30 p.m. today, Travis Kennedy, communications director for the House Majority Office, told Mainebiz this morning. The beer, wine and soda taxes would raise $17 million total for Dirigo Health, the state’s subsidized insurance program.
To raise another $36 million for the program, the plan also puts a 1.8% tax on claims paid by insurance companies and self-insured businesses, the news service said. Dirigo currently covers 13,681 Mainers.