Taxing task
GOP wants super majority for tax hikes
- Amendment would require 2/3 vote
- Dems await final details
Leading Republican lawmakers will push a constitutional amendment this session that would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass any tax increase, but whether the proposal will be sent to voters for approval depends on winning over some Democrats.
Sen. Jon Courtney, R-Springvale, the Senate majority leader, said amending the state constitution is the only proper way to require a two-thirds vote. “It appears to me that we will have to get an amendment approved by the voters to get that two-thirds provision,” he said. Courtney believes there will be broad support to put the “super majority” amendment into the constitution, as a two-thirds vote will indicate that an increase is “truly needed” and voters want that sort of requirement to prevent further tax increases, he said. “You won’t have to worry about that while we are in the majority,” Courtney said, “but we have to look to the future.”
Rep. Andre Cushing, R-Hampden, the assistant House majority leader, had proposed changing the rules of the Legislature to require a two-thirds vote for tax increases, but abandoned that initiative after GOP leaders were told the approach could face a serious constitutional challenge.
Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry, said he plans to co-sponsor Courtney’s legislation, which he sees as part of the GOP’s promise of “responsible government” to voters. “A lot of candidates on both sides of the aisle ran for office on the platform of being fiscally responsible and encouraging job growth and retention in Maine,” he said. “I think that the notion of requiring a two-thirds vote to raise taxes is in keeping with that platform.”
Raye, who has not yet seen a draft of the proposal, said he would be willing to consider language limiting the two-thirds requirement to “major taxes” to get the votes needed to pass the measure. “To me, a fee is just another name for a tax,” he said, “but if there was a group that came to us and argued they wanted the user fee they pay to go up to pay for a service that they want, that is different and we should discuss that.”
Sen. Barry Hobbins, D-Saco, the Senate minority leader, says much will depend on the details of the proposal. “I think everything has to be on the table and I am willing to at least go through the discussions and the intellectual discussion of that proposal,” he said.
Hobbins does not believe Democrats will propose tax increases in this session, and said the amendment proposal has, in the past, failed to garner enough support to be sent to voters.
Parties ponder bond package
- GOP seeks “prudent” borrowing
- Dems cite R&D investments
Legislative leaders agree the state will need to borrow money for some infrastructure needs, but questions including how much and for which projects highlight philosophical differences between the two parties.
“My feeling is that the kind of enthusiasm that we have seen for bonding in recent years under a Democratic governor and a Democratic Legislature will not be what we see going forward,” said Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry. But, he said, there is GOP support for a “prudent” borrowing package for state infrastructure needs such as roads, bridges and water and sewer facilities.“We have a responsibility to reduce the overall level of bonded indebtedness,” Raye said.
House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, agreed that the size of the bond package will be less than in previous years. He said there has been too much borrowing for items like research and development that have not, in his opinion, proven their worth when compared to basic infrastructure needs. “There is a place for borrowing, a place for borrowing for long-term projects. We have been too eager to borrow for things that we should pay for up front,” he said.
Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, said bond investments in areas like research and development have already “paid off” for the state by generating more research funds from the private sector and the federal government. “I know that the $50 million we invested in the 123rd [Legislature] has all gone out and has all been matched by one or five dollars or more and is creating jobs in businesses around the state of Maine,” she said. “We need to continue those investments.”
While Democrats are now the “loyal opposition,” there will be bonding proposals from members of the party, said Sen. Barry Hobbins, D-Saco. “I think we need to look beyond a narrow approach and consider a jobs bond to help Maine recover,” he said. “We need to look at training and education and investing more in our people.”Additional investments in alternative energy, telecommunications development and higher education facilities should also be considered, Hobbins said.
While he is willing to listen to arguments for greater investments, Nutting noted that he has caucus members who will not vote for any borrowing.
Lawmakers dive into casino law
- Deadline for changes “distressing”
- Other gaming proposals could pile up
Facing a likely constitutional deadline, lawmakers are eyeing changes to the law allowing a casino in Oxford County before groups supporting casinos in Biddeford, Lewiston and one for the state’s Native American tribes file petitions forcing consideration of those proposals.
“My phone started ringing the day after the election,” said Sen. Debra Plowman, R- Hampden, the assistant Senate majority leader. “Everybody seems to want something changed.”
Lawmakers will be under pressure because of constitutional provisions that limit what they can pass after citizen-initiated bills are presented, she said. “It is something that will need to be taken up immediately, and it is going to have to be passed as an emergency.”
Any changes could be considered a “competing measure” under the constitution, and lawmakers have shied away from putting their own proposals on the ballot against those initiated by petition. “The pressure of the initiated bills means we will be working like they did in 2004 to try and pull something together quick in a piecemeal fashion that leaves us with unintended consequences,” Plowman said. “It’s really distressing.”
The Democratic senator on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, who served on the panel previously while in the House, agreed that the 2004 legislation following approval of a racino in Bangor resulted in an intense period of negotiation before an agreement was reached.“But we are not starting from scratch like we did then,” he said. We have the [Gambling Control] Board in place. If people want to make the changes needed to add the laws for a casino, that’s fine, but if all the special interests want to make changes to gambling laws, that will be very difficult to do.”
Some of those issues may have to be delayed until the second session because they are likely to be contentious, said Patrick.
Mal Leary runs Capitol News Service in Augusta. He can be reached at editorial@mainebiz.biz. Read more of Mal’s columns here.
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