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| 📷 Rep. Ben Collings, D-Portland, observes business in the House chamber at the State House in Augusta on June 30, 2021. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett) |
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🧾 Tax status quo is coming in the Legislature — except on one front.
◉ During a late night of deliberations in the House, the chamber killed an estate tax bill from progressive Rep. Ben Collings, D-Portland, that would halve the threshold at which the tax kicks in to $3 million. Enough Democrats crossed over to vote with Republicans to kill the measure in a 94-45 vote.
◉ Mills opposed the change through her tax policy czar, and lawmakers almost always make major tax changes through the budget process and not in standalone bills. The party also has killed standalone Republican proposals trying to wipe out the income tax.
◉ This tax status quo is what we expected. But Mills is teasing that she will support a paid family and medical leave bill worked out by top Democrats that includes a payroll tax of up to 1 percent and is opposed by business interests. Her campaign said last year that she would not raise taxes on Mainers, so a decision to sign the bill will prompt plenty of questions on that front.
💰 Watch for some Maine impact out of a spending bill markup.
◉ On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Sen. Susan Collins of Maine serves as the top Republican, will hold key hearings on military and agriculture spending bills, as well as other funding requests. These "markups" are the formal processes sending these bills to the floor.
◉ Maine could see the initial benefits of Collins' new perch on the panel Thursday, although the spending process in Washington is rife with questions due to future limits contained in a recent debt ceiling deal and a closely divided House under Republican control. |
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What we're reading
🚜 The Maine House narrowly voted to apply minimum wage laws to farmworkers.
📁 Lawmakers also approved a fix to the Maine National Guard's sexual assault.
🔨 An outgoing lawmaker failed in her last push to secure an Equal Rights Amendment.
🚢 Bar Harbor is investigating an "unauthorized" cruise ship visit.
🛒 Read a local owner's new plans for an Aroostook County mall. Here's your soundtrack. |
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