Justin Chenette
  • Bio
  • Commissioner
  • State Govt
  • Projects
    • Speaker
    • Author
    • Consulting Firm
    • Age Friendly Saco
    • Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission
  • Scholarships
  • News
  • Contact

Sen. Chenette rejects calls to repeal Stand Up for Students referendum

2/11/2017

1 Comment

 
​AUGUSTA — After a lengthy public hearing Friday on tax changes in Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget, Sen. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, said his support for implementing the Stand Up for Students ballot initiative is as steadfast as ever.
 
Sen. Chenette, the lead Senate Democrat on the Legislature’s Taxation Committee, criticized the special interests and lobbyists who advocated for rejecting the will of the voters by repealing the referendum language that raises taxes on wealthy Mainers by 3 percent on taxable income over $200,000 in order to adequately fund Maine’s public schools for the first time in more than a decade.
 
The referendum won as Question 2 at the ballot box, and opponents gave up on an initial recount effort.
 
“It is amazing to me that so many lobbyists and business interests came here today to urge the people’s elected representatives to the Legislature to overturn the expressed will of the people,” said Sen. Chenette. “What kind of precedent would it be for a handful of representatives and senators to so quickly and blithely overturn the results of an election?”
Gov. Paul LePage’s budget would repeal the new revenue created by the ballot initiative, and once again leave Maine well beneath its legal funding obligations to public schools. The repeal of Question 2 is one part of the governor’s overall budget proposal that drastically reduces income taxes for the wealthiest Mainers while increasing taxes, particularly property taxes, on the bottom 80 percent of income earners.
 
“All of this amounts to, for a lack of a better work, austerity for lower income earners — who may see their property taxes rise, as well as paying proportionally more of the incomes in sales tax — and subsidy for very high earners in the form of a tax break,” said Alex Jackimovicz, an electrical contractor in the Boothbay area. “How is that fair?”
 
Al DiMillo, a former tax corporate tax director and CPA, told lawmakers that the governor’s budget shifts taxes on to homeowners, including seniors on fixed incomes, who cannot afford skyrocketing property tax bills.
 
“The vast majority of Mainers will have a significant net tax increase over the years 2017-2020 under this plan, while a very small group of the very wealthy will have a very significant net tax cut,” DiMillo said. “Property tax, not income tax, is important retirees, yet this budget increases property taxes by more than the minor income tax cuts for the majority of retirees.”
 
Sen. Chenette said Democrats will continue their efforts to bring the budget into balance, so that it benefits all Mainers, not just a lucky few at the top of the economic ladder.
 
“The folks that need a break in this economy are not the highest earners,” said Chenette. “We cannot continue to shift the tax burden away from those most able to pay onto the backs of those least able to pay. We need to hold the line on Question 2 for our students and our property tax payers, and reject any policy that benefits the few at the expense of the many.”
1 Comment
Robert Morrison link
2/11/2017 09:05:36 pm

Thank you for standing tall for our students and teachers of our most important institution---PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Latest Updates


    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    RSS Feed

Picture
Email:
justinchenette@gmail.com
Paid for & Authorized by Justin Chenette
  • Bio
  • Commissioner
  • State Govt
  • Projects
    • Speaker
    • Author
    • Consulting Firm
    • Age Friendly Saco
    • Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission
  • Scholarships
  • News
  • Contact