Category Archives: Hot Issues

Maine Republicans have chosen new tax breaks for the wealthy as their hill to die on

The closing argument from the Yes on 2 campaign last year arguing for a new 3% tax on income over $200,000 to fund K-12 education wasn’t an ad featuring crumbling Maine schools (although there are plenty) or discussing the societal benefits of investment in education (which are many). No, it was this commercial, featuring a […]

Happy expiration day! Gov. LePage’s citizen initiative is dead

Today, May 2nd, isn’t just notable as the birthday of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (45). It’s also the expiration day for the cut-taxes-and-welfare Frankenstein initiative proposed by Governor Paul LePage and the Maine Republican Party back in 2015. With time now having officially run out to gather signatures to place the measure on the ballot, […]

Maine already has one of the most restrictive referendum processes in the country

As the legislature considers potential new restrictions on Mainers’ ability to influence laws through direct democracy, it’s important to recognize that our state already has one of the most restrictive referendum systems in the country. It is far more difficult to gather signatures to place an initiated measure on the ballot in Maine than almost […]