Title

"In the Lobby" piece on the Maine Center for Economic Policy's annual State Tax

Authors

Lance Tapley

Source

Portland Phoenix

Date

1-18-2008

Pages

10

Abstract

"In the Lobby" piece on the Maine Center for Economic Policy's annual State Tax and Budget Conference, which was held on January 14 in Augusta. Gov. John Baldacci's plans to consolidate state departments may have dire consequences for the poor, the sick, and the mentally ill. Rep. David Webster, D-Freeport, said that there is a drumbeat for smaller state government and reduced taxes behind the governor's budget-balancing moves. Martin Magnusson, corrections commissioner, defended Baldacci's proposal to allow the Department of Corrections to run the jails as well as the prisons. But a U.S. Department of Justice report showed that Maine's annual per-adult-prisoner costs were at $44,379, the highest in the country in 2001. In 2006, annual per-prisoner costs were $65,125. Meanwhile, George Smith, director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, opposed Baldacci's proposal to consolidate four of the state's natural-resources departments. With comments by Richard Silkman, an economist and vice-president of the Maine Public Spending Research Group.

Subjects

Budget Maine, Taxation

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