State government continues to grow larger as family budgets get smaller.
This is Representative Michael Lemelin of Chelsea with the Weekly Republican Radio Address.
House Republicans believe that Maine state government is too heavy-handed and tone-deaf to the everyday needs of Mainers, as it takes too much money from people struggling to make ends meet.
Now we learn that government is taking even more money from you than last month.
Earlier this week, the Revenue Forecasting Commission updated its forecast from $822 million in additional tax revenues to over $1.2 billion dollars.
Rather than address the issue of chronic over taxation by lowering taxes through structural reforms, the Governor proposes giving half of this excess revenue back to you in the form of another check.
The government is taking in over $1.2 billion more than it needs, then wants your thanks for giving half of it back to you as a gift.
There are words for that, but fair isn’t one of them.
This election year gift from the Governor changes her proposal for $500 checks to $750 checks.
If that is the plan, instead of lowering taxes, why not give all of the money you over paid back to you?
Send all of it back to the people and expand eligibility.
The Governor’s existing budget already covers what she and legislative Democrats consider needs. These priorities were funded in the 3 previous budgets passed over the last three years.
The eligibility pool for these checks has been widened from the $285 “relief payments” sent earlier at the insistence of Republicans. They would now include retirees, self-employed individuals and business owners required to report business earnings, and social security recipients.
Eligible individuals must have earned less than $75,000 while the income caps would be $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for couples filing jointly.
You still will have to have filed a tax return in order to get your money back. This will be a barrier to some people that need help paying bills the most.
That is why Republicans want tax reform so that government does not keep getting bigger and bigger while your budget gets smaller.
Government shouldn’t be taking your hard earned money, then “gifting” half of it back to you.
But the Democrats seem uninterested in having a conversation about systemic changes that will allow Mainers to keep more of their earnings long-term.
We know you need relief from rising prices now. You know how to spend your own money.
Until you get a Governor and a legislature that, like Republicans, is committed to tax reform, government will continue to take too much of the people’s hard-earned money, choke off investment, stifle innovation and make things harder to build a life in Maine.
Maine people are beginning to see how government is failing them at the time when they are struggling to pay bills and live a normal life.
Maine House Republicans understand what you are going through. We will do our best to convince our colleagues to enact policies that reduce the burden of government in your lives, or at least do no more harm.
The government that governs best, is the government that governs the least.
This has been Representative Michael Lemelin with the Weekly Republican Radio Address. Thank you for listening, subscribing, sharing, and following us on Facebook and Instagram.