WMTW.com
AUGUSTA, Maine —
Streaming, cannabis, tobacco and state employee’s pensions are all on the line to have increased taxes according to Governor Janet Mills’ budget proposal.
Governor Mills is proposing a budget of more than $11 billion, $1 billion more than her last two year budget.
“We’re already one of the highest taxed state’s in the country so we don’t see a need to increase any taxes,” House minority leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham said.
Republicans like Faulkingham are against these increases.
Here are the proposals, a new 5.5% tax on streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, an increase in the cannabis tax from 10% to 14%, a phasing out of the pension dedication program for anyone making more than $100,000 and a dollar increase on the state’s tobacco tax.
“Let me just say Maine has the highest adult smoking rate and the second highest youth smoking rate in New England. We also have the cheapest cigarettes of nearly every state in New England, and we haven’t raised the cigarette excise tax in two decades,” Mills said.
The tobacco tax is welcome news for those who have been trying to ban flavored tobacco.
“Increasing the price of these tobacco products is one time honored proven way to make sure kids don’t have access to these products,” Dan Cashman with Tobacco Free kids said.
His organization supports this tax to discourage high school students in Maine from using tobacco products.
“This tax is so important to keep these products out of the hands of kids,” Cashman said.
Mills continues to tout the state’s record high rainy day fund, but that’s essentially a savings account and can only be used for emergencies. While both democrats and republicans agree there are cuts to be made, dipping into the rainy day fund is not an option.
The budget needs to be enacted by the legislature before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
