Latest News

Looking for Good Information about Maine's Spending & Taxing?

Our first annual Maine Budget Workshop, held on September 25 in Hallowell, got rave reviews from citizens, the press, and Maine's leaders. The workshop asked a basic question: How should we track Maine's public spending?

MPSRG proposed four sets of indicators:

Complete financial statements for Maine government, including its long-term liabilities
Program budgets, showing the revenue and spending for the "big slices" of the budget pie
Comparison data asking, "How does Maine stack up against other states?"
Tax data, including the money raised from each tax, its share of the tax load, and Maine's standing relative to other states

Read our complete overview of Maine spending by clicking here.

A complete overview of the workshop can be found here.

Three prominent Maine economists - Charlie Colgan, Laurie Lachance, and Chuck Lawton - responded to MPSRG's proposal. They raised the issue of "priorities": Does Maine spend its money on the right things and, if so, what are the results it gets? This is especially important as rising K-12 education and Medicaid costs squeeze out other state and local government functions.

Robert Tannenwald and Matt Nagowski of the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston compared Maine's revenue capacity and spending needs with the national average. Click here to see their slide show.

Darcy Sass, also from NEPPC, gave an overview of current trends in the New England economy. Her slide show can be found here.

The afternoon program brought together the leaders responsible for developing a state budget. The Governor's budget-builders - led by Commissioner Rebecca Wyke - gave their perspective on Maine's spending and tax policies. Here is their slideshow. The co-chairs and ranking Republican members of the Appropriations and Taxation committees discussed the challenge of creating a balanced budget when costs are rising and economic conditions are changing.

A big part of MPSRG's work is getting the word out. We're available to speak to service clubs, business groups, and professional associations. The Workshop was widely covered in the press state-wide. You can see the clippings here.

Comments (0) >>