I thought the recent editorial on Question 1 was positive in its effort to focus attention on the other aspects of the referendum question. As the ranking Republican senator on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee, I don’t believe the 1.8 percent tax on insurance claims has been highlighted enough. With the second highest insurance rates in the country Maine does not need to continue driving up insurance rates. This tax, which will maintain the upward pressure on insurance rates as the cost of doing business in Maine, is once again passed on to the consumer.

I disagree, however, with the paper’s assessment that the taxes levied on beverages won’t have a detrimental effect on businesses. The problem is not just that people will buy their beverages elsewhere, but also the lack of sales of these beverages as people choose to forego that soda after filling up their gas tanks. Our mom and pop businesses are constantly fighting to turn a profit and rely on the money they make off these beverages. Whether people buy them from New Hampshire or do not buy them at all, the result is the same: a loss of revenue for that family-run business.

These new taxes will not solve Maine’s health care problem. We need to implement the market reforms advocated for in this paper if we are to improve access and quality of health insurance in Maine.

These new taxes will do nothing to help average Mainers afford health insurance.

Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello, Poland