AUGUSTA – The Maine Legislature on Friday approved a tax-reform bill that would cut the state’s 8.5 percent income tax to 6.5 percent.

The measure next will go to Gov. John Baldacci’s desk, where he may not sign it.

The package pays for the income-tax cut by extending the state’s 5 percent sales tax to previously untaxed goods and services, such as ski lift tickets, golf course fees and auto repairs. It also raises the state meals and lodging tax from 7 percent to 8.5 percent.

Proponents say it helps relieve the tax burden on Mainers by exporting an estimated $58 million in taxes to tourists.

David Farmer, spokesman for Baldacci, said the governor intended to meet with Democratic leaders on Friday before making a final decision, which was not expected before the end of the day.

“He’s worried about how this very complicated package will affect the state’s economy, given the uncertainty we already see,” Farmer said Friday.

Votes in both the House and Senate fell nearly entirely along party lines, but Farmer said that wouldn’t be a deciding factor for the governor, who has said in the past he would like to see tax measures approved with bipartisan support.

“Everyone has something they don’t like about this, but I’m hopeful he’ll sign it,” said House Majority Leader John Piotti, D-Unity.

Piotti has had numerous meetings with the governor about the legislation, and leaders felt comfortable moving the package forward despite some of the governor’s reservations, said House Speaker Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven.

“(The governor) has declared support for the overall concepts of the bill,” she said on Friday.

Tax reform has been a goal for lawmakers for the seven years she’s served in the Legislature; finally getting a package on the governor’s desk is historic, Pingree said.

In the previous Legislature, a similar but more expansive tax-reform bill passed the House but died in the Senate.

This time, the Senate voted 19-15 to enact the measure.

Sen. Deb Simpson, D-Auburn, said Maine’s 8.5 percent income tax ranks as the sixth-highest rate in the country, but if the state lowered it to 6.5 percent, it would be in the middle of the pack.

“Leaving us as an outlier is not good for Maine, it’s not good for our reputation around the country, and it’s not good for our small businesses,” she said Friday during floor debate.

Though the Maine State Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill, the Androscoggin County, Bangor Region and Portland Regional chambers endorsed the reform package, something Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, said was worthy of note.

“Those small-business owners have looked at this and said the best way to stimulate this economy is to lower the income-tax rates,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Kevin Raye, R-Perry, said the bill would hurt small businesses because it would require them to tax items never before taxed and would place an undue burden on some businesses struggling to survive. He also cited opposition to the measure from the Maine branch of the National Federation of Small Business, the Maine Merchants Association and the Maine Tourism Association.

Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, was the only Republican in either legislative body to vote in favor of the measure.

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