In November, 2016, 383,428 Mainers voted “yes” on Question 2 — a new law requiring the state to pay 55 percent of public education by adding a 3 percent surcharge on taxable incomes above $200,000 (the 3 percent does not apply to the first $200,000).
Gov. Paul LePage believes that those 383,428 people did not understand (we were too stupid to understand), so he will not follow the new law.
I attended a taxation hearing in Augusta where the idea was echoed by the business community and some proposed changes by legislators. The Legislature is talking about a tax cut for the wealthiest Mainers.
The state needs to pay the 55 percent bill it owes to public education. Since the 55 percent figure was passed in 2004, the state has never paid that amount, but shifted education costs back to towns and cities. That cost shifting results in towns cutting services and programs or raising property taxes. Hardworking Mainers are made to pay more in property taxes because the state has reneged on its responsibility.
I wonder if there will be a new commission in Augusta — a “voter understanding commission” — where referendums and initiatives will go after the election to prove the people understood their vote before the results will be accepted by the governor and Legislature.
So much for “we, the people of Maine,” or “one man, one vote,” “democracy,” and “the people have spoken.” So much for election results if it is decided that the people were not smart enough and their vote disregarded.
Pay the 55 percent.
Crystal Ward, Lewiston
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