Tax reform has been a contentious issue during the last year. The Maine Legislature struggled with it, found a compromise, and now the new law is being challenged with a people’s veto effort. I have been involved in the issue throughout the process as a member of the Legislature’s Taxation Committee.

Wherever citizens end up on this issue, what has been unacceptable is the scare tactics that have been employed by some of those who oppose the package. What is most appalling is that the negative claims about the law, which are completely and blatantly false, have been made by people who know they are false. People are lying to the public about what the bill does, and they are doing it on purpose.

I was recently forwarded a copy of an e-mail from a former member of the Legislature that seems to have been forwarded to a wide audience. The e-mail claimed both that the homestead property tax exemption would be eliminated and that haircuts would be taxed. Both claims are categorically false and an example of someone trying to confuse and deceive people on an already complicated topic.

People should not believe the hype and the mudslinging. Tax reform will lower overall taxes on the vast majority of Mainers, and it will lower the state’s income tax rate, which is sixth highest in the nation, to the middle of the pack. Those are worthy goals, and anyone opposing the package should do so based on facts, not misinformation.

Rep. Larry Sirois, Turner

Member, Committee on Taxation