Wampum

I didn't vote for Maine Governor John Baldacci (I was angry with how his campaign actively sought to undermine Democratic Senate candidate Chellie Pingree), but after he was elected, I was willing to give him a chance. I was even mildly flattered when, on a number of occasions, he openly endorsed my candidacy for Maine House. But that honeymoon is now over.

Yesterday, Baldacci put forth his property tax "relief" proposal. For non-Maine readers of Wampum, property taxes have been the number one issue for Maine voters this year, culminating in a referendum on Draconian California-style 1% cap on property taxes which would have spelled disaster for most of the cities and towns in Maine, although the wealthy summer people would have liked it well enough.

Fortunately, the referendum was defeated in November, and Governor Baldacci promised to put forth a plan to aid the 15% of Maine households who have found their property taxes skyrocketing due to rising property values (over 20% annually in some areas.) The plan is meant to look overtly like the Maine Chamber of Commerce plan, which combines the Trojan Horse of the MCLF's excellent Homestead Plus! program, which caps property taxes at 5% of income, and the Greek guts of a TaBoR, capping spending at 2.75%. Problem is, while the TaBoR takes effect immediately, property tax relief, in the form of an expanded Circuit Break refund program, is phased in, with rebates of $1000 in 2005, $2000 in 2009 and the maximum $3000 in 2011. Yes, Maine retirees who bought their comfy shack with ocean views in Cumberland Foreside 20 years ago and now pay $10,000 a year in property tax, have to wait 7 years for even minimal relief.

But Baldacci has thought of that. Instituting a plan heralded by my very own opponent in the primary, Mainers who still can't pay their property taxes with the $1000 rebate can reverse mortgage their properties, with the state as Bank. When the owners dies and/or the property is sold, the state will take it's portion, with interest, of course. (I'll have to leave the dissecting of this inordinately flawed concept to a later post, as I could go on for pages.)

Chances are, the Maine Legislature, particularly the House Democrats, will fall in line behind Baldacci. Because they lack will.

This plan benefits John Baldacci more than it does anyone in Maine. See, the Governor is up for re-election in 2006, and unlike the majority of his party in the Legislature, will not be running as a publicly funded, or "Clean Elections" candidate. He, like his currently unnamed (Snowe?) Republican opponent, will be filling up his campaign chest to the tune of a million or more for his run to remain in the Blaine House.

During the last legislative session, the Republicans, angry over the majority Democrats pushing through their budget with little bipartisan haggling, decided to boycott any tax reform unless it was accompanied by a constitutional spending cap at all levels of government, a la Colorado's TaBoR.

But when Baldacci pushes "spending caps", he's not addressing the real problem facing the Maine budget, and he's probably signing the death warrant for Maine's first in the nation universal health care plan, DirigoChoice.

When DirigoChoice, which originally was entitled DirigoHealth, was hammered out, Baldacci and his crew buckled on the cost controls which advocates like the Maine Peoples Alliance felt were necessary for the program to survive. Heck, it's not even that difficult to call for such controls, as Maine does not have a "malpractice crisis" due to screening panels, and most hospitals in Maine are operating at a profit (including the supposed "non-profit" ones.) However, the healthcare lobby is an extremely powerful one for Democrats (sidenote: I attended a House Dems campaign party just prior to the primary, and 90% of the lobbyists there were from healthcare.) The Legislature (meaning majority Dems) were incapable of fending off the healthcare lobby. Ironically, this is an artifact of Maine term limits law; since legislators are elected for a maximum of eight years, lobbyists become the real "constant" in Augusta. They know the ropes and issues, and have an amplified image in the eyes of green (not "G") legislators.

Other lobbying groups have greater influence in a term-limited legislature. Unions, which have no problem skirting Clean Elections laws with "independent expenditures" are also a credible force. The Maine Chamber of Commerce as well. However, none are a powerful as...

The Tourism Lobby. Maine used to be the "Paper Colony". Now we're "Vacationland".

It's not every business which engages in tourism, to be honest. But 40% of Maine goods and services are exempt from the 5% sales tax, and the vast majority of them are tourism industries. Yacht storage. Seasonal house rentals. Limousines.

Maine could pay for the Homestead Plus! plan of a 5% cap on property taxes (based on income) and 55% funding level for schools if it removed all exemptions for the sales tax. In fact, if it removed exemptions for food, it could be reduced to 3-4%, with rebates to low-income families. Even the rabidly rightwing (HA!) Maine Citizen Leadership Fund supports such a move.

Problem is, Maine's tourism lobby is too powerful. And John Baldacci needs them to win re-election. So, just like we'll see no attempt to cut medical costs (the largest driver of increases in the Maine budget), we'll see no move to expand the sales tax base. So who is to suffer?

Well, if we see "spending cuts", it will be in those areas not protected by unions. Home health aides. Early intervention teachers. Day laborers. Maine's minimum wage jobs. And who pays the price? Families who rely on those services. (Namely, we here at Wampum.) Families too exhausted from dealing with the challenges of daily life to complain too much to Augusta.

I awoke this morning, it was with a heavy heart, as I knew I would not have accepted this plan. Maine needs real property tax reform, not a hedge fund for the Governor-elect. Thing is, after knocking on many, many doors in my district, I believe Maine voters are too smart to accept such a cynical plan. My only hope is that they don't actually believe the Republicans offer anything better.

It's time for a new option here in Maine. It's time for Maine Dems to find, or write, their will.

Originally posted by MB Williams on December 2, 2004. A TABOR will be on the November ballot, and folks need to think seriously about John and John's core values, by the second Tuesday in June.