AUGUSTA — Lawmakers have begun filing their proposed laws for the upcoming legislative session.
Some are new ideas, some have been seen before. With Republicans in charge for the first time in decades, some proposals that failed in the past could have new life.
One is a tax reform proposal by Senate Majority Leader Jon Courtney, R-Sanford.
The measure would dedicate any general fund revenue growth to income tax relief, with the ultimate goal of lowering the state income tax from the current maximum of 8.5 percent to 4.5 percent and eliminating state income tax for families earning less than $30,000 a year.
Courtney submitted a similar proposal during the last session. The bill was defeated as Democrats, who had the majority, favored their own tax reform package – a law that was repealed at the polls in June.
Courtney said he’s optimistic about his proposal’s chances this time, including the prospect of support from incoming Gov. Paul LePage.
“What I’m hearing is that the administration may … want to do something like this but be more aggressive and actually dedicate money to it every year,” he said.
A first-time proposal to limit the annual salary and compensation of hospital administrators to the governor’s salary has been submitted by Rep. Brian Bolduc, D-Auburn.
Bolduc said he was inspired by a meeting with hospital administrators, who pleaded with him and other lawmakers in Lewiston-Auburn to hasten repayment on Medicaid debt owed by the state, and an article in the Sun Journal of Lewiston that highlighted the pay for Maine’s top hospital administrators, which in some cases was more than $1 million.
“I just thought maybe we need to put some public attention on this again, in light of the fact that these hospitals are publicly subsidized institutions,” he said.
The bill proposes that pay be capped at the governor’s salary, which is now $70,000 a year, because, Bolduc said, “if you can run a state, then you can certainly run a hospital on that salary.”
Other bills would eliminate the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission and delegate its power to the county governments where the unorganized territories are, extend the school year from 180 days to 185 days, and allow farm wineries to charge for wine tastings.
Rep. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, has a proposal to have each person’s blood type listed on their driver’s license. Sen. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, has a proposal to regulate the keeping of wolf hybrids.
And while it’s likely that Republicans’ proposals will fare better now that they are in the majority, Rep. Linda Valentino, D-Saco, is optimistic about her proposal to expand Maine’s seed capital tax credit.
It’s a measure that was passed unanimously out of the Taxation Committee last session and made it through the House before dying on the Appropriations Committee table because of its estimated $500,000 cost.
“Our idea behind this bill is to create jobs,” she said.
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