My wife and I loved our six-day trip to Maine in 2016. We’d love to come back, but that won’t be happening now that the Republican tax bill appears likely to pass.
The many anti-Northeast provisions in the bill (the non-deductibility of state taxes and second-home mortgage interest, limited deductibility of property taxes and taxes on university endowments and graduate student aid) definitely raise my federal taxes and reduce the value of my home, and make higher education in New England more expensive. All of these will reduce the standard of living in the Northeast, which will clearly impact tourism in Maine.
I wonder where Sen. Susan Collins thinks most tourists to Maine come from – Texas and Kentucky? If the Northeast is negatively impacted by this bill, does she think the resulting losses to Maine’s tourism industry will be made up for by the dubious claims of stimulating economic growth that the bill’s proponents profess?
Is loyalty to the crumbling Grand Old Party more important to Sen. Collins than looking out for the interests of her state? I wish she could have followed the lead of her fellow Maine senator in her decision on this hugely important bill.
Samuel Billings
West Hartford, Conn.
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