As the winter season looms, Maine citizens find themselves in one of the most economically disadvantageous positions in the nation. Studies have found that the state’s residents, despite already struggling to make ends meet, have been saddled with one of the highest tax burdens in the U.S. – by one estimate carving out over 11% of Maine resident’s personal incomes for taxation purposes.
Aside from such an unsettling metric, the Maine consumer has been saddled with ever-increasing rates of inflation which have, in turn, led the price of common necessities such as food and fuel to skyrocket.
According to a study conducted by Market Decisions Research, two-thirds of Maine residents have had to alter their driving habits due to the rising costs of fuel; nearly three-quarters of low-income households have feared the loss of their homes due to the massive increase in housing expenditures; and half of Mainers noted the undue financial hardship imposed by rising food prices. In Franklin County alone, residents have reported a likeliness to skip meals as a result of financial hardship.
A Portland Press Herald article reports that since summer 2021, some essential food items have been subjected to price hikes of more than 200%.
Further, Maine is a state dominated by small businesses – over 99% of Maine’s private workforce is employed by companies with fewer than 500 employees. The Maine Small Business Development Center reports that more than half of Maine’s small businesses were forced to close their doors as a result of COVID-19, two-thirds of which were due to government mandates.
Poor economic administration of the state’s resources then as now has resulted in a cascade of detrimental consequences to the state’s business ecosystem, including the reduction of employee hours, layoffs, furloughs, significant reductions in revenue, persistent cashflow difficulties and more.
Staggering food and fuel prices, combined with the state’s failure to properly guide and support our critical small business infrastructure, mean Maine is bracing for one of the most economically disastrous winter seasons in decades. As freezing temperatures close in, Maine residents will be unable to pay the extortionate prices demanded at the pump, nor provide fuel to heat their homes.
The inordinate price of fuel in particular, coupled with freezing temperatures, has and will continue to result in a major contraction of consumer activity across the state. Fuel prices impact nearly every sector of the economy and bring pain to bear on some of the sectors most critical to Maine’s growth, infrastructure and economic wellbeing. Adding insult to injury, this does not bode well for the small businesses that are already struggling to make ends meet in a post-COVID economic environment.
Governor Mills needs to stop playing politics with the people of Maine. Continuing to bloat the public welfare resources of the state with additional bundles of taxpayer dollars is not a viable option. The governor has the authority to insulate the citizenry from the broad failures of a federal administration. Slash the tax on fuel and give citizens some relief.
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