On Tax Day, Mainers rally against tax breaks for the wealthy

Yahoo

15-04-2025

Nelson (left) and Sharon Beaudoin, both retired educators from Auburn, gathered in Augusta on April 15 to voice their raising taxes on the wealthy. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
As some Mainers finalized their taxes on Tuesday, roughly 75 used the filing deadline to protest what they view as state and federal tax structures that favor the rich — and more broadly, the Trump administration's cuts to programs relied on by average Mainers that they see as footing the bill.
As Auburn resident Nelson Beaudoin told Maine Morning Star, there are a hundred reasons that drew him to the rally, 'and they all start with the letter T.'
Advocates for tax reform under the coalition Mainers for Tax Fairness gathered at the State House in Augusta to voice their objections to Congress advancing a budget plan that lays the groundwork for extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts.
'We are here to connect the dots,' said Ryan Tipping, director of campaigns and strategy for the progressive Maine Center for Economic Policy. 'We need to listen to what the cost of that greed is.'
Tipping and other speakers pointed to a litany of cuts that have impacted Maine, including the Trump administration firing the entire staff of the Low Income Heating Assistance Program, which tens of thousands of Mainers rely on, and layoff notices issued to 13 employees of the Maine State Library last week, which also led to a temporary closure.
They also cautioned about possible implications should the congressional budget plan pass, such as cuts to low-income food assistance and Medicaid, as many say the tax cuts in the plan will not be possible without slashing the program.
'Is my life worth less than tax breaks for billionaires?' asked Gina Morin, a Mainer who relies on Medicaid for prescriptions to treat a chronic disease.
Formed in 2020 and launched in 2021, the Mainers for Tax Fairness coalition comprises a number of organizations representing progressive interests across the state, such as Maine Equal Justice, Maine People's Alliance and the Maine Center for Economic Policy, who are also backing bills being considered by the Maine Legislature to restructure the state's tax brackets.
'If the rich paid more taxes, they would still be rich,' Sharon Beaudoin, a retired educator from Auburn who attended the rally, told Maine Morning Star.
Last week, the Taxation Committee tabled a number of the tax reform bills that the group supports to wait until a nonpartisan state committee releases its updated state revenue projections next month. The state is currently looking at a projected deficit of $450 million over the next two years.
In order to fill the gap, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has proposed some program cuts and a number of largely regressive taxes, which have a greater impact on low earners, but the coalition is alternatively pushing for a model that taxes the wealthy more.
Among those bills is LD 1089, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Golek (D-Harpswell), which would impose an income tax surcharge of 4% on taxable income in excess of $1 million, with the revenue generated going to fund public K-12 education.
That $1 million level triggers the 4% surcharge for all tax filing statuses, which is not typical for tax structures in Maine. Therefore, the committee is considering an amendment, which in addition to some technical tweaks would add another level before the 4% surcharge would be triggered.
Another bill, LD 229 sponsored by Rep. Ann Matlack (D-Spruce Head), would add new tax brackets and increase the threshold for the state's lower tax brackets.
Other bills that the tax rally attendees highlighted include a plan to impose an additional tax of 4% on investment income above certain thresholds and another to increase the real estate transfer tax for sales over $1 million.
The coalition also supports legislation that aims to support the average Mainer in other ways, including by expanding the state's version of a child tax credit and increasing funding for family planning services, such routine gynecological and well exams, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and cancer screenings, but not abortions.
Anna Kellar, executive director of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, discussed bills that, in light of the budget outlook, lawmakers seem poised to reject that aim to expand the state's clean elections program, which finances campaigns through public funding.
'Unfortunately, when we're in tight budget years like this, funding for clean elections gets pitted against funding for all of the other things that we care about — rental assistance, Medicaid, our schools,' Kellar said. 'But we refuse to accept this idea of scarcity.'
Instead, Kellar said the solution is clear: 'making the wealthy pay their fair share.'
The rally on Tax Day was also the first stop for the inflatable 'tax the ultra rich' yacht tour, said Lewiston-Auburn resident Rebecca Swanson Conrad, who represents Oxfam 'Sisters on the Planet,' a group working to end global economic injustice.
'I simply do not believe that a billionaire's yacht should come at the expense of everyday Americans,' Swanson Conrad said, to which members of the crowd responded, 'damn right.'
However, she added that the work ahead is not convincing those in attendance today but rather, she said, 'those who cannot see how it impacts them, yet.'
Swanson Conrad urged people to share the stories told today with neighbors and call on them to press their elected officials to push back on tax cuts for the wealthy, before the group walked to the federal offices of Maine's U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, to begin those calls.
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