The Portland Press Herald has recently published three interesting and revealing columns about the proposed 2015 Maine budget. I urge Maine citizens to read them.

 Mike Tipping’s Jan. 10 commentary (“LePage proposes under-the-radar corporate tax giveaway”) referred to corporate tax breaks that raise important questions and will require our legislators to do some serious homework on this issue: How much is the depreciation on machinery, buildings, etc., what are the rates and what is the impact on the state budget?

 The Jan. 14 commentary by Greg Kesich (“LePage budget will test political grit on both sides of the aisle”) on the LePage budget and its politics and negotiations brings home the difficult task ahead to balance tax reform, tax expansion, shifting tax responsibilities and fairness in the coming months.

Let’s hope our elected representatives will study the issues carefully keeping Maine citizens in mind and not just how tough they can be. Ideally, the final negotiations should result in a win-win situation.

 Finally, the Jan. 17 Maine Voices column by Marianne Hill (“Governor’s inaugural address noticeably lacking in economic coherence”) shows the inconsistencies in the proposed budget that again will cause the need for our legislators to raise important questions and negotiate with open minds, fairness and the future in mind.

This column addresses most of our state’s economic issues and challenges. We, the people, want to have confidence that our legislators will carefully study these issues.

Jean Roberts Leach

Ocean Park


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