The tax bill snaking its way through the Senate is a disaster in the making for the state of Maine. It will benefit only the very richest Mainers, and will hurt most the poorest and least fortunate among us.

According to the Urban Institute’s and Brookings Institution’s nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, over the next decade, nearly 80 percent of the benefits will go to the top 1 percent of all households, and 40 percent to the top one-tenth of 1 percent. To pay for these windfalls to the ultra-wealthy, the many budget cuts that will hurt Maine’s youth, seniors and the poor include:

• $1 trillion from Medicaid.

• $473 billion from Medicare.

• $100 billion from Pell Grants and student financial assistance program.

• $6.5 billion from the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program.

• $4 billion from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Other changes that will harm Mainers include:

• The elimination of the deduction for state and local taxes.

• The elimination of the medical expenses deduction.

• The elimination of mandatory participation in insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act, which will result in higher premiums and the collapse of the individual market.

In addition, the provision to make the tax breaks for individuals temporary is a gimmick to keep the bill within “budget reconciliation” guidelines. Taxpayers will be devastated when they are faced with a sudden, sharp increase to their federal taxes in 2025 to pay for permanent cuts for wealthy business owners.

This tax bill is a scam, whose real purpose is to reward Republican Party donors through a huge gift (to “passive” business owners such as President Trump and several members of his Cabinet), elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax, and, laughably, lower taxes on storing and staffing private jets. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King should vote against it.

Peter Simmons

Brunswick