On March 30, members of the Maine Legislature gathered at the Augusta Civic Center for a legislative session. Although we planned to take up various items that day, we had one main goal before arriving: to pass a budget for the coming two fiscal years. After a long day at work, we passed the budget in both the House and Senate, and I left Augusta with a sense of accomplishment and pride knowing that we had done everything in our power to ensure our state could make a strong recovery in the coming months. Now, I want to share a little bit about why I’m proud of this budget and how it can help Maine people as we look to the future.
It’s no secret that the past year has been filled with uncertainties. For many of us, we have faced hardships like we’ve never seen before. Businesses closed, students had to learn from home, and folks who have worked all their lives were forced to navigate a complicated unemployment system. It’s for these reasons that as my colleagues and I began discussing the biennial budget, we knew we had to deliver some certainty for Maine people. This budget follows through on that. We call it a Back-to-Basics Budget because it is merely a continuation of what the Legislature passed with two-thirds bipartisan support in 2019. There are no new initiatives and no new taxes, just an extension of the services and funding that have been in place for the last two years. You might also hear this described as a “continuing services” budget.
Just because we’re extending the current budget for another two years doesn’t mean Mainers will miss out on critical services, however. In fact, the budget that we voted to continue is strong, and Maine had been thriving under it before the pandemic. For one, the budget delivers badly need property tax relief. It keeps in place the Property Tax Fairness Credit, under which 54,000 Mainers will get a portion of their property tax or rent returned to them when they file their income tax return. The Homestead Exemption will also remain, where homeowners can take $25,000 off the value of their home and only pay property tax on the remaining value. Revenue sharing to municipalities will also remain at 3.75 percent, which will help towns fund their vital services and keep property taxes down.
The budget also helps Maine schools and students at a time that they need our support. An additional $45 million will be allocated to schools across the state, which will help them plan for a safe return to five days a week in person. Additionally, the budget funds a program to help seniors access prescription medication, allocates money to domestic violence and sexual assault services, and invests in health clinics throughout Maine.
Our work is not over. During the next few months, the Legislature will continue debating new policy proposals, working in committees and deciding how to spend federal relief money from the rescue plan. But by passing this budget now instead of waiting until June as the Legislature normally does, we have ensured that we won’t risk a government shutdown because of partisan bickering. The last thing Mainers need as we enter the busy tourist season is for state government to get in the way. We have laid a solid groundwork that I’m confident will help us recover as we look to move beyond the pandemic.
If you have any questions about the budget or anything else, don’t hesitate to contact me. You can reach me by email at Stacy.Brenner@legislature.maine.gov or by phone at 287-1515.
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