Maine’s governor said Maine will become more competitive for businesses if it eliminates the state income tax. Changing the state’s business climate has been at the forefront of Gov. Paul LePage’s talking points over his two terms in office.

“My idea is very simply this: I think Maine could do without an income tax,” said the governor, speaking at a packed town hall meeting in Gorham on Wednesday.

During the hour-long event, Le- Page pushed his legislative agenda and called for major changes to Maine’s tax code, the turnpike and the state’s referendum process.

Instead of a state income tax, LePage favors raising revenue through the sales tax, which can be used to target tourists and other non-residents traveling through the state.

LePage also took time in his remarks to criticize Maine’s energy costs, which he claimed made the state uncompetitive and worked as a disincentive to businesses looking to move to or expand in Maine. Low energy costs, the governor claimed, are crucial to bringing industries to Maine and reviving failed or failing industries in the state.

“By having low cost energy we can have an industrial rate that’s affordable, so the semiconductor plant can come, and the paper mills can come back, or the saw mills can come back, or the biodiesel, the biotechnologies can come back,” said LePage.

The governor covered a lot of familiar ground, reiterating his support for consolidation of school administration, restoring the tip credit and opposition to the creation of a national monument in Maine last year — among other points.

He also repeated his desire to change Maine’s referendum process. Currently, citizen initiatives must gather signatures equal to 10 percent of the turnout in the prior gubernatorial election to get an issue on the ballot. According to LePage, this process allows groups to gather all of their signatures in the Greater Portland area, which doesn’t reflect broad support for the issue.

Instead, the governor stated that he would like to see a process where groups would have to gather signatures equal to 15 percent of the turnout in a presidential election — which is typically higher. Under his plan, groups would also have to gather those signatures proportionally in each county.

In response to an audience question from a Gorham resident, Le- Page expressed his support for eliminating almost all of the tolls along the Maine Turnpike, including those on the Falmouth spur.

“What I’m suggesting is this: a moratorium on borrowing for the Maine Turnpike Authority for 10 years. Let the Department of Transportation take over the spur — that’s what I believe in. And in 10 years from now, we meld in the Maine Turnpike Authority into the Department of Transportation,” said LePage. “And then the only toll we should have is the toll for our visitors coming in or out of the state in the summers.”

Regular commuters from Maine could receive compensation, he added.

LePage said that he planned to testify in Washington, D.C. later this year on the Antiquities Act, which gives the president the authority to create national monuments.

When asked whether he would challenge Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, in 2018, LePage said that he did not have an answer.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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