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There are worse problems to have than a budget surplus. So with yet another state forecast predicting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue more than previously expected, this hopefully presents an opportunity for leaders in Augusta to work together rather than retreat to their partisan corners.
First and foremost, we’ll say it once again: Projected surpluses like this, which have basically become the norm in recent years, are somewhat illusory when so many unmet needs persist across the state.
When Mainers with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to languish on waitlists, when caseworkers continue to raise alarms about a child welfare system that has at times failed children and families with tragic consequences, when homelessness continues to surge with dire results for unhoused people and added strain on local community resources — it is difficult to see the projected $265 million in additional revenue through 2025 purely as extra money. In a sense, it represents both a failure to fully invest in Maine people and an opportunity to do better.
Government cannot — and should not — be the answer to every problem, but when so many Maine people are struggling — too many of them literally dying — it is hard to conclude that the state has excess revenue.
However, the durability of these increased revenue projections does raise another question: Does the state government currently have additional money to spend, or is it routinely overtaxing the people it serves? Even with the recognition that far too many needs remain unmet, the Democratic majority in Augusta must be willing to engage their Republican colleagues on this question.
As we said this spring on the heels of a previous surplus projection, this continued trend calls for targeted investments in unmet needs along with reconsideration of some revenue collection. It does not have to be one or the other.
“The state can use this surplus to remove barriers that currently hold people back from fully participating in and benefiting from our economy,” said Sarah Austin, director of policy and research at the liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy, as reported by our BDN politics colleague Billy Kobin this week.
Conversely, legislative affairs director Jacob Posik from the conservative Maine Policy Institute told Kobin that lawmakers should provide relief to struggling Mainers by restructuring the income tax code.
At this point in the budget debate, we don’t see these two concepts as mutually exclusive. A combination of these perspectives would likely require each to be paired back as part of a compromise. But in broad terms, such a compromise may be reasonable.
After repeated surplus projections, and amid persistent needs, we believe that a combination of targeted investments and targeted tax relief for Mainers with lower incomes would be appropriate for any forthcoming supplemental budget discussions.
