AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills is proposing higher fees for fishing licenses along with optional concealed handgun permits in her two-year budget proposal that lawmakers will scrutinize for also raising taxes on cigarettes, marijuana and other items.
The $11.6 billion plan includes various tax hikes alongside cuts to food assistance, health and child care programs to create a balanced budget and fill a projected $450 million shortfall through 2027 while maintaining commitments to education and to municipalities.
Mills, a Democrat in her final term, cast the $1 per pack increase to Maine’s $2 cigarette tax and commensurate increases to other tobacco products as creating public health benefits when unveiling her budget last week but did not touch on fee hikes. The Mills administration said the higher fees will fund specific improvements.
Fishing licenses will rise by $7
They include $7 increases to Maine’s various fishing licenses, from a resident fishing license that currently costs $25 to a “super pack license” allowing all types of legal fishing and hunting that would rise to $214.
Maine’s fishing license cost is tied for the 11th lowest among states, and the $7 increase would be the first hike in 15 years, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti said. Latti noted the state is the last stronghold for Maine’s eastern brook trout and the only contiguous state with a native arctic charr population, saying the “low price for fishing hampers conservation efforts during a time when Maine’s climate is changing.”
“The license fee increase funds will be dedicated specifically to fisheries conservation and enhancement of sportfish and native fish, including maintaining and enhancing existing management programs” along with other management initiatives, Latti said.
One dollar of the new fees will also fund a federally mandated property use compliance program and maintenance at public water access sites, Latti added.
Concealed carry permits would cost more.
Fees for those who apply for or renew a permit to carry a concealed handgun would also rise. These are optional for most Mainers under a 2015 state law that lets people carry guns without permits, except that 18- to 20-year-olds not on active duty in the military must get them.
The concealed carry permit application fee would go from $35 to $50 for residents, and the renewal fee would increase from $20 to $35 for residents under Mills’ plan, with nonresident fees going from $60 to $80 for both applying and renewing.
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said the new revenue from the higher fees would let Maine State Police upgrade an outdated manual application system to a modern one that allows for electronic applications.
Hospitals would pay a new information technology fee.
Starting in October, the budget would also assess a fee on hospitals that would be based on their number of inpatient beds and allow for the state to collect up to $1.8 million annually to support a new “Health Information Technology” fund.
The governor’s budget also calls for a new 70-cent tax on prescriptions that pharmacies would pay and a 6 percent tax on profit for certain ambulance providers. The administration said it expects to save money with neutral effects on providers because those taxes are allowed by the federal government and can create revenue streams that unlock federal funding.
Still, the proposed tax and fee hikes from a governor who pledged during her 2022 reelection campaign to not raise taxes have already drawn pushback from Republicans who narrowed the Democratic majorities in each chamber by flipping several seats in the November election.
Democrats who have helped defeat past flavored tobacco ban proposals may also oppose the cigarette tax hike, a higher cannabis sales tax and a 5.5 percent tax on Netflix, Spotify and other streaming items.
