Category Archives: Maine Legislature

Headwinds, or why I will never play poker with Ben Grant

I must admit to being surprised by Eloise Vitelli’s win in the special election to fill the open seat in Maine Senate District 19. (Here’s me predicting the opposite outcome.)  Given Vitelli’s relative lack of campaign experience, it’s a pretty … Continue reading

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Katz Agonistes

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold Sorry to mix  literary metaphors, but last night’s endless session convened for a series of final votes represented a set-back … Continue reading

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Day of the Long Knives

With nothing more than a pen, Gov. LePage produced one of the most dramatic days in Maine gubernatorial history. Adding 21 vetoes in a single day to his previous record number of 57 vetoes, the man has out-no’ed any Maine … Continue reading

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Who Pays?

Hooray! We have a budget. There are new, temporary taxes in place to replace some of the gap created by the 2011 income tax revenue reductions. As I mentioned earlier, this is an excellent natural experiment to determine whether this … Continue reading

Posted in Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Municipal Finance, Two Maines | Leave a comment

About those Accommodations and Meals Taxes

Apparently, our eloquent governor is going to veto our budget and send our state into a shutdown because he swore no new taxes, dammit. But where will those taxes be coming from? Here, courtesy of the US Census American FactFinder, … Continue reading

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Unwell

I’m disappointed. I’d hoped that the many, many reasons to accept the free federal money to cover Maine citizens would add up to legislators’ passing LD 1066. I also failed to look carefully at the original House vote and hadn’t … Continue reading

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The Governor’s Proposal

As we await Gov. LePage’s promised veto of the state budget, it’s useful to revisit what it was that the governor himself proposed. For although the governor claims that he opposes new taxes, there is no way that the impact … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Municipal Finance | 1 Comment

Right on, Prof. Krehbiel!

Maine’s biennial budget, which Gov. LePage has promised to veto, has passed both the House and Senate. Hooray for a first step towards no shut-down!  We haven’t seen the veto yet, which the governor has announced he will delay in … Continue reading

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Pivot Points, or why we might believe Sen. Katz on MaineCare

Political scientist Keith Krehbiel developed an interesting theory of legislative behavior called “pivot theory” – it’s often been applied to understand US Congressional behavior, but I just came back from a conference where I saw it applied to state legislatures … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | 1 Comment

A natural experiment

Watching policy-making in the shadow of Paul LePage can be like trying to figure out which neutral shade you want to paint your living room when someone has replaced your regular lightbulb with a disco strobe and a smoke machine … Continue reading

Posted in Maine Economy, Maine Legislature | 1 Comment