AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage has reissued his weekly radio address after making erroneous claims about Stephen King.
LePage used his weekly radio address to push his tax reform package, which has the long-term aim of eliminating the state income tax.
In it, he criticizes former Gov. Ken Curtis for introducing the tax in 1969, but he neglects to mention the that the Legislature was controlled by Republicans and that a referendum to repeal the tax was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters.
“Remember who introduced the income tax here in Maine," LePage says. "Well, today former Gov. Ken Curtis lives in Florida, where there is zero income tax. Stephen King and Roxanne Quimby have moved away, as well.”
Curtis has moved to Florida and Quimby lists Palm Beach, Florida, as her residence on her Facebook page, but Stephen King says he and his wife remain Maine residents. King issued a statement on the website of the Bangor radio station he owns, WZON-AM, criticizing LePage for his erroneous statement.
“LePage is full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green," King says. "Tabby and I pay every cent of our Maine state income taxes, and are glad to do it. We feel, as Gov. LePage apparently does not, that much is owed from those to whom much has been given. We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much.”
LePage has released a new radio address that edits out the comments about King and Quimby and the printed version on his website has also been changed.
