AUGUSTA, Maine - A legislative policy committee has rejected Gov. Paul LePage's proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the state income tax.
In a 7 - 5 party line vote, majority Democrats on the Taxation Committee said the governor's failure to identify what programs and services would be cut as the result of the estimated $1.7 billion revenue loss was a major reason to oppose the resolution.
But Democratic Sen. Nate Libby of Lewiston says he knows how the governor would balance the state budget without income tax revenue.
"It's going to be paid for through a combination of cuts and tax increases," Libby said. "And the cuts are going to come in K-12 education and road and bridge funding, and the increases are going to come from sales tax increases and implicit increases in property taxes because of cuts to state programs."
As a constitutional amendment, the bill would require two-thirds support in the Maine House and Senate before it could be sent to the voters for approval.