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Tax Panel Divided Over Conforming to Federal Changes

AUGUSTA, Maine - Members of the Legislature's Taxation Committee are nearly evenly divided over whether to fully conform to the federal income tax changes adopted by Congress in December.

Sen. Nate Libby, a Democrat from Lewiston, says he's willing to go along with the changes for 2015 and defer a decision on the 2016 tax year. He says he's not sure the changes concerning depreciation of assets is effective.

"While I would like to spend more time working this bill here, to get the programs right, I think we need to send it up today and I'd be comfortable funding it for one year."

Others on the panel say Maine needs to fully go along with the federal changes to stay competitive with other states. They argue anything short of full conformity hurts business efforts to create jobs in Maine.

The measure now goes to the Appropriations Committee to determine how to pay for the measure, which has a two-year cost of more than $38 million.
 

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.